CHAPTER 4 LO S 1 Be familiar with the three decisions that must be made when conducting observational methods a Will the observation occur in a natural or contrived setting b Will the participants know when they are being observed c How will the participants behavior be recorded 2 Be familiar with and be able to describe the solutions to reactivity a Unobtrusive measures measures that can be taken without b Conducting a disguised observation c Knowledgeable informants participants knowing that they are being studied observe behavior i e friends or DIS students letting participants know they are being observed while withholding information about which aspect of the participant s behavior is being recorded unsuspected confederates may d Partial concealment strategy 3 Know the four categories of behavioral recording and be able to provide an example of each a Narratives approach non numerical describe all behaviors during situation qualitative i Example Piaget s studies of children s cognitive development b Checklists analysis converting text to data did the behavior happen coding systems and content i Example Interaction Process Analysis checklist to study group interaction where observers record when any of 12 specific behaviors are observed c Temporal measures time i Example task completion time d Rating scales intensity i Example How hard did a participant push someone 4 Know the two methods by which data is collected in survey research a method of data collection in which respondents a Questionnaires provide written answers to written questions Interviews respond verbally to a researcher s questions b a method of data collection in which respondents 5 Know why behavioral researchers conduct survey research a Because often times practical and ethical issues often make direct observation implausible or impossible 6 What are the advantages and disadvantages of using questionnaires a Pros b Cons i i Require less extensive training of researchers ii Can be administered to groups of people simultaneously iii Usually less expensive iv Less time consuming v Participant responses can be kept anonymous results in more honest answers from participants If respondents are drawn from general population questionnaires are inappropriate for those who are functionally illiterate ii Not all previously published questionnaires are reliable and valid 7 Understand the challenges to question construction and the specific Questions are specific and precise pitfalls to look out for a Make sure 1 2 Questions are short and uncomplicated 3 You avoid unwarranted assumptions 4 You avoid double barreled questions 5 You avoid loaded questions 6 You avoid negative wording 7 Conditional information precedes key idea of the item 8 You choose an appropriate response format 9 You pretest the items 8 Know the three response formats used in questionnaires a Free response open ended unstructured response b Rating scale response c Multiple choice fixed alternative response choose one response from a set of possible alternatives 9 Be familiar with types of archival research a Census data b Court records c Personal letters d Newspaper reports e Magazine articles f Government documents g Economic data CHAPTER 6 LO S 1 Be able to identify types of survey designs cross sectional longitudinal successive independent samples a Cross sectional b Longitudinal a Survey of one sample at a time a Survey the same sample at two or more different times i Attrition drop out can be a problem here c Successive independent samples a Survey of two or more samples at different times 2 What is attrition and why is it a problem with longitudinal designs a Defined When a participant drops out of a study b Why is it problematic Because the sample will no longer be the same as before as it was when the participant was there 3 Understand how social desirability might bias survey results a Lowers the validity of certain measures furthermore the instrument no longer measures whatever it was supposed to measure instead it measures participants proclivity for responding in a socially desirable fashion 4 Understand the characteristics purposes strengths and weaknesses of a survey a Strengths a Most common used in virtually every area of social and behavioral science b Weaknesses a For some types longitudinal i Not all respondents who were surveyed initially can be reached for later follow up sessions ii Attrition drop out causes the sample to no longer be the same since past participants are no longer present a To provide a description of people s behaviors thoughts or c Purposes feelings d Characteristics a Type of descriptive research b Uses questionnaires interviews or observational techniques to collect data 5 Know the definition of and be able to calculate the mean median mode range variance and standard deviation from a dataset a Definitions b Calculations a Mean the mathematical average of a set of scores b Median the score that falls at the 50th percentile c Mode the most frequent score in a distribution d Range a measure of variability that is equal to the difference between the largest and smallest scores in a set of data e Variance a numerical index of the variability in a set of f data Standard Deviation a measure of variability that is equal to the square root of the variance a Mean find the sum of a set of scores and divide that by the number amount of scores b Median rank the numbers of a data set in order from smallest to largest then starting from both ends of the set move inward until you reach the middle number c Mode find the number that occurs the most in a data set there can also be multiple modes d Range take the lowest score in a data set and subtract it from the highest score e Variance find the mean of the set of scores subtract the mean from each score aka the deviation score square the deviation scores sum the squared deviation scores divide that number by n 1 n is the amount of scores in the data set f Standard deviation Calculate the variance and take the square root of that 6 Be familiar with the distribution of scores around the mean in a normal distribution 68 95 99 7 Why is normal distribution important to understand a Distributions a 68 falls within 1 standard deviation of the mean b 95 falls within 2 standard deviations of the mean c 99 7 falls within 3 standard deviations of the mean b Why important a So we can tell how much the data vary and also how they are distributed across various ranges of scores 7 Know
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