AP Psychology Chapter Two

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AP Psychology Chapter Two

• Methods of Research

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• How do psychologists collect data about
  behavior?

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Clever Hans!
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• Regardless of the method used, all research is
  based on the Scientific Method of Psychology
• Scientific means systematic, testable, and
  objective.

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• What are the three main principles that guide
  the Scientific Method of Psychology?

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• Step 1 Theory
• Step 2 Hypotheses
• Step 3 Research and Observation

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• Theories organize known facts and summarizes
  current research in the field.

Theories are a well-substantiated explanation of
existing data.

• E.g Low self-esteem leads to depression

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• A hypothesis is a testable prediction based on
  what is known or what is theorized.

• They let us reject or revise our theory.

I Feel So Dumb I Cant Do Anything!
Eg People with low self-esteem score higher on a
depression scale.
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• Research or observation or experiments are
  generated to collect data, which then goes into
  evaluating the hypothesis, which may or may not
  add to the existing theory.

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• What are the two broad types of research that
  psychologists conduct?

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Research Designs

• Quantitative and Qualitative Research

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• Quantitative research emphasizes numbers,
  measurements, deductive logic, statistics,
  control, and experiments.
• It is very objective and all about the numbers
  and hard data!

.
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• Quantitative research researchers use tools, such
  as questionnaires or equipment to collect
  numerical data and statistics

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It is very objective and all about the numbers
and hard data!
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• Qualitative research emphasizes natural settings,
  observation, understanding, themes, verbal
  narratives, and flexible designs.

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• Qualitative data is in the form of words,
  pictures or objects.
• It is much more subjective and results are based
  on observation and interpretation.

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• What are some examples of qualitative research
  methods?

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Naturalistic Observation
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Naturalistic Observation

• Study behavior in its natural context.
  Spontaneous behavior in a subjects natural
  environment.
• No interaction with the subject.

Is this natural?
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• IE. If you want to study the interactive
  behavior of a specific breed of gorillas, you
  would need to go to where the gorillas live in
  nature (not a zoo).
• You would need to observe them without their
  knowledge, and without manipulating anything.

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• What are some potential problems with this type
  of research?

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Bias

• Situation in which a factor unfairly increases
  the likelihood of a researcher reaching a
  particular conclusion

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Example of Bias

• I am researching teenagers behavior and I was
  recently mugged by a group of teenagers am I
  likely to observe teenage behaviors as being
  motivated by evil versus good?
• Why?

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Case Studies
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Case Study

• In depth study of one individual with the hopes
  of determining universal principles
• Case studies often include face-to-face
  interviews, paper and pencil tests, and more.

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Case Study

• In depth study of one individual with the hopes
  of determining universal principles
• Very open to bias
• Difficulty of applying data from one person to
  everyone

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• IE. I want to know why Bart killed thirty-five
  people over a twenty-year period of time. I will
  examine the police files, observe and interview
  Bart, talk to his and the victims families, etc.

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Difficulty of applying data from one person to
everyonebias, etc

• What are some potential problems with this type
  of research?

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Surveys
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Survey Method

• Research method that relies on self-reports uses
  questionnaires, interviews.
• Usually a very efficient and inexpensive method
  to collect a lot of information and create basic
  assumptions about behaviors.

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When Creating A Survey

• Questions need precise answers
• Language and wording must be simple
• IE. 77 of New Yorkers where interested in plants
  and trees, but only 39 where interested in
  botany 48 where interested in fossils, but only
  39 where interested in paleontology 42 where
  interested in rocks and minerals, but 53 where
  interested in Geology

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When Creating A Survey

• Ask questions that wont embarrass or humiliate
• Responders will lie if there is a perceived
  punishment Anonymity is key
• Dont ask morally ambiguous questions keep it
  simple and to the point
• Who the interviewer is will affect the responders
  answers

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When Creating A Survey

• Shortly phrased questions.
• IE. As you know, the term Holocaust usually
  refers to the killing of millions of Jews in Nazi
  death camps during WWII. Does it seem possible
  or does it seem impossible to you that the Nazi
  extermination of the Jew never happened?
• 1 out of 5 Gallup poll responders said that the
  Holocaust never happened due to the phrasing of
  the question

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When Creating A Survey

• Hot Topics/Key Words
• IE. Do you favor an amendment prohibiting
  abortions? lt50 opposed OR Do you favor an
  amendment protecting the life of an unborn child?
  gt70

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When Creating A Survey

• Limited Answer Options
• Order of Questions easier to more difficult
  works best
• Fright Terms avoid using terms with big
  repercussions
• IE. Use Problem V. Crisis, Past V. Dead, Dealt
  With V. Punish
• Use a RANDOM SAMPLE (more on that later)

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False Consensus Effect

• Tendency to overestimate the extent to which
  others share our beliefs and behaviors.

• Skews the reports by jumping to large conclusions
  that fit into our pre-conceived ideas.

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Correlation
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Correlational Study

• Research study designed to determine the degree
  to which two variables are related to one another

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• IE. What is the relationship between exercise
  and weight? Smoking and cancer? Brain size and
  intelligence? Education and level of income?

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Is there a correlation?
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• What are some potential problems with this type
  of research?

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• Watch out for
• illusory correlations!
• Does sugar make kids more hyper?
• Does a full moon make people act crazier?
• Does going outside with no coat on mean you will
  catch a cold?

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Which is the more likely hand?
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Which is a more likely hand?
1 in 2,598,960
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Which is the more likely hand?
We often perceive order in random events!
1 in 2,598,960
1 in 2,598,960
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Correlational Study

• Correlation studies DO NOT prove causation. They
  can only suggest that there is or is not a
  relationship between the two variables.

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• IE.
• A correlation study may suggest that people who
  earn higher levels of education generally earn
  higher salaries, but it cant definitively say
  that getting a degree will get you a higher
  paying job.

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• IE. Student scores on the SAT are collected, as
  are senior year GPAs.
• We want to see if a high GPA correlates to a
  high SAT score.
• We cant say one causes the other, but we can
  imply that students who have high/low GPAs score
  high/low on SATs.
• Can we use GPA as a predictor of SAT performance?
  

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But Remember.
Correlation Does Not Imply Causation!
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• Graphing Correlation Relationships

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• After you plot the data the slope (direction) of
  the line indicates whether or not there is a
  positive, negative, or no relationship between
  variables.
• How close the dots are together indicates how
  close the relationship between the variables is.

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Positive Correlation

• As the value of one variable increases (or
  decreases) so does the value of the other
  variable.

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• Studying and Grades
• As students study more, their grades increase.
• Practice and Athletics
• As athletes practice more, their batting averages
  increase
• Dieting and Weight Loss
• As dieters ate less, their weight dropped.

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Negative Correlation

• As the value of one variable increases, the value
  of the other variable decreases.
• The more you exercise, the less you weigh
• The more you study, the less your teachers yell
  at you

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Zero Correlation

• There is no relationship whatsoever between the
  two variables.
• The length of your hair has no influence on your
  level of intelligence.

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Correlational Study

• Important NOT to imply a cause and effect
  relationship between the variables
• Correlational study does not determine why the
  two variables are related--just that they are
  related.
• Correlational studies are helpful in making
  predictions.

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Experiment

• An investigation seeking to understand relations
  of cause and effect.
• The experimenter changes a variable (cause), and
  in turn changes another variable (effect).
• At the same time the experimenter hopes to hold
  all of the other variables constant

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Experiment

• An investigation seeking to understand relations
  of cause and effect.

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The experimenter changes a variable (cause),
which in turn changes another variable (effect).
At the same time the experimenter hopes to hold
all of the other variables constant so that they
can attribute any changes to the manipulation.
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• IE. I want to know if new drug A will help to
  alleviate the symptoms of insomnia.
• Patients will be given different doses at
  different times to see what works and what
  doesnt.
• I need to control other factors, like mattress
  softness and room temperature, to eliminate them
  as causes of sleep deprivation.

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• How do I create a valid and reliable experiment?

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Step 1 Choose a Hypothesis

• A hypothesis expresses a relationship between two
  variables. (its a testable prediction
  remember?)
• IE. My hypothesis is that watching violent
  television programs makes people more aggressive.

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Step Two Choose Variables

• Variables are things that are measured,
  controlled, or manipulated in research.

Type of television program, violent behavior,
environment, participants, etc
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• The independent variable is the manipulated
  variable.

• IE. The type of TV program viewed is the
  independent variable because I can adjust what
  shows are viewed, for how long, by whom, etc.

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• The dependent variable is measured for change.

• IE. Measuring the change in aggression levels is
  the dependent variable in our experiment because
  it changes based on what is viewed, for how long,
  etc.

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Step Three Operationalize

• When you operationalize your variables, you are
  defining them and explaining how you will measure
  them.

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IE. The operational definition of the
independent variable (what defines a violent
show?) scenes of fighting, bloodshed, use of
weapons, etc
IE. The operational definition of the dependent
variable (what defines an increase in aggressive
behavior?) would be an increase in agitation or
tenseness, increased vocal volume, threats of
bodily harm, kicks, punches, throwing objects,
etc.
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Step Four Identify Potential Extraneous
Variables/Confounding Variables

• Any factor or variable that causes an effect (or
  potential affects) other than the variable being
  studied is considered an extraneous variable and
  must be eliminated or accounted for

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• IE. An extraneous variable in our experiment
  would be a phone call from a solicitor during a
  program,
• the viewer receiving mail including a poor report
  card,
• a viewer stubbing their toe during a show,
  alcohol abuse, etc.
• All of these could increase aggressiveness, but
  are not related to viewing violent television.

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Step Five Identify Who You Will Be Testing

• The individuals on which the research will be
  conducted are called subjects (or participants).
  
• A small group of subjects are drawn from a larger
  potential population.
• IE. Our subjects will be drawn from the overall
  population of 12th grade males at Appo. High
  School.

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Step Six How Do We Decide Who Will Be Subjects,
and Who Wont?

• Since we cant realistically test all 12th grade
  males at Appo. High School, we have to create a
  representative sample of the population so that
  we can generalize our findings to the whole group.

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Method 1 Rigorous Control Design

• Designing an experiment with specific,
  hand-picked groups in mind.
• IE. Only testing males, 18 years old, in AP
  Psychology.

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Method 2 Sample Design

• A sample is a representation of the entire
  population.
• A random sample allows that every member of an
  overall population has an equal chance to be in
  the sample.
• IE. Drawing names from a hat.

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Method 3 Stratified Sample

• Subdivide the population into at least two
  different subpopulations that share the same
  characteristics, then draw a random sample from
  each group.
• IE. Surveying views on Equal Rights. Split your
  human population into men and women, and then
  randomly draw eight mens and womens names.

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Method 4 Systematic Sample

• Select a starting point from your population and
  then select every ?th participant.
• IE. Merck corporation wants test the
  effectiveness of a new aspirin on their 100,000
  employees. Get a roster of employees, start at
  1, and then choose every 100th name on the list.

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Method 5 Cluster Sampling

• Divide your population into multiple subgroups,
  randomly choose a subgroup to test, and then test
  the entire population of that subgroup.
• IE. Split the country up into geographic regions
  (East Coast, Midwest, etc.). Randomly choose a
  region to test, and then test every person in
  those states.

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Method 6 Convenience Sampling

• Use a population that is readily available.
• IE. Test your neighbors, your family, your
  co-workers, a passer-by on the street.

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Step Seven Assignment

• Once you have chosen your subjects to study, you
  must assign them to one of two groups those that
  will be manipulated, and those that wont.

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Group 1 Experimental Group

• The experimental group receives the independent
  variable and is manipulated throughout the
  experiment.

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• IE. In our television violence experiment, those
  in the experiment group will watch varying
  degrees of violent program, for varying lengths
  of time, etc., and their changes in levels of
  aggression measured.

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Group 2 Control Group

• The control group does not receive the
  independent variable.

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• IE. In our television violence experiment, the
  control group will be shown a variety of
  non-violent programming in order to create a
  baseline to compare the experiment group against.

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Placebo

• A non-active substance or condition administered
  instead of a drug or active agent
• Given to the control group
• Sugar pill in the test made
• to look like the SmartPill

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How Do We Choose Our Subjects?Method 1
Random Assignment

• Random assignment (dont confuse with random
  sample) means that the subjects have an equal
  chance of being placed into each group. If we
  allow subjects to choose their own group, we may
  have a subject-relevant confounding variable.

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Subject-Relevant Confounding Variables

• A subject-relevant confounding variable would
  allow those people that liked violent movies or
  were prone to violence already to choose to be in
  the experimental group.
• Whats wrong with that?

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Blind procedure

• To help avoid this confounding variable, we
  prescribe a single-blind design. The subjects
  are blind to whether they have been randomly
  placed in the control or experiment group.
• The researcher would know who is getting the
  SmartPill but not the participant

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Double Blind Procedure

• An experimental procedure where both the research
  participants and those collecting the data are
  ignorant (blind) to the expected outcome of the
  experiment

(the people handing out the pills nor the people
taking the pills know who actually got the
SmartPill
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Method 2 Group Matching

• When assigning members to the experiment or
  control group, it is important that the
  characteristics of both groups need to be as
  similar as possible.

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• IE. After rigorously or randomly determining our
  subjects, as many white, black, tall, short,
  overweight, slim members should be in the control
  group as there are in the experiment group.

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Was the experiment reliable? (did you get the
results you expected)Can the experiment be
replicated? (can someone else conduct the same
experiment and get similar results?

• Was the experiment a success?

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REMEMBER !!!

• Only experimental data can conclusively
  demonstrate causal relations between variables
  (A causes B to
  happen).

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Step Eight Address Other Potential Issues With
Experiments

• Situation-relevant confounding variables refer to
  making sure that the situations that the
  experiment and control groups are placed in are
  exactly the same. We must have equivalent
  environments.
• IE. We cannot have those watching violent films
  in a large auditorium, and those viewing sitcoms
  in a small living room.

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Experimenter Bias

• Experimenter Bias occurs when the experimenter
  unconsciously treats members of the control and
  experiment groups differently, which increases
  the chances of confirming their hypothesis.
• IE. The experimenter gives soda to the control
  group, and beer to the violent viewers. The
  experimenter speaks more abruptly with the
  violence crowd (inciting them?).

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• To help avoid this type of confounding
  variable, we employ a double-blind design, where
  neither the subjects nor the researcher may know
  which is the control or the experiment group. A
  third-party has the appropriate records so that
  the date can be analyzed later.

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• The Hawthorne Effect refers to the fact that some
  subjects will alter their behaviors simply
  because they know that they are part of an
  experiment, regardless of what is being done to
  them.

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• The Placebo Effect refers to the phenomenon that
  a patient's symptoms can be alleviated by an
  otherwise ineffective treatment, apparently
  because the individual expects or believes that
  it will work.

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• Hindsight Bias is the tendency to believe, once
  the outcome is already known of course, that you
  would have foreseen itthat even though it's over
  and you know the outcome, you knew it all along.

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• Overconfidence occurs when we tend to think that
  we know more than we do. Make over-generalization
  s when reporting results, forcing results into
  preconceived hypothesis to say I told you so,
  instead of letting the results speak for
  themselves, etc.

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Bias

• The tendency to notice evidence which supports
  one particular point of view or hypothesis

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Researcher Bias

• The tendency to notice evidence which supports
  one particular point of view or hypothesis

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Example of Researcher Bias

• If my hypothesis is that excessive sugar
  intake causes poor test performance, I will
  readily conclude this as fact when three students
  who failed the test were observed drinking a soda
  prior to the test. Other students who failed and
  other factors are ignored.

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Participant Bias

• Tendency of research subjects to respond in
  certain ways because they know they are being
  observed. The subjects might try to behave in
  ways they believe the researcher wants them to
  behave.

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• Once I have completed my research, how do I
  present my findings ?