PSY 120 1st Edition Lecture 2Outline of Last LectureI. What is Psychology?a.How Psychologists view psychology II. Areas of specialty in PsychologyIII. Perspectives on biology a. Historicalb. Biological c. Behaviorald. Psychodynamic e. Humanisticf. Cognitiveg. Evolutionary h. SocioculturalOutline of Current LectureI. Scientific Method: Steps 1-5II. Types of Psychological Research a. Descriptiveb. Correlational c. ExperimentalIII. Terms to Know IV. Ethical ResearchV. Psychology and YouCurrent LectureI. Scientific MethodThe Scientific method is the process in which a question is asked, explained, and published in the world of science. This method includes the five steps below:1. Observation-The researcher perceives a question and then chooses a variable, whichis anything that can change, and then they develop a theory that must be able to be proved wrong or else it is not a proper question.2. Forming a Hypothesis-The researcher makes an educated guess from a theory. It must be a prediction that can be tested and can lend credibility to theory.3. Testing the Hypothesis-These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.To test the hypothesis the researcher must establish an operational definition of the variable that is being questioned. Todo this they must collect and analyze data. This is the part of the method that involves collecting data and numbers often using statistics.Statistics is the branch of math that involves the collection and description and interpretation of the numerical data.A different form of statistics that is used is descriptive statistics which is a branch of stats that provides means of summarizing date and presenting it in a usable form.There are different ways to measure the data that is collected. Three of them are the mean, the median and the mode. The mean is sensitive to extreme scores easily skewed by outliers. The median is less sensitive to outliers. The mode is used as a measure of preference or popularity.Inferential statistics is another form of statistics that is often used. It is the analysis of two or more sets of numerical data and indicates how confident one can be about a conclusion.4. Drawing Conclusions- In this stage of the scientific method the researcher decides if the data supports the theory or if the theory should be changed.5. Reporting Results- Now is the time for the researcher to interpret their results. They can have them reviewed or use the information to further the research process.II.Types of Psychology Researcha. Descriptive Research- Research in which you see something and describe it. Thistype of research can include self reports, psychological research, behavioral research, Naturalistic observation (observing subjects in natural seting), lab observation (observing subjects in artificially controlled environments), surveys and polls, and correlational research.b. Correlational Research- Research who’s aim is examining whether and how variables are related and change together. correlation coefficient- higher than zero positive correlation, lower than zero negative relationship, 0.5 is chance-y greater than 0.5 is leaning more toward a definite positive relationship; applied to -0.5 correlation is not equal to causation; no correlational research can prove causation third variable problem- some other variable accounts for relationship between two variables; third variables are also called confoundslongitudinal design- obtaining measures of variables ofinterest in multiple waves over timeo can suggest potential causal relationships o causal variable would come first in timeo causal relationships are not completely clearc. Experimental research- In order to say something causes something else, experimental research is required. To establish causation random assignment is often utilized, independent variables are manipulated, dependent variables are measured, and control groups are used for comparison. The independent variable is changed to measure the dependent variable in an experimental groupin comparison to those in the control group.III. Terms to Knowa. External Validity- Do experimental results apply or generalize to the real world b. Internal Validity- There are changes in the dependent variables due to theindependent variablesc. Experimenter Bias- This occurs when researchers demand characteristics. They want things to happen so that’s what they make the data suggest.d. Research participant bias-i. Placebo Effect- This is when someone thinks something happened to them even though it did not, simply because they expected it to happen.e. Double Blind Experiment- To ensure accurate results both the participant and administer or the test do not know the purpose of the study.f. Research Samples-i. Population- entire group in questionii. Sample- random selection of people from the population (random samples are more likely to be representative of the population)g. Naturalistic Observation- research of a subject in their natural habitatIV. Ethical researchi. participants have certain rights; animal and humans ii. institutional review board (irb)iii. APA ethic guidelines1. The researcher must have your informed consent2. The data the researcher collects will have no ties to you to ensure confidentiality3. The researcher must use the data they obtain from the research you participated to help you learn something4. Deception is sometimes allowed as long as it does not harm the participant in any way.V. Psychology and youTo be a good psychologisti. Avoid generalizing based on little information.ii. Distinguish between group and individual results. iii. Look for answers beyond a single study.iv. Avoid attributing causes where none are foundv. Consider the source of psychological
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