Psych 100 Lecture 3 Fall 13 Wede Lecture 3 Methodology Why do the number of assaults increase when ice cream sales increase The Scientific Method Steps details can vary 1 Perceive noticing something in the environment Notice when kids watch violent TV they may act out violently 2 Hypothesize possible explanation for why things happen Find the best theories out there explaining the possibilities of why 3 Test experiments case studies 4 Draw conclusions based on test results you decide if things support or reject your hypothesis Can never prove something is true everything can be redefined 5 Report Revise Replicate critical part of sci 6 Repeat sci is a never ending process Research Design Specific method a researcher uses to collect analyze and interpret data Three types Descriptive research Correlational research Experimental research Descriptive Research Naturalistic Observation observe people or animals in their natural environments Advantages realistic behaviors rather than in a lab they may change behavior Disadvantages when people are being watched they behave differently people watching may be biased come to rash conclusions Laboratory Observation bring people into lab ex Classroom watch them under more controlled conditions Advantages specialized equipment is available in labs Disadvantages may not get the same behaviors in the natural environment in the lab people are aware they are being watched and that may give less accurate results Case Studies study one individual or a couple in great details Advantages extensive studies on a personal characteristic a lot of info 1 2013 Wede Psych 100 Lecture 3 Fall 13 Wede Disadvantages we doesn t know if what we find with those people will apply to anyone else don t know if those results will generalize Survey technique for ascertaining the self reported attitudes opinions or behaviors of people o Representative sample is key need this to represent the whole population o Random sampling ea member of a population has an chance of being selected o Problems with surveys Wording effect the way you word statements questions can affect the outcome Stay away from double negatives Ex Of the holocaust questions Knowledge people you are surveying need to understand the words used in the question what you re asking Summary Case studies surveys and naturalistic observation all describe behaviors Generally easy and inexpensive to get data Problem is that they may not be representative of the population you re interested in Inexpensive a lot of data a small amt of time Correlation a measure of the relationship between two variables ex How tall you are and the size of Correlational research your shoes taller people tend to have larger shoes Range 1 0 to 1 0 Weakest possible correlation is 1 0 Variable anything that changes or varies Positive vs negative relationships income and edu smoking and health A Scatterplot a graph comprised of points generated by values of two variables The slope of points depicts the direction and the amount of scatter indicates the strength of relationship Important to visually look at your data and scatterplots allow you to do just that Correlation and Causation CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION Ice cream sales go up so does assault both are related to the outdoor temp When it s hotter out people crave ice cream but are also more aggressive Illusory Correlation perception of a relationship where none exists humans try to find the relationships b t things always looking for answers 2 2013 Wede Psych 100 Lecture 3 Fall 13 Wede Superstitions no relationship has ever been found Stereotypes and prejudice Order in random events People are always looking for patterns in our environment Given large number of random outcomes a few are likely to express order Experimentation backbones of psychology Like other sciences experimentation forms the backbone of research in psychology Allow us to isolate causes and their effects manipulate something of interest Exploring Cause and Effect Many factors influence our behavior The goal of an experiment is to manipulate variable of interest while controlling everything else Variables Independent variable IV variable that s manipulated by the experimenter Has an effect on the dependent variable The variable that is manipulated Dependent variables proposed to change in response to independent variable Measured by the experimenter Random assignment key to experimentation Minimizes individual differences Ea Person has equal chance to be in any condition of the experiment Random assignment vs random Ritalin ex Independent variable Ritalin placebo control dependent variable positive classroom behaviors compare these two groups There will be some good and bad in each group Mass studying IV type of studying distributed vs massed DV score of exam memory test Any diff view in the score is due to the random assignment Measuring people s GPA clicker question correlation does not equal causation studying more causes your GPA to go up WRONG CORRELATION DOES NOT CAUSATION 3 2013 Wede Psych 100 Lecture 3 Fall 13 Wede Describing Data Meaningful description of data is important in research Truck graphs misleading information is represented with the y axis You can magnify the diff of data by changing the number range on a graph Misrepresentation can lead to incorrect conclusions 1 Measures of central tendency best number to summarize your data with some are better than others depends on the shape of the distribution a Mode most frequently occurring score in a distribution list of all scores b Mean The arithmetic average of scores in a distribution obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by their number c Median middle score in a rank ordered distribution WHEN THE DATA IS SKEWED THIS IS THE BETTER MEASURE OF CENTRAL TENDENCY 2 Measure of variation a Range diff b t highest and lowest scores in distribution b Standard deviation computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean 4 2013 Wede
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