Research Methodsin Psychology

What is Psychology?

Psychology is a science, and therefore, based on research.

Many people count on “intuition,” but that often leads us astray.

Hindsight Bias – “I knew it all along.”Kinds of research

Applied research – to solve practical problems like what is the best way to teach children, or the effectiveness of a “quit-smoking” program

Kinds of Research, cont Basic Research – explores questions of

interest to psychologists, but not intended to have immediate, real-world applications. How do people form their attitudes? How do different cultures define intelligence?

Hypotheses and Variables

Most psychological research is guided by hypothesis. Hypothesis expresses a relationship between two variables.

Variables are things that can vary among the participants in research The dependent variable depends on the independent variable.

Example

Hypothesis: Watching violent television programs makes people more aggressive.

Independent variable – watching television (because a change in the independent variable will produce a change in the dependent variable – aggression)

More on Hypothesis

They sometimes grow out of theories. A theory aims to explain some phenomenon and allows researchers to generate testable hypothesis.

Researchers must name the variables AND provide operational definitions of them. How will you measure it? What programs will be considered violent? Which behaviors will be considered aggressive?

Validity and Reliability

Research is VALID when it measures what the researcher set out to measure; it is accurate

Research is reliable when it can be replicated; it is consistent. If another researcher conducted the

same research in the same way, they would get similar results.

Bandura and his bobo dolls http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=lCETgT_Xfzg

Sampling

The individuals on which the research will be conducted are called participants (or subjects)

The process by which participants are selected is called Sampling.

In order to select a sampling, you must first identify the population from which he sample will be selected.

Goal of Sampling

The sampling must be representative of the larger population.

Random selection is used to make sure that every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected.

Best random sampling is done by computer, or pulling names out of a hat

The larger the sampling, the more likely it is to represent the population.

Stratified Sampling: If the population is 50% white, 30%

African-American and 10% Hispanic, the sampling should be the same.