PSY 2700 Social Psychology Dr' Neff

1
PSY 2700 Social Psychology Dr. Neff

• RESEARCH
• METHODS
• Chapter 2

2
Announcements!

• Questions? Come see me in UH 6524 during office
  hours T,Th 2pm - 4pm, or by appointment or see
  Elizabeth (Office UH 6506) on MW 10-12
• Also dont forget you can download slides at
  www.psychology.utoledo.edu/neffpsy2700

3
Announcements!

• Remember, the extra credit information sheet
  about yourself is due by Tues. Sept 4th. This
  sheet should include
• A picture of yourself
• The following information
• Name (and nickname), Major and Hometown
• Why are you taking social psychology?
• Future plans
• Something interesting about yourself

4
How do we study social behavior?

• Theory a general explanation of a phenomenon.
• E.g., Spousal abuse is the result of hormonal
  imbalances.
• Hypothesis a specific, testable, and
  disconfirmable statement of the theory we want to
  study
• E.g., Spouses who engage in abuse should have
  higher levels of Hormone X than spouses who dont
  abuse.

5
How do we study social behavior?

• Construct abstract ideas measured by social
  science research
• Examples - love, intelligence, aggression
• Operationalization the translation of an
  abstract construct into concrete terms so that
  theories about that construct can be tested
• Example love time spent gazing into partners
  eyes

6
Methods of Operationalization

• Behavioral Observation
• Advantage - can watch how people actually behave
  in a situation
• Disadvantage hard to observe some things (e.g.,
  peoples feelings)
• Self-Report
• Advantage - can collect data on peoples
  thoughts, beliefs
• Disadvantage may not provide accurate
  information

7
How well are constructs operationalized?

• Construct validity The extent to which a
  measure of a construct is a good and valid
  measure of that construct.
• Am I really measuring what I say I am measuring?
• Is eye-gazing a good measure of love?

8
Types of Social Science Research

• Correlational research - determines whether two
  naturally occurring variables are related to one
  another used to predict behavior
• Example Is work stress related to marital
  happiness?
• Measure how much work stress spouses have
• Measure their marital satisfaction
• Is there a relationship between how much stress
  people have and how happy they are?

9
What can we conclude from correlations?

• The direction of the relationship btwn variables
• Positive correlation as X increases, Y increases
  
• Negative correlation as X increases, Y decreases
  
• Zero correlation as X increases, Y neither
  increases or decreases

10
What can we conclude from correlations?

• The strength of the relationship
• Correlations range from 1 to 1
• Strength is indicated by the number, ignoring the
  sign
• Which is stronger?
• .3 or .8?
• .4 or -.6?
• .8 or -.8?

11
Advantages of Correlational Research

• Can be used to study variables that you cannot
  experimentally manipulate (ethically or
  practically)
• Almost all medical research is correlational!!
• All gender research is correlational

12
Disadvantages of Correlational Research

• CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION!

13
Possible Explanations for a Correlation btwn X
and Y

• X causes Y
• Y causes X
• The relationship between X and Y may be the
  result of a third variable that causes both X and
  Y

14
Issues Related to Correlational Research

• Random Sampling selecting participants so that
  every individual in the population being studied
  has an equal opportunity of being included in the
  sample
• ensures that your sample is a good representation
  of the population
• Literary Digest survey

15
Types of Social Science Research

• Experimental research
• Manipulate one factor while controlling other
  factors (holding them constant)
• Allows you to determine whether X CAUSES Y used
  to explain behavior

16
Four defining features of an experiment

• Dependent variable (DV) the variable you are
  interested in measuring
• Independent variable (IV) the variable you
  manipulate the variable believed to cause the
  dependent variable
• Two groups one is exposed to the IV
  (experimental condition) and the other is not
  (control condition). Then compare the two groups.

17
Example Lady in Distress Study

• Question How does the presence of others affect
  helping behavior?
• ½ of participants were alone ½ were in the room
  with a stranger
• Who helped? 70 of those alone 40 of those with
  stranger
• What is the IV?
• Whether they were in room alone or with stranger
• What is the DV?
• Whether or not participants helped

18
What if these were your groups?
In presence of others group
Alone group
19
Four defining features of an experiment

• Random assignment - Process of assigning
  participants to the experimental conditions, such
  that each participant has the same chance of
  being in a given condition
• ensures results are due to the manipulation and
  not due to other factors (e.g., participants
  personalities)
• Control all factors other than the IV must be
  held constant
• Still not sure? Replication, replication,
  replication!

20
NOTE

• DO NOT CONFUSE RANDOM SAMPLING AND RANDOM
  ASSIGNMENT.
• Random Samplinghow do you choose your sample?
  (Correlational studies)
• Random Assignmentonce you have your sample, how
  do you assign them to conditions? (Experimental
  studies)

21
Disadvantages of Experimental Research

• External validity the extent to which the
  results of an experiment can be generalized to
  other real-world settings
• results may not be valid outside the lab
• Demand characteristics cues that suggest the
  experimenter wants participants to behave in a
  certain way leads to unnatural behavior
• Boredom Tolerance Study

22
Name that method!

• A researcher is interested in the relationship
  between caffeine consumption and level of stress.
  She has participants keep a diary for one week
  during which they count the number of cups of
  coffee, tea, and cola-based soft drinks they
  consume, as well as recording consumption of
  chocolate and medications that have caffeine as
  an ingredient. In addition, participants complete
  a measure of daily hassles experienced during
  the week.

23
Name that method!

• Researchers are interested in influences on
  self-esteem. Participants are given a set of
  anagram problems to solve in a five minute time
  limit. Half are randomly assigned to receive very
  easy anagrams, and half are given difficult ones.
  After completing as many of the anagrams as they
  can, participants are given a questionnaire
  labeled Thoughts and Feelings Questionnaire
  that is really a measure of self-esteem.

24
Conclusions

• If there is no random assignment, it is not an
  experiment
• If it is not an experiment, you cant make causal
  conclusions