Part III: Designing Psychological Research

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Part III Designing Psychological Research

• In Part II of the course, we discussed what it
  means to measure psychological variables, and how
  to do so.
• Now that were familiar with the basics, we can
  get to some of the really interesting stuff.

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Where do we get our questions?

• One reason why we want to measure psychological
  variables is that we have questions we would like
  to answer about those variables.
• One thing that young researchers often have
  difficulty with is generating interesting
  research questions.

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• Take 5 minutes to think about some of the big
  psychological questions

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Here are 3 of my Top 10

• Is it possible for subjective things, such as
  thoughts, memories, and feelings, to emerge from
  non-subjective things, such as neurons and
  chemicals?
• To what extent does human thought, feeling, and
  motivation reflect our evolutionary history?
• Are there ways to organize a society such that
  human suffering is minimized, yet human freedom
  is not compromised?

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Answers versus Constraints

• To some extent, these questions seem like the
  kinds of questions that philosophers might lose
  sleep overthey seem unanswerable.
• But, lets say we found evidence that certain
  chemicals or drugs made us feel safe. This kind
  of finding would constrain the way we think about
  the first question. . . right?

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Answers versus Constraints

• In this respect, it is often useful to begin by
  thinking about some of the deeper, interesting
  issues concerning psychology when youre
  beginning a research study.
• If your research can help constrain or limit the
  way we think about a question, then you have
  helped to make a big contribution to
  understanding the phenomenon.

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Answers versus Constraints

• Example Here is a big question To what
  extent does human behavior reflect an
  evolutionary past (i.e., one shared with
  non-human animals and that originated prior to
  human civilization)?
• Here is a more tractable research question In
  what proportion of mammalian species do infants
  exhibit fear-like behavior when separated from
  their mothers?

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Answers versus Constraints

• Once weve operationalized our variables (e.g.,
  fear-like behavior), we can, in principle, answer
  the question.
• We could study, lets say, a random sample of 100
  mammalian species and see how many of them
  exhibit fear under these circumstances.
• Does it answer the big question. No. But, it
  does have an impact on how we think about the
  bigger question. If we found that 100 of
  mammals behaved in this manner, we would think
  about the issue much differently than if we found
  that 2 of mammals behaved in this manner. The
  answer constrains the way we think.

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Applied and Basic Research

• Not all kinds of research questions are of this
  philosophical kind.
• Oftentimes were confronted with practical
  problems for which we need solutions
• Does sending criminals to prison help reduce or
  increase the likelihood that they will commit
  crimes in the future?
• Will providing people with health-related
  information help change peoples health behavior?

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Applied and Basic Research

• Some psychologists call these kinds of questions
  applied, in contrast to basic questions.
• In short, basic questions are usually researched
  in an attempt to better understand some
  psychological phenomenon of theoretical or
  philosophical interest.
• Applied research is usually conducted to solve a
  more tangible, practical problem (e.g., evaluate
  a treatment program).

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Applied and Basic Research

• It is easy to view these different goals as if
  they are in competition.
• However, it is important to keep in mind that
  applied problems are typically rooted in or
  inform a deeper theoretical issue.
• criminality What is the nature of society
  human motives?
• health behavior How can we make deep and
  enduring changes in the way people think and
  behave?

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Applied and Basic Research

• A basic understanding of a phenomenon is useful
  before application can be useful.
• For example, if we try to implement programs that
  are designed to reduce crime without having a
  deep understanding of why people commit crime, we
  might have a difficult time designing successful
  programs.

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Different kinds of research questions

• In the next few weeks, well begin to talk about
  some of the ways that research can be designed in
  order to answer both basic and applied research
  questions.
• Some of the key questions well have to ask
  ourselves throughout this process are (a) does
  this question involve one variable or more than
  one variable and (b) does the question concern
  the causal nature of the relationship between two
  or more variables?

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Different kinds of research questions
Univariate
Multivariate
Descriptive
Causal
Descriptive
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Different kinds of research questions

• Univariate questions pertaining to a single
  variable
• how long are people married, on average, before
  they have children?
• how many adults were sexually abused as children?
• Descriptive research is used to provide a
  systematic description of a psychological
  phenomenon.

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Different kinds of research questions

• Multivariate questions pertaining to the
  relationship between two or more variables
• How does marital satisfaction vary as a function
  of the length of time that a couple waits before
  having children?
• Are people who were sexually abused as children
  more likely to be anxious, depressed, or insecure
  as adults?

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Different kinds of research questions

• Notice that in each of these cases there is no
  assumption that one variable necessarily causes
  the other.
• In contrast, causal research focuses on how
  variables influence one another
• Does psychotherapy help to improve peoples
  well-being?
• Does drinking coffee while studying increase test
  performance?

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Different kinds of research questions
Univariate
Multivariate
Descriptive
Causal
Descriptive