Psychology notes: Chapter 2 Research Methodology Scientific inquiry: what, when, where, why and how?Scientific method: A systematic procedure of observing and measuring phenomena (observable things) to answer questions about what happens, when it happens, what causes it and why; involves a dynamic interaction between theories, hypotheses and research - This is a more objective research method than causal observation - Systematic The Scientific Method Depends on Theories, Hypotheses and Research- Three essential elements - Theory: a model of interconnected ideas or concepts that explains what is observed and makes predictions about future events (should generate a hypotheses)- Hypothesis: a specific prediction of what should be observed if a theory is correct (must be predicable, testable and support the theory) - Research: a scientific process that involves the systematic and careful collection of data - Data: objective observations or measurements (determines if the hypothesis and or theory is accurate) - A theory is continually refined by new hypothesis and tested by new researchmethods - Replication: involves repeating a study and getting the same (or similar) results Theories should generate hypotheses- A good theory produces a wide variety of testable hypotheses - Jean Piaget: cognitive development occurs in a fixed series of “stages” from birth to adolescents (still used to this day and opened other hypotheses) - Sigmund Freud: all dreams represent the fulfillment of an unconscious wish (not true) o By definition: unconscious wishes are not known to anyone, includingthe person having the dream Unexpected findings can be valuable: - Serendipity: unexpectedly finding things that are valuable or agreeable - Torston Wiesel and David Hubel: studied the sensation and perception from acat’s brain… they measured the activity of cells in brain areas associated with vision (they were seeing how the information travels from the eye to the brain o Founded that brain cells respond to lines and edges What types of studies are used in psychological Research? - Three different types of designs… - Descriptive and correlational: researchers examine behavior as it naturally occurs (useful for describing and predicting behavior)- Correlational- Experimental- All research involves variables - Variable: something in the world that can vary and that a researcher can measure (Can be manipulated, measured or both) - Operational definitions: identifying variables in ways of assessing information - Quantifying: measuring the variables Descriptive studies involve observing and classifying behavior:- Descriptive studies: a research method that involves observing and noting the behavior of people or other animals to provide a systematic and objective analysis of the behavior (also known as observational studies)o Can be studied in seconds to a lifetime o There are two types of descriptive studies… naturalistic observation and participant observation  Naturalistic observation: a type of descriptive study in which the researcher is a passive observer, making no attempt to change or alter ongoing behavior (stays separate from the situation)  Participant observation: a type of descriptive study in which the researcher is actively involved in the situation - The issue with this study is that the researcher might lose objectivity - Also the participants might change their behavior because the observer is watching - Valuable in the early stages of research - Examine developmental changes that occur over time… want the changes to unfold naturally or they want to intervene and see how it effects future development - Longitudinal studies: a research method that studies the same participants multiple times over a period of time (type of developmental design) (can be long, expensive and jeopardizing if someone drops out) - Cross-sectional studies: a research method that compares participants in different groups (young and old) at the same time (shorter, less expensive however unidentifiable variables can come about) - Cohort effect:: having different experiences that effect data (ex: different levels of education) Observer Bias: Observer bias: systematic errors in observation that occur because of an observer’s expectation - Experimenter expectancy effect: actual change in the behavior of the people of nonhuman animals being observed that is due to the expectations of the observer- Robert Rosenthal: trained rats to run through mazes and gave false bias information to see how the observer’s would affect the rat’s performance Correlational studies examine how variables are related - Correlational studies: a research method that examines how variables are naturally related in the real world, without any attempt by the researcher to alter them or assign causation between them (Breathalyzer) - Must know the direction of the cause/effect relation between variables - Directionality problem: a problem encountered in correlational studies; the researcher find a relationship between two variables but they cannot determine which variable may have caused changes in the other variable (think about sleeping habits… more sleep, less stress… less sleep, more stress)Third variable problem: - Third variable problem: a problem that occurs when the researcher cannot directly manipulate variables, as a result, the researcher cannot be confident that another unmeasured variable if not the actual cause of differences in the variables of interest - Think of the sleep and stress situation… there could be a third variable - Can be super obvious as well as hard to find (nature and nurture work together)- People mistakenly believe there is a causal relationship between two variables when there is a correlation (think of preschoolers and their readingabilities) Ethical reasons for using correlational designs: - Think of soldiers and how it would be unethical to induce trauma to create a compare and contrast among traumatized soldiers vs not Making predictions: - Correlational studies can be used to determine that two variables are associated with one another - Correlational research has identified a strong connection between depressionand suicide - They use the correlational method to rule out third possible variables An experiment involves manipulating conditions: - The investigator has maximum control over the situation - Experiment: a study that tests casual hypotheses by measuring and manipulating