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ITS ABOUT THE Psychological Science and Research Methods involve in psychology.
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Psychological Science and Research Methods
Purpose of psychological researchPsychology is a “soft science” and “social
science” – humans are not predictable or reliable (individual differences)
Psychologists do research to:1. Study development and environmental factors and the role
they play in individuals' mental health.2. Study people with specific psychological disorders, symptoms,
or characteristics.3. Develop tests to measure specific psychological phenomenon.4. Develop treatment approaches to improve individuals' mental
health
Basic and applied research
Goals of psychological researchDescribe (objectivity)Understand (why?)Predict (the past predicts the future)Control (manipulation/intervention)Improve
Compare
How do we do research?Inductive Reasoning Deductive
Reasoning (bottom-up) (top-down)
Scientific methodObservation : identifyHypothesisDesign ResultsConclusionCommunication
• CYCLICAL PROCESS
Scientific method contd.A theory is a system of interrelated ideas
used to explain a set of observationsA hypothesis is a specific prediction or
tentative explanation Null hypothesis Alternative hypothesis
Experiments are designed to test and disprove hypotheses and theories and advance knowledge and understanding.
Types of researchDescriptive
naturalistic observation, case study, surveys/questionnaires/interviews
Correlational relationship/connection between two
or more variablesExperimental
causal relationship between two or more variables
Experimental ResearchMost scientific – objective and reliableEstablish cause and effect relationship between two
or more variablesVariables: (operationalization)
IV – independent variable (manipulated) DV – dependent variable (“depends” upon IV) EV – extraneous variable, confounding variable
Participants (population and sample; experimental group and control group)
Settings (experimental control and standardization)
Features of Experimental DesignTemporal precedence of IV : IV must
come before the DVEstablishment of cause-and-effect
relationship No plausible alternative explanations
(third variable problem)Random assignment
If any one of these is not present, the study becomes a quasi-experiment.
Threats/Biases in Experimental ResearchSampling bias/Selection bias
– affects reliability and validityPlacebo effect
– influencing of performance due to the subject’s belief about the results
Experimenter biasSocial desirability bias Hawthorne effectType I errorType II error
Countering biases in experimental designRandom samplingRandom assignment to groups and equal
treatment of groupsControlled settingsSingle-blind Double-blindDeceptionMultiple observers
Evaluating experimental researchAdvantages: ScientificStandardized and controlledCausal relationshipsReplicableHigh internal validityLimitations:ArtificialityDemand characteristics and evaluation
apprehensionLow external validity
Issues to considerReliability - replicabilityValidity – generalizability
Internal/experimental validity vs. External/ecological validity
Experimental realism vs. mundane realism
Ethical issues
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