Chapter 2 Psychological Methods SECTION 1 CONDUCTING RESEARCH

Conducting Research • Psychology, like chemistry and biology, is an experimental science. • Assumptions

• Psychologists use a variety of research methods to study behavior and mental

Five Steps • Forming a research question • Forming a hypothesis • Testing the

Forming a Research Question • Many research questions arise from daily experience. • Other

• Psychologists will ask… • Is it true that pairs or groups of

Forming a Hypothesis • A hypothesis is an educated guess. • “If – then”

Testing the Hypothesis • A hypothesis cannot be considered to be correct until it

Analyzing the Results • What do the findings mean? • Collect a lot of

Drawing Conclusions • Once psychologists have analyzed their research observations, they draw conclusions about

Reflection • Even when a study carefully follows proper procedures, its findings might just

• Sometimes scientists repeat a study under slightly different circumstances. • Repeat a

New Questions • Whether the findings of a research study support or contradict the

Slides: 13

Download presentation

Chapter 2 Psychological Methods SECTION 1: CONDUCTING RESEARCH

Conducting Research • Psychology, like chemistry and biology, is an experimental science. • Assumptions must be supported by evidence.

• Psychologists use a variety of research methods to study behavior and mental processes which differ from each other in a number of ways, but regardless of the method psychologists are using, they tend to follow the same general procedure in conducting research.

Five Steps • Forming a research question • Forming a hypothesis • Testing the hypothesis • Analyzing the results • Drawing conclusion

Forming a Research Question • Many research questions arise from daily experience. • Other research questions arise out of psychological theory. • Research questions also arise from folklore and common knowledge. • Two heads are better than one, opposites attract, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

• Psychologists will ask… • Is it true that pairs or groups of people solve problems more effectively than people working alone? • Are people with opposite personality traits really attracted to each other? • Is beauty a matter of individual preference, or are there common standards for beauty?

Forming a Hypothesis • A hypothesis is an educated guess. • “If – then” statement. • The accuracy of a hypothesis can be tested.

Testing the Hypothesis • A hypothesis cannot be considered to be correct until it has been scientifically tested and proved to be right. • A hypothesis must be able to be tested.

Analyzing the Results • What do the findings mean? • Collect a lot of information or data. • Test your hypothesis multiple times. • The more information collected, the more complex a task it is to analyze it. • Psychologists look for patterns and relationships in the data.

Drawing Conclusions • Once psychologists have analyzed their research observations, they draw conclusions about their questions and their hypothesis. • When their observations do not support their hypothesis, they often must change theories or beliefs from which they hypothesis was derived. • Psychologists need to keep open minds.

Reflection • Even when a study carefully follows proper procedures, its findings might just represent a random occurrence. • For the findings of a study to be confirmed, the study must be replicated – the study must be repeated and it must produce the same results as before.

• Sometimes scientists repeat a study under slightly different circumstances. • Repeat a study using a different set of participants. • Researches might want to replicate a study using participants who differ not only in gender but also in age, ethnicity, social and economic background, education, and geographic setting.

New Questions • Whether the findings of a research study support or contradict the hypothesis of that study, they are likely to lead to new research questions. • Once new questions have been asked, the process begins all over again.