PSYCHOLOGY Chapter 2 PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH Power Point Image

PSYCHOLOGY Chapter 2 PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH Power. Point Image Slideshow

CHAPTER TOPICS • What does it mean to make observations versus make judgments. • Why do we work with data? • What is meant by observational studies? • How do researchers establish cause and effect? The Power of Experiments • Research Ethics

RESEARCH METHODS Psychological claims are about facts, and to check on these empirical claims, psychologists rely on the methods of science. A claim is an assertion. An assertion should have truth.

MAKING OBSERVATIONS • Scientific observations begin with a question or hypothesis. • The hypothesis must be testable. • This calls for an operational definition of key terms to specify the study’s dependent variable. • What does this mean? • Data must also be systematically collected. • Researchers ignore anecdotal evidence.

WHAT KINDS OF CLAIMS DO PEOPLE MAKE WITH THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF RESEARCH?

FIGURE 2. 1 How does television content impact children’s behavior? (credit: modification of work by “antisocialtory”/Flickr)

FIGURE 2. 2 Some of our ancestors, across the world and over the centuries, believed that trephination—the practice of making a hole in the skull, as shown here—allowed evil spirits to leave the body, thus, curing mental illness and other disorders. (credit: “taiproject”/Flickr)

FIGURE 2. 3 The D. A. R. E. program continues to be popular in schools around the world despite research suggesting that it is ineffective.

FIGURE 2. 4 Psychological research relies on both inductive and deductive reasoning.

FIGURE 2. 5 The scientific method of research includes proposing hypotheses, conducting research, and creating or modifying theories based on results.

TESTABLE HYPOTHESIS A prediction that has been formulated specifically enough so that it is clear what observations would confirm the prediction and what observations would challenge it. It is a specific claim about the facts that is framed in a way that will allow a clear test. This includes the assumption that the hypothesis is false.

FIGURE 2. 6 Many of the specifics of (a) Freud's theories, such as (b) his division of the mind into id, ego, and superego, have fallen out of favor in recent decades because they are not falsifiable. In broader strokes, his views set the stage for much of psychological thinking today, such as the unconscious nature of the majority of psychological processes. In research a researcher always wants to check to see if their assumptions are falsifiable. If you cannot do this experiment, such as in this case, there is no way to check for falsifiability.

FIGURE 2. 7 Seeing a police car behind you would probably affect your driving behavior. (credit: Michael Gil) Can a researcher check to see if this assumption is false or not? How so?

TYPES OF RESEARCH There are many types of research. Research falls into two main categories: 1. Quantitative 2. Qualitative

TWO MAIN TYPES OF RESEARCH q. Quantitative: Research that seeks to explain and make sense of things in your world by collecting numerical data that is analyzed using mathematics, usually statistics. Data is gathered objectively. When analyzed this data is used to make predictions or suggest relationships between and within variables.

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH q. Second main type of research. Qualitative research is designed to reveal a target audience’s range of behaviors and the perceptions that drive these actions. It uses in depth studies of small groups to guide and support the hypotheses. Qualitative research seeks to describe rather than predict. Researchers immerse themselves into what they are studying yo understand it better.

DIFFERENCES IN QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE. qhttps: //youtu. be/2 X-QSU 6 -h. PU q. These styles both use statistics, both try to rely on ethics, both try to start with observations. q. What are some of the other differences between the two?

DEFINE THE VARIABLES A variable is any characteristic you want to measure or count. This can be numbers, data item, quantity, or characteristic. Age, gender, eye color, etc. , are all variables. • Independent variables are predictor variables. They are somehow manipulated. • Dependent variables are outcome variables. You observe the predictor’s effects on the outcomes.

LETS LOOK AT SOME BRIEF RESEARCH… qhttps: //youtu. be/OSs. Pfbup 0 ac q. There are several phenomena happening in this video. I will stop the film through. Please think about the following: q. What are the potential testable hypotheses in this video? If___then _____ q. What are the variables for your study? What variables predict outcomes?

QUIZ 1 q. What is a testable hypothesis? q. Please define an independent variable. q. Please define the dependent variable. q. How would you know the difference between the two variables?

COLLECTING YOUR DATA • This must be done carefully and in a way that protects what you are trying to measure. It is as objective as possible. Why? • Start with defining your sample. • What were some of the defining characteristics of the samples in the video?

DEFINING THE SAMPLE • Based on observations of a sample, psychologists want to draw conclusions about a broad population. • Random sampling • All members of the population have an equal chance of being picked to participate. • Researchers also use other procedures, including case studies. A case study is where one issue, person, or group is studied.

FIGURE 2. 9 Surveys can be administered in a number of ways, including electronically administered research, like the survey shown here. (credit: Robert Nyman)

QUIZ 2 q. Please define quantitative research. q. Please define qualitative research. q. What are the differences between these two types of research? q. Please define a “sample” in psychological research.

DEFINE THE VARIABLES A variable is any characteristic you want to measure or count. This can be numbers, data item, quantity, or characteristic. Age, gender, eye color, etc. , are all variables. • Independent variables are predictor variables. They are somehow manipulated. • Dependent variables are outcome variables. You observe the predictor’s effects on the outcomes.

CONFOUNDING VARIABLES • These are the extra variables. They are in your sample. • These are variables that you may not have the time or the money to factor in. • They influence the outcomes but they are not being measured.

WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL CONFOUNDING VARIABLES HERE? qhttps: //youtu. be/v. BPG_OBg. TWg q. What are the potential variables, that are not being measured or considered, in these experiments?

VALIDITY q. External: Can the outcomes from the research be generalized to other samples or populations? q. Internal: Does the research measure what it states it will measure? Do the variables show cause and effect? Is the relationship between the variables clearly shown?

VIDEO AND VALIDITY q. What were some of the problems in regards to validity with the experiments done in the change blindness video?

ASSESSING EXTERNAL VALIDITY • One concern here involves the study’s possible demand characteristics: • cues that can signal to participants how they’re supposed to behave. • One way of avoiding this problem is to use a double-blind design. This is where neither the data collector nor the participant know the hypotheses.

FIGURE 2. 16 Providing the control group with a placebo treatment protects against bias caused by expectancy. (credit: Elaine and Arthur Shapiro)

VALIDITY qhttps: //youtu. be/Ex. AICQFe. FJI q. Discussion.

QUIZ 3 q. What are confounding variables? q. What is validity? q. What is external validity? q. What is internal validity?

RELIABILITY q. In order to be valid, the research must first be considered reliable. q. To show reliability in research the variables must be stable or constant. q. This means if the study is replicated, the variables, and the ways they are measured, should look the same as they did in the first study.

RELIABILITY q. Consistency, or variable stability, should be seen across similar studies, when there different raters, across the tests and measures used, etc. q. Types include inter-rater, internal consistency, test-retest, and parallel forms.

QUIZ 4 q. Please define reliability. q. What is inter-rater reliability? q. What is test-retest reliability?

CORRELATIONS • Researchers use correlations to summarize the pattern of data. • Are changes in one measurement linked to changes in another measurement? • Correlations can be used to: • check on reliability of measurements. • assess each measure’s validity. • Assess for possible links. Correlation is not cause and effect.

WHAT DO THESE STATISTICS MEAN? q. I am going to show you a set of statistics. I would like you to pay attention to the following: q. If issues are “linked” what does this really mean? q. Does it just mean correlated, or does it mean one caused the other? qhttps: //youtu. be/pa. G 0 Mv. X 8 g 1 s

CAUSE AND EFFECT • Assessing cause and effect • requires experiments that change some aspect of a situation and show the results. • Must treat experimental group and control group exactly the same • except for the experimental manipulation.

SAME STATS qhttps: //youtu. be/pa. G 0 Mv. X 8 g 1 s q. What do these mean now? q. Be conscious about what you read. q. It is always good to obtain more than one source of information to back a claim or assertion.

QUIZ 5 q. What does correlation mean in research? q. What does “cause and effect” mean in research? q. What are observational studies?

THE POWER OF EXPERIMENTS • Scientific conclusions rarely rest on a single experiment. • To confirm or disconfirm the hypothesis, the experiment must be: • scrutinized by other researchers. • replicated through subsequent studies.

RESEARCH ETHICS • Researchers must take precautions to protect the study participants’: • physical well-being. • privacy. • autonomy. • dignity.

RESEARCH ETHICS • If ethical requirements conflict with procedures needed to ensure a study’s validity, then all risks to the participants must be minimized. • Any remaining risks must be fully justified on scientific grounds.

THURSDAY q. In Class assignment.

FIGURE 2. 17 In an experiment, manipulations of the independent variable are expected to result in changes in the dependent variable. (credit “automatic weapon”: modification of work by Daniel Oines; credit “toy gun”: modification of work by Emran Kassim)

FIGURE 2. 18 Researchers may work with (a) a large population or (b) a sample group that is a subset of the larger population. (credit “crowd”: modification of work by James Cridland; credit “students”: modification of work by Laurie Sullivan)

FIGURE 2. 19 Some people still think vaccinations cause autism. (credit: modification of work by UNICEF Sverige)

FIGURE 2. 20 An institution’s IRB meets regularly to review experimental proposals that involve human participants. (credit: modification of work by Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE)/Flickr)

FIGURE 2. 21 A participant in the Tuskegee Syphilis Study receives an injection.

FIGURE 2. 22 Rats, like the one shown here, often serve as the subjects of animal research.

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