1.2 Understanding the Research Process

pages 17 – 24

Define the aim and target population of a study

Aims, procedure, findings

• Aim: purpose of the study• Target population: the group the researcher is investigating• Procedure: step by step process• Findings: how the researcher interpreted the data

• How do you know if the findings are credible?• Has then study been repeated& confirmed by other

researchers?• Is the study limited to one targeted/cultural group?

The Pygmalion Effect pg 18

• State the Aim, Procedure, and Findings of the study?• Do you think the teachers were informed about the aim of

the study? Comment on this.

Discuss Sampling techniques appropriate to research

Participants – who should be in your study?

• Participants- people who take part in the study• Sample: the nature of the group. • Representative sample: a sample that represents a given population

• e.g. women who have given birth to twins• Teenagers who take drugs

• The size of the sample influences outcome

Types of sampling

• Opportunity sampling• Convenience sampling – whoever happens to be there.• How representative of the population is this?• Is there cultural/gender imbalance?• What is the nature of the research?

• Self-selected sampling• Volunteers – highly motivated, easy to obtain, BUT do they

represent the general population?

Types of sampling cont.,

• Snowball-sampling• participants recruit friends/associates• Often used in social psychology

• Participant Variability: the extent to which the participants share common traits.

• Random sampling: one in which every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected.• e.g. draw 25 – 30 names from a hat , use random numbers

assigned by a computer.• Aim is to omit selection bias• Stratified sampling is a modification of random sampling which

allows for subcategories , so all populations are represented.

• If the sample size is large enough and random, the results can be generalized to a larger population.

Explain the concept of generalizability

Be a Researcher

• You want to make a study of people’s motivation to engage in exercise. You decide to go to the local fitness center and conduct some interviews.

1. What type of sampling would this represent?

2. What population of people would be over represented/under represented?

3. How could you get a more representative sample?

Exercise 2: Propose suitable sampling techniques for the following. Explain

your choices

1. You want to investigate student opinions about moving the school to a new site.

2. You want to investigate the relationship between caffeine use and Alzheimer’s disease in older people.

3. You want to investigate the possible effects of drug use on student performance at school

4. You want to know who the most popular sports person in your country is.

Discuss Ethical Considerations when carrying out research

Ethics in research

• Informed Consent• Deception• Debriefing• Withdrawal from the study• Confidentiality• Protection form physical or mental harm

Explain what is meant by an application of findings

Evaluating Findings: Does the Study have any practical Application?

• Application: How is the study used? Can it be applied?• e.g. therapy, education, crime, workplace or even sports

• Improving memory• Effects of lighting on mood and work production• Pygmalion effect

Discuss the concepts of validity and reliability

Validity and Reliability

• Does the research do what it claims?• Ecological Validity asks, what happens in real life?

• If the results only occur in a lab setting how accurate are they?• Cross Culture Validity – is the research relevant to other cultures? Or

is it ethnocentric?• Native Americans vs. European Americans

• Reliability – the results can be replicated.

What to Look For In A Study

1. What was the aim of the research?

2. Who made up the sample of participants?

3. Was the research valid and ethical?

4. Can the findings be applied to real life situations?

Evaluate research studies

Critical Thinking Skills in establishing a study

1. Is the study based on a representative group of people?

2. Was the study conducted in a lab or a natural setting?

3. Were the participants asked to do things that are far from real life?

4. Are the finding of the study supported/questioned by other studies?

5. Do the findings have practical relevance?

6. Ethical considerations?