New Material Research Methods Final Exam Overview of Final Exam The Final Exam will be 60 70 Multiple Choice Questions It should take roughly 1 hour to complete but you have the full 2 It will we be roughly equally divided between Exam 1 Exam 2 and hours new material Roughly 65 about research design concepts and scenarios and ethics 35 about statistics interpreting SPSS output The only calculations required will be for z scores I will again provide you with a table and the two formulas Please bring a calculator Questions will be based primarily on information in the lecture slides in class lecture For studying purposes the readings are probably best used as a reference when something from your notes or the slides is unclear If a topic or term is not on the outline below it will NOT be on the Items with an asterisk may be helpful to review for the State Mandated Quiz as well exam Content of State Mandated Quiz for Research Methods in Psychology OVERVIEW The State Mandated Quiz is given to all students at Florida public universities who take Psychology Research Methods Professors are NOT allowed to specifically review for this assessment because it is meant to be a straightforward reflection of students understanding of the key ideas from the course All we are allowed to tell our students is that the Quiz will be 39 questions that are derived from the 5 content areas below In our classes we have covered everything you will need to know and we have covered it in more detail and specificity than the quiz will I also curve this assessment since I don t have any control over the questions that are asked Just do your best 1 Scientific Method Items will assess knowledge of the scientific method as it is applied in psychological research This includes knowing how to formulate testable research hypotheses how to evaluate plausible alternative hypotheses for one s findings the importance of replication identifying the differences between science and pseudo science and the differences between experimental and correlational studies 2 Statistical Applications Items will assess knowledge of how statistical tests are commonly used in psychological research This includes choosing the appropriate statistical test for a particular research design and interpreting the results of statistical tests such as a correlation t test and ANOVA 3 Measurement Principles Items will assess knowledge of measurement principles including the different types of scales ratio interval etc that can be used in research and the concepts of reliability and validity 4 Consumers of Research Items will assess knowledge of what is involved in being a good consumer of research This includes knowing how to locate within the scientific literature existing research on a psychological topic and knowing what is included in the important elements Introduction Methods etc of scientific articles 5 Research Ethics Items will assess knowledge of what constitutes ethical treatment of human and animal research subjects as well as procedures for insuring that researchers comply with these principles Topic Outline for Exam 1 Ch 3 8 29 9 3 lecture The Science Game The Cycle of Scientific Progress Ch 1 Ch 2 The Science Game The Cycle of Scientific Progress 3 non scientific modes of understanding their limits Experience What seems to have been true for me in the past Intuition Tradition What feels like the true answer Authority What does my culture believe to be true What do trusted and knowledgeable people claim to be true Empirical evidence an observation or measurement that contributes to either verifying or falsifying a claim about what s true Independent of the observer i e objective The evidence will be the same no matter who observes it Empirical testing Any situation or procedure that creates empirical evidence which allows a claim on truth to be verified or falsified Empirical tests must be replicable and verifiable Golden Rule Scientific claims i e answers must be subject to empirical tests that produce empirical evidence Golden Assumption If an object of study exists in nature it is Knowable In other words its possible to fully DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN even highly complex things like brains beliefs time and romantic relationships The Object of Study is Lawful If we could perfectly control all of the input variables we could perfectly PREDICT and CONTROL the outcome Golden Caveat The findings of our science are conditional and probabilistic In other words we discover the conditions under which phenomena tend to occur for the majority of people There will always be exceptions to our findings because there are always conditions or variables we can t control for The Cycle of Scientific Progress The role of If Then reasoning in If Then reasoning enables us to test and refine theories If Then reasoning also enables us to take basic findings and apply them to more realistic scenarios Social Learning Theory Bandura 1977 We are conditioned by social norms to behave in certain ways Parental Investment Theory Trivers 1971 The sex that bares the greater cost risk of pregnancy and child rearing will be biologically motivated to be choosier and more cautious theories Theory Data cycles If Then reasoning enables us to test and refine Basic Applied Cycle If Then reasoning also enables us to take basic findings and apply them to more realistic scenarios Theory Testing Multiple levels of analysis We need multiple Levels of Analysis to explain human behavior from the biological up to the socio cultural Its not Nature vs Nurture its both External Validity generalizability W E I R D samples W E I R D Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic Individual s from W E I R D cultures represent a historical anomaly and act like outliers in cross cultural research more often than we might expect Operationalizing Measures Ch 5 9 5 lecture Psychological construct Definition of a Psychological Construct Any explanatory variable that is not directly observable or tangible Ex Intelligence happiness addiction Operationalized definitions Turning abstract constructs into specific measurable instances that are both reliable and valid Multiple ways to Operationalize psychological constructs It needs to be Valid the operationalized measure is actually capturing what it claims to be measuring capturing the whole construct as best and completely and precisely as possible The meter stick example It needs to be Reliable the operationalized measure produces consistent
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