Research Methods

1
Research Methods

• Developing Research Ideas
• Chapter 3

2
Sources of Research Ideas

• Everyday lifee.g. Kitty Genovese
• Practical issuese.g. drug abuse
• Past research
• Theory
• goal function-summarize and integrate
• Tool function-guide research
• Many other sources

3
Issues Affecting Research Ideas

• Gender Bias
• Must be capable of being Scientifically
  Investigated

4
Review of the Literature

• Purpose of the literature review
• Identify if the topic has been researched
• Provide design ideas
• Identify methodological problems
• Identify special needs
• Provide information for the research report

5
Review of the literature

• Doing the search
• Books
• Journals
• Psychological abstracts
• Electronic databases
• PsycINFO
• Internet resources
• E-mail
• Listserv
• World Wide Web

6
Additional Information Sources

• Professional meetings
• Contact with individual researchers

7
Feasibility of the study

• Is it feasible for you to conduct the study

8
Getting Started The Multimethod Approach

• There is only one scientific method, but there
  are __________________________________
  ____.
• Psychologists study many topics from different
  areas
• clinical, social, industrial/organizational,
  developmental, counseling, physiological,
  cognitive, educational, personality, human
  factors, neuropsychology, etc.
• No single research method or technique can
  ____________________________________
• An important advantage of the multimethod
  approach is that researchers obtain a more
  complete understanding of ____________________
  ______________

9
The Multimethod Approach (continued)

• No perfect method for answering questions
• each method or measure of behavior has
  _____________,
• or may be incomplete in its ability to
  _________________________________
• By using multiple methods, the flaws associated
  with any particular method are overcome by other
  methods that _____________.
• The multimethod approach means that we have a
  toolbox with ___________________________.

10
Steps of the Research Process(An overview of
this course)

• Research Question
• Hypothesis
• Define concepts
• _________________
• Evaluate Ethical Issues
• __________________________________
• Report Results

11
Steps of the Research Process(continued)

• 1. __________________________
• Sources of Questions
• 1. ______________ -
• psychology journals (PsychINFO), textbooks,
  courses.
• 2. Observations of behavior (ex Zeigarnik
  effect)
• 3. _______________ finding something by
  accident when looking for something else (ex
  Nobel prize - Hubel Wiesal, 1959)
• 4. ______________ ______________ of Existing
  Research
• 5. _____________ -
• Describes existing data/knowledge of a phenomenon
• Organizes knowledge into a formal set of laws
  about the phenomenon

12
Remember, A Good Theory

• Makes predictions about the phenomenon
• Is testable
• Is parsimonious (simple and concise)
• Is falsifiable (hypotheses are capable of
  disproof)

13
Impossible to prove a theory to be true, but it
is possible to disprove it

• Logical mistake of _____________________________
  _____
• If theory X is true, then we should observe
  outcome Y
• Outcome Y indeed was observed
• Therefore, theory was must be true
• Logically correct _____________
• If theory X is true, then we should observe
  outcome Y
• Outcome Y indeed was NOT observed
• Therefore, theory was must not be true

If the bird is a crow, then it must be
black, Heres a black bird, Therefore, it must be
a crow.
If the bird is a crow, then it must be
black, Heres a yellow bird, Therefore, it cannot
be a crow.
14
Is the research question a good one?

• Why might this question be scientifically
  important?
• Is the question testable?
• What are likely outcomes if I carry out this
  research project?
• To what extent will psychological science be
  advanced by knowing the answer to this question?
• Why would anyone be interested in the results?
• Be aware of ethnocentrism!!

15
Steps of the Research Process(continued)

• 2. ______________________
• a tentative explanation for a phenomenon,
• is often stated in the form of a prediction
  together with an explanation for the prediction.

16
Hypotheses

• Criterion--Must be capable of being refuted or
  confirmed
• Types
• Scientific
• Null

17
Examples of hypotheses

• Example 1 Research participants who play
  violent video games are predicted to behave more
  aggressively after exposure than participants who
  passively view television violence
• Because --gt video game participants aggression
  is reinforced (rewarded) while playing the game.

18
Examples of hypotheses

• Example 2 Research participants who play
  violent video games are predicted to behave less
  aggressively after the exposure than participants
  who passively view television violence
• Because --gt video game participants have the
  opportunity to release any aggressive impulses
  passive television viewers do not have the
  opportunity during exposure.

19
How do I develop a hypothesis?

• Think about deviations (oddities, exceptions)
  from a general trend or principle.
• Imagine how you would behave in a task or when
  faced with a specific problem.
• Consider similar problems with known solutions.
• Make sustained, deliberate observations of a
  person or phenomenon (e.g., perform a case
  study).
• Generate counterexamples for an obvious
  conclusion about behavior.
• Borrow ideas or theories from other disciplines.
• Read reports of psychological research.

20
Research Steps (continued)

• 3. _________________________
• Look to previous research to see how others
  defined the same constructs (concepts).
• Identify the variables you will examine, for
  example
• Examine aggression in children who watch a lot of
  TV
• The concept of a lot of TV must be defined
• The concept of children must be defined
• The concept of aggression must be defined by how
  it is measured

21

• How would you operationally defining the concept
  of SHYNESS?
• __________________________________________________
  ___________________
• _________________________________________________
  __________
• ____________________________

22
Converging Operations

• Many psychological concepts are defined by
  ___________________________
• Definitions are reached by many investigations of
  a construct
• Use slightly different operational definitions
  experimental procedures
• Yet, all measures ________________________________
  _
• Example Aggression has been defined by the
  number of aggressive behaviors observed, scores
  on attitudinal and behavioral questionnaires,
  etc.

23
Research Steps (continued)

• 4. Choose a research design
• Decide whether your research question seeks to
  describe, allow prediction, or identify causal
  relationships.
• Choose the appropriate research design for your
  question.
• __________ N 1
• _______________________ Collect data, usually
  self-report, and relate.
• __________________ Observe behavior in its
  natural setting.
• __________________ Use pre-existing information
• ______________________ Manipulated independent
  variable, control over extraneous variables.
• ___________________ Naturally occurring grouping
  variable, but analyzed like an experiment.

24
Correlational Study

• Only tells you how things are related or if
  they follow same pattern or a different pattern?
• Example Study to determine whether SAT verbal
  scores predict freshman GPAs . Collect SAT scores
  from entering freshmen, collect GPA at end of
  first year. See how SAT verbal scores are related
  GPA.
• High scores on both positive correlation
• Low scores on both positive correlation
• High scores on one and low scores on other
  negative correlation
• No systematic pattern zero or no correlation
• _______________________________
• ________________________________

25
Research Steps (continued)

• 5. __________________________
• Identify potential risks benefits of research
  ways in which participants welfare will be
  protected.
• Submit a proposal to an ethics review committee.
• Seek permission from those in authority.
• 6. __________________________________
• Get to know the data.
• Summarize the data.
• Confirm what the data reveal.

26
Research Steps (continued)

• 7. Report research results
• Present the findings at a psychology conference.
• Give a talk
• Present a poster
• Submit a written report of study to a psychology
  journal.

27
Types of Psychological Research

• _________________________
• GOAL to describe, predict, explain fundamental
  principles for better understanding
• EXAMPLES factors that lead to better memory
  organization
• LIMITATIONrestricted primarily to theoretical
  understanding of a phenomenon (not that that is a
  bad thing!)

28
Types of Psychological Research

• ______________________
• GOAL to describe, predict, and explain/provide
  solutions to real world problems
• EXAMPLES factors that lead to errors in
  eyewitness memory aging and colored medicine
  aging and speed of intersection crossing
• LIMITATION restricted only to setting that was
  tested cannot make broad theoretical claims
  about a phenomenon

29
Relationship bw Basic Applied

• You can have basic research without its
  application.
• _________________________________________________
  ____________________________________________
• Ideally, you would like to have a merge of the two

30
The Setting of Research

• _______________________
• Research conducted in the lab
  under controlled conditions
• The setting for primarily ________________,
  but some applied research is conducted in
  the lab
• Advantage other than the participants
  responses, the experimenter has
  ______________________________
• Disadvantage lab setting may be
  _____________________________________

31
Setting of Research (continued)

• ___________________
• Research conducted in the
  community, environment, etc.
• Setting for primarily ________________,
  but some basic research is conducted in the
  field
• Advantage research settings most closely catch
  the ____________________
• Disadvantage experimenter has little
  ____________________________

32
Quantitative vs. Qualitative Research

• Most psychology is ________________ --gt
  data are collected and presented in
  forms of numbers (averages, percentages).
• Recently some have been doing _______________ --gt
  presenting info in terms of analytical narratives
  that summarize the findings (ex detailed
  interview info, findings from observational
  studies. etc.)