Sharon Seidman Ph D CAS 301 Developmental Inquiry Methodology Research Basics What are the pieces and how do they fit together Vygotsky Cognitive Development 2 Sources of Knowledge a Bottom up figured out a Top down taught Bottom Up Induction Based on a Salient experience a Anecdotes a Subject to a Human error a Illusory correlations a 1 Sharon Seidman Ph D CAS 301 Developmental Inquiry Methodology Top Down Authority Accepted if a Believable source a Relevant information a Fits with experience a No evidence a Empirical Research Knowledge based on observation Requires information that is a Accurate a Diverse a Confirmed by a Multiple assessments investigations a Evaluation of alternatives a Peer review a a Goals of Research a a a Description Prediction Causation 2 Sharon Seidman Ph D CAS 301 Developmental Inquiry Methodology Goals of Research a Description a Prediction a Causation what does child s movement look like when will child walk how can we improve walking Research Process Develop hypothesis or question State specific testable prediction a Collect data a a Variables Basis for research a Individual elements of hypotheses predictions a Must vary Has levels A variable a Is a category a Is a member of a category a Can change a Cannot change a 3 Sharon Seidman Ph D CAS 301 Developmental Inquiry Methodology Variables vs Levels a a a a a a a Test scores Grade of A Beverages Popcorn Blue Hair color Ice cream flavor a a a a a a a 32 inches Charlie Brown Pants size Vanilla Authors Cartoon characters 12 units Types of Variables Situation Variables a Place Setting a May be pre existing or created a Participant Subject Variables a Person a Pre existing a Response Variables a Participants reaction to situation a Behaviors Outcomes a Same characteristic may be a different type of variable depending on question hypothesis 4 Sharon Seidman Ph D CAS 301 Developmental Inquiry Methodology Types of Variables Subject Situation Response a a a a a a a a Cold vs warm rooms Tall vs short people Happiness Children vs adults GPA Instructions Age Hair color a a a a a a a a Time of day Ethnicity of letters read Enthusiasm Test scores Self esteem Gender Language Defining Variables a Conceptual Definitions a Operational Definition Idea you are trying to test Thing you are actually measuring Defining Variables a Social skills a Communication skills a Thematic curriculum 5 Sharon Seidman Ph D CAS 301 Developmental Inquiry Methodology Operational Quality Validity Construct validity a Measure assess concept a Measure doesn t assess anything else a Internal validity a Study measures cause a No other explanation is suggested a External validity a Study applies to real world a Results apply to population of interest a Exercise Identifying and Defining Variables Expectations a Hypotheses a Prediction Statement of possible relationship between conceptual variables Statement of expected relationship between operational variables 6 Sharon Seidman Ph D CAS 301 Developmental Inquiry Methodology Expectations Two kinds of hypotheses a Group differences a Relationships a Must specify nature of expectation a Relations Among Variables a Linear relations between 2 variables a Measured by correlation coefficient a Include a Predictor variables a Criterion variables Correlations Positive Negative 7 Sharon Seidman Ph D CAS 301 Developmental Inquiry Methodology Weight Correlations Candy Intake Exercise Relations Among Variables a a Linear relations between 2 variables Comparisons between 2 groups a Input a Experiments Independent variables created situation a Quasi experiment Existing variables pre existing subject variables a Outcome variables dependent variables criterion variables Between Group Comparisons 8