OUTLINE Modules 4 5 6 56 57 1 27 12 Psychological Research 1 The need for psychological science Problems with common sense o 2 Research Methods in Psychology A The scientific method B Descriptive research C Correlational research D Experimentation 4 Statistical significance in psychology The Need for Psychological Science Limits of common sense 1 Overconfidence 2 Hindsight bias I knew it all along Surprise Findings So what does it mean to do research in psychology Research begins with a hunch or hypothesis testable prediction Where do hypotheses come from Your Theories Dissatisfaction with other s theories o You can generate other hypotheses New questions about research Personal Observation and curiosity You have to test your hypothesis is it true RESEARCH A summary of Research Methods METHOD Descriptive Correlational Experimental QUESTIONS ANSWERED Description What is the nature of the phenomenon Prediction From knowing X can we predict Y Causality Is variable X a cause of variable Y DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH When to use it What is the nature of the behavior 1 Case Study What is it nature in general Ex Phinneas Gage Examine one person in depth to understand human o Before the accident with the beam striking his skull he was very laid back and mellow o After the accident personality changed Became more aggressive o Researchers concluded that the frontier lobe had an effect on one s personality Limits to Case Studies Atypicality Limited generalizability 2 Observational Research What is it Researcher observes people and systematically records measurements of their behavior Two types Unobtrusive observation o You are observing the object being tested but not being obtrusive to the person and not altering the experiment basically sitting on the sidelines Participants observation o Actually participating in the experiment without altering the situation participating incognito Limits to the Observational Method Lack of generalizability o Studying small groups have anomalies stating facts on a small group saying that it is the same throughout Studies on human behavior is different in U S and China etc Some behaviors are difficult to observe DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH cont 3 Survey Research What is it Using questionnaires to ask lots of people to report their behavior Strength Can sample a selection of people to reflect whole population trends o Do not have to ask every person to get a general understanding of how people think Limits to Survey Research Unrepresentative Sample o Random Sampling o Ex 1936 Presidential Election There was a phone survey where researchers called every 10th person to ask who they were going to vote for Very clear that Alf Landon was going to win but in the end FDR won During the Great Depression so not everyone had a telephone and the ones who did were very wealthy people Order of questions o Questions are ordered in a way to get you to answer in a particular way Question wording CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH What is it From knowing X can we predict Y When to use it When you want to understand relationships between two things and be able to predict behaviors Points to keep in mind Goal Does an association exist between X and Y DO NOT MANIPULATE anything just measure it CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH 2 Types of Correlations 1 Positive Correlation Two variables rise and fall together EX The more extraverted someone is the more parties they will attend Number of Parties Attended Extraversion Level of Outgoingness CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH 3 Types of Correlations 2 Negative Correlation When one variable rises the other falls EX The more you drink the night before an exam the lower your exam score will be Number of Alco holic Drinks Exam Score CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH 4 Types of Correlations 3 No Correlation No relationship between two variables EX The number of red sweaters in your closet has no impact on one s GPA Number of Red Sweaters GPA CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH 4 You can examine factors like sex race and age Strength Weaknesses Correlation DOES NOT prove causation Ex watching violent TV Aggression in children o They are related to eachother but does not cause the other o Caused by PARENTAL NEGLECT Third Variable Problem o Ex the more ice cream consumed in a month the more murders occur Ice Cream Murders Caused by HEAT EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH 1 What is it You manipulate some event or variable so that people experience it one way or another way and look to see if differences in behavior occur When to use it Is variable X a cause of variable Y Key terms Independent Variable IV the variable that you manipulate Dependent Variable DV the variable you measure Control variables that does not determine your results Random Assignment equal chance of getting assigned in every condition of the experiment Strengths Can determine cause and effect Gain control over the situation Weaknesses real world Lacks external validity how easy it is to apply to the STATISTICS Hold your breath and I will see how long you and the class can do it Central Tendency measures Mode most frequent data Mean the average Median the middle Others Range highest minus the lowest data Statistical significance
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