Chapter 2 Doing Social Psychology Research Beginning the Research Process Every social psychology study begins with a question A hypothesis is an explicit testable prediction about the conditions under which an event will occur Describes a relationship between events Tests a theory A theory is an organized set of principles used to predicts and explain observed events Less than fact Evaluated on simplicity comprehensiveness and generality Leads to new hypotheses and further research Scientific shorthand Basic research seeks to increase our understanding of human behavior by testing a hypothesis from a theory Applied research makes use of theories or methods to enlarge our understanding of naturally occurring events and contribute to the solution of social problems Kurt Lewin helped integrate these two types of research Defining and Measuring Social Psychological Variables Conceptual variables are abstract and general they need to be converted into measurable statistics called operational definition of the variable Construct validity involves the extent to which Manipulations really manipulate the conceptual variables they are designed to Measures really measure the conceptual variables they are designed to Measuring variables is typically done in one of two ways Self Reports o Participants disclose their thoughts feelings desires and actions o Not always accurate could be misleading wording issues o Ex Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale o Bogus Pipeline Technique participants are led to believe that their responses will be verified by an infallible lie detector people will be more accurate with self reports and endorse socially unacceptable opinions more frequently Interval Contingent respondents report their experiences at regular intervals o o Signal Contingent respondents report their experiences as soon as possible after being signaled to do so o Event Contingent respondents report on a designated set of events as soon as possible after such events have occurred Observations o Technology Interrater Reliability level of agreement among multiple observers of the same behavior different observers must agree o Avoids sometimes faulty recollections distorted interpretations o Not always accurate bias if they know they are being observed o Changes in heart rate hormone levels sexual arousal brain imaging Research Designs Research methods must contain objective systematic and quantifiable approaches The most popular research method in social psychology is experimentation Descriptive research describe people and their thoughts feelings and behaviors Observational Studies ex Bullying Archival Studies o Examining existing records o No bias based on researcher presence o However records are not always complete o Ex Historical trends Surveys o Good for testing variables unethical to perform experiments on o Four potential biases unrepresentative samples order of questions response options and wording of questions o Random sampling method of selection where everyone in population has an equal chance of being selected for a sample ensures that samples are representative of a population o Ex Politics sexual behavior Correlational research uses same methods of conducting studies but measures the relationship between different variables use correlation coefficient Can study associations of naturally occurring variables that cannot be manipulated examine events unethical to experiment with Correlation is not causation correlation cannot demonstrate a cause and effect relationship Correlations tell researchers about the strength and direction of relationship between variables allowing them to use one variable to predict the other Can be used to develop highly accurate predictions of future events Experiments are used to examine cause and effect relationships Most popular research method in social psychology usually in lab setting Researcher has control over procedures and variables ensures differences dependent variables obtained are produced only by manipulations independent variables Random Assignment participants are randomly selected not assigned based on their personal or behavioral characteristics each have equal chance Subject variables characterize preexisting differences among subjects Internal validity states that there is reasonable certainty that the independent variable did in fact cause the effects obtained on the dependent variable ensures that an experiment was properly conducted enforced by experimenter control and random assignment o Experimenter Expectancy Effects results you find in your experiment may be produced by your own actions rather than by the independent variable External validity the extent to which the results obtained under one set of circumstances would also occur in a different set of circumstances o Demonstrates that findings in an experiment can be generalized to other people and to other situations o Participants and setting affect external validity o Representative samples are difficult to obtain convenience samples often used o Mundane Realism degree to which the research setting resembles the real world setting of interest or everyday situations o Experimental Realism degree to which the experimental setting and procedures are real and involving to the participant o Deception providing participants with false info about experimental procedures to create a highly involving experience some experimenters use confederates who act as participants in the study Random Sampling vs Assignment BOTH representative of a population SAMPLING how individuals are selected to be in a study ASSIGNMENT assigning individuals already in study to various conditions Meta Analysis is another type of study that uses a set of statistical procedures to examine relevant research that has already been conducted and reported combining studies together summarizing results Ethics and Values in Social Psychology Institutional Review Boards IRBs review research proposals The code of ethics for researchers includes informed consent where individuals must be asked whether they wish to participate in the research and need enough info about the study to make an informed decision It also includes debriefing where researchers must go over all procedures explaining exactly what happened and why after the data is already collected Ethical principles are based on moral values Demand Characteristics cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behavior is expected these should not occur