Psychological Research Methods

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Psychological Research Methods

• Lecture 1
• Jagjeet Jutley

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Lecture Schedule

• Introducing psychological research
  
• How to write a research report
  
• Ethics in psychological research
• Critiquing research reports
• Designing a questionnaire
• Variables, sampling, and sample size
• Basic experimental design
• Getting started with statistical tests
• T-tests
• Chi-square
• Stats workshop
• Review session

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Seminars

• Sociology students will be held at 1pm-2pm in
  D124
• Criminology students will be at 2pm-3pm in E427

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Coursework
Coursework due dates 1. A piece of coursework
(1500 words) analysing a piece of psychological
research (50) 9th November 2011 2. A 1000 word
Data Analysis Report (50) 14th December 2011
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Reading

• Howitt, D. and Cramer, D. (2008).
  Introduction to Research
  Methods
  in Psychology. Harlow Pearson.

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Today

• Principles of scientific research
• Developing research questions
• Formulating Hypotheses

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Flaws in thinking as part of everyday life

• Telling anecdotes a personal story to support
  or refute a general point
• Refers to instinct or laws of nature or what
  everyone knows
• Uses correlation data as causal
• (increase in crime since mothers started
  working)
• Uses emotional language instead of reason and
  evidence (dumping babies in child care to be
  looked after by a stranger has to be harmful)

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Basic Science and Applied Research

• Basic Science knowledge for its own sake.
• The development of logical thought in children
• Memory for different kinds of word lists
• Perception of transparency, depth, motion, light
  etc.
• Facial features and mate selection
• Bodily odors and sexual attraction
• Interest of groups researchers, the findings of
  which may or may not be developed for practical
  use.

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Practical uses of basic research

• Development of logical thought a test for
  diagnosing developmental disability
• Memory for word lists design of specialised
  vocabularies for communication (e.g. aviation)
• Perception of depth environmental design to
  warn of hazards (e.g., warning lights)
• Facial features advertising
• Bodily odors - perfume

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Applied Research

• In Clinical settings What type of therapy
  alleviates depression?
• In Educational settings What is the best way to
  teach children how to read?
• In Sport Psychology How does training regime
  impact on performance?
• In Organisational settings What form of
  management style motivates employees?

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Public Verification

• Observation by others
• Replication by others
• Scrutinized by others capable of judging quality
  (peer review)
• Beware of research you find on the web!

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Developing the Research Question
Model 1
Model 2
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Where do the ideas come from?

• Everyday life
• What are the most effective ways to teach
  research methods?
• What personal characteristics make a favorable
  impression in a job interview?
• What other questions come to mind?
• Practical issues or needs
• Why do some employees have very high absenteeism
  rates.
• Why do more car accidents happen on specific
  stretches of the road?
• Why are most heart attacks on a Monday morning?
• Past research
• Knowledge develops in small steps. Rarely does
  one study answer all the questions to the
  research topic.
• Theory
• Summarize integrate existing knowledge
• Suggests new relationships between factors
• Helps one make new predictions about a phenomenon
  based on the theory.

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Defining the Research Question

• Problem should be capable of being stated in a
  question form. Examples are
• What is the effect of.?
• Under what conditions do.?
• Does the effect of.?
• A research question defines the area of interest
  but is not a declarative statement like a
  hypothesis.

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Formulating Hypotheses

• Stated in declarative form.
• Posits a relationship between variables.
• Ideally reflects a theory or body of literature.
• Is brief and to the point.
• Is testable.

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Examples of Hypotheses
Research Idea Question Hypothesis
Drug abuse and child abuse Is drug abuse related to child abuse? There is a positive relationship between drug abuse among adults and their physical and psychological abuse as children.
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Examples of Hypotheses
Research Idea Question Hypothesis
Effects on your health of caring for a partner who is demented Does caring for a partner who has a dementia affect the caregivers health? There is a positive relationship between degree of caregiver burden and risk of dying prematurely.
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Hypotheses

• Scientific/alternative hypothesis states the
  predicted relationship amongst the variables.
• Null hypothesis is a statement of no relationship
  amongst the variables.