Dissatisfaction with other’s theoriesA summary of Research Methods:DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCHWhen to use it?What is it?What is it?DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH cont.3. Survey ResearchWhat is it?Limits to Survey ResearchCORRELATIONAL RESEARCHWhat is it?When to use it?CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH – 2CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH – 3CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH – 4What is it?When to use it?Control – variables that does not determine your resultsRandom Assignment – equal chance of getting assigned in every condition of the experimentOUTLINE – Modules 4, 5, 6, 56, 571/27/12Psychological Research1. The need for psychological science- Problems with common senseo2. Research Methods in PsychologyA. The scientific methodB. Descriptive researchC. Correlational researchD. Experimentation4. Statistical significance in psychologyThe Need for Psychological Science(Limits of common sense)1. Overconfidence2. 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 predictionWhere do hypotheses come from? - Your Theories Dissatisfaction with other’s theorieso 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 QUESTIONS ANSWEREDDescriptive Description - What is the nature of the phenomenon?Correlational Prediction – From knowing X canwe predict Y?Experimental Causality – Is variable X a cause of variable Y?DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCHWhen to use it? What is the nature of the behavior?1. Case StudyWhat is it? Examine one person in depth to understand human nature in general Ex. Phinneas Gageo Before the accident with the beam striking his skull, he was very laid back and mellowo After the accident, personality changed Became more aggressiveo Researchers concluded that the frontier lobe had an effect on one’s personalityLimits to Case Studies: Atypicality Limited generalizability2. Observational ResearchWhat is it?Researcher observes people and systematically records measurements of their behaviorTwo types: Unobtrusive observationo 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 observationo Actually participating in the experiment without altering the situation – participating incognitoLimits to the Observational Method: Lack of generalizabilityo 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 observeDESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH cont.3. Survey ResearchWhat is it?Using questionnaires to ask lots of people to report their behaviorStrength: Can sample a selection of people to reflect whole population trendso Do not have to ask every person to get a general understanding of how people thinkLimits to Survey Research Unrepresentative Sampleo Random Samplingo Ex. 1936 Presidential Election There was a phone survey where researcherscalled 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 wordingCORRELATIONAL RESEARCHWhat 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 behaviorsPoints to keep in mind:- Goal: Does an association exist between X and Y?- DO NOT MANIPULATE anything, just measure itCORRELATIONAL RESEARCH – 2Types of Correlations:1. Positive Correlation:Two variables rise and fall togetherEX: The more extraverted someone is, the more parties they will attend.Extraversion (Level of Outgoingness)Number ofPartiesAttendedCORRELATIONAL RESEARCH – 3Types of Correlations:2. Negative Correlation:When one variable rises the other fallsEX: The more you drink the night before an exam, the lower your exam score will be.Exam ScoreNumber ofAlco-holicDrinksCORRELATIONAL RESEARCH – 4Types of Correlations:3. No Correlation:No relationship between two variablesEX: The number of red sweaters in your closet has noimpact on one’s GPA.GPANumber ofRedSweatersCORRELATIONAL RESEARCH – 4Strength:- You can examine factors like sex, race, and ageWeaknesses:- Correlation DOES NOT prove causation- Ex. watching violent TV Aggression in childreno They are related to eachother but does not cause the othero Caused by PARENTAL NEGLECT- Third Variable Problemo Ex. the more ice cream consumed in a month, themore murders occurIce Cream Murders??? Caused by HEATEXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH – 1What 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 occurWhen to use it?Is variable X a cause of variable Y?Key terms:Independent Variable (IV) – the variable that you manipulateDependent Variable (DV) – the variable you measureControl – variables that does not determine your resultsRandom Assignment – equal chance of getting assigned inevery condition of the experimentStrengths:- Can determine cause and effect- Gain control over the situationWeaknesses:- Lacks external validity - how easy it is to apply to thereal worldSTATISTICS“Hold your breath and I will see how long you and theclass can do it”Central Tendency measures:- Mode – most frequent data- Mean – the average- Median - the middle Others:- Range – highest minus the lowest data- Statistical
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