RESEARCH METHODS REVIEW GAME

A TESTABLE PROPOSITION THAT EXPRESSES A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VARIABLES.

Hypothesis•A variable is anything that can vary among participants in a study.•EX = Participating in class leads to better grades than not participating.

EXPLAIN EXACTLY WHAT YOU MEAN IN YOUR HYPOTHESIS.

Operational Definitions•How will the variables be measured in “real life” terms.•How you operationalize the variables will tell us if the study is valid and reliable.

Let’s say your hypothesis is that chocolate causes violent behavior.

• What do you mean by chocolate?

• What do you mean by violent behavior?

THE TENDENCY TO BELIEVE, AFTER LEARNING THE OUTCOME, THAT YOU KNEW IT ALL ALONG.

Hindsight Bias Monday Morning Quarterbacking!!!

After the Chris Brown/Rihanna incident….people said they knew Chris Brown was a violent kid!!! Did they really?

WHATEVER IS BEING MANIPULATED IN AN EXPERIMENT.

Independent Variable•Hopefully the independent variable brings about change.

If there is a drug in an experiment, the drug is almost always the IV.

WHATEVER IS BEING MEASURED IN AN EXPERIMENT.

The DV would be the effect of the drug.

Dependent Variable•It is dependent on the independent variable.

UNCONTROLLABLE FACTORS THAT MIGHT AFFECT THE DV

If I wanted to prove that smoking causes heart issues, what are some confounding variables?

Confounding Variables•The object of an experiment is to prove that A causes B.•A confounding variable is anything that could cause change in B, that is not A.

Lifestyle and family history may also cause heart probs.

A CHANGE PRODUCED IN THE DV EVEN WHEN SUBJECT RECEIVES NO TREATMENT

PLACEBO EFFECTSometimes control group patients given a placebo treatment will have a perceived or actual improvement in a medical condition, a phenomenon commonly called the placebo effect.

WHEN THE CONTROL GROUP EXPERIENCES CHANGE (NAMED BY HARVARD RESEARCHERS)

HAWTHORNE EFFECT= researchers at Harvard University were studying the relationship between productivity and work environment•Just the fact that you know you are in an experiment can cause change.

Whether the lights were brighter or dimmer, production went up in the Hawthorne electric plant.

SET OF EXPLANATIONS FOR WHY SOMETHING OCCURS

THEORY•Based on based on research results but they generate hypotheses to be tested in future = need to be scientifically examined

WATCH SUBJECTS IN THEIR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.

Naturalistic Observation•Do not manipulate the environment.•POSITIVE = no Hawthorne effect.•NEGATIVE = Researchers might observe what they expect to see.

A DETAILED PICTURE OF ONE OR A FEW SUBJECTS USED TO EXAMINE AND DESCRIBE A PHENOMENON.

CASE STUDY•Tells us a great story…but is just descriptive research.•Does not even give correlation data.

The ideal case study is John and Kate. Really interesting, but what does it tell us about families in general?

INVOLVES ASKING PEOPLE QUESTIONS IN ORDER TO OBTAIN DESCRIPTIONS OF BEHAVIOR, ATTITUDES,

BELIEFS, ETC.

SURVEY METHOD•Most common type of study in psychology•Measures correlation•Cheap and fast•Need a good random sample•Low-response rate

A CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH STUDY THAT INVOLVES REPEATED OBSERVATIONS OF THE SAME VARIABLES

OVER LONG PERIODS OF TIME

• LONGITUDINAL STUDY• Example = Michael Apted interviews:

• diverse group of seven-year-old children from all over England

• asked them about their lives and their dreams for the future

• returned to interview the "children" every seven years since, at ages 14, 21, 28, 35, 42 and again at age 49

TYPE OF RESEARCH THAT HAS CLEAR, PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS.

APPLIED•Applied = YOU CAN USE IT!!!

Research on therapies for drug addicts has a clear purpose.

EXPLORES QUESTIONS THAT YOU MAY BE CURIOUS ABOUT, BUT NOT INTENDED TO BE IMMEDIATELY USED.

BASIC RESEARCH

Studying how kissing changes when you get older is interesting…but that’s about it.

ANALYSIS THAT IS USED TO DRAW INTERPRET RESEARCH RESULTS

STATISTICS•Recording the results from studies•WHY?: as a critical thinking tool to assess results

NUMBERS THAT SUMMARIZE SETS OF DATA

DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS•give us a way to summarize and describe our data but do not allow us to make a conclusion related to our hypothesis

USED TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS “INFER” WHAT DATA MEANS

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS•go a step further and allow us to make a prediction or conclusion related to our hypothesis

EXAMINES A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN 2 VARIABLES

• CORRELATIONAL METHOD

• Correlation:• Tests predictions• Evaluates theories• Suggests new

hypotheses

As more ice cream is eaten, more people are murdered.

Does ice cream cause murder, or murder cause people to eat ice cream?

• “Co-relation” = statistical measurement of the relationship between two variables.

• Possible correlations range from +1 to –1. • A zero correlation indicates that there is no relationship between the variables.

• A correlation of –1 indicates a perfect negative correlation• meaning that as one variable goes up, the other

goes down

• A correlation of +1 indicates a perfect positive correlation• meaning that both variables move in the same

direction together

• A correlation coefficient refers to a number between -1 and +1 and states how strong a correlation is. If the number is close to +1 then there is a positive correlation. If the number is close to -1 then there is a negative correlation. If the number is close to 0 then the variables are uncorrelated.

• +1.0 perfect positive correlation• +0.8 strong positive correlation• +0.5 moderate positive correlation• +0.3 weak positive correlation• + 0.1 very weak positive correlation• 0 no correlation• -0.1 very weak correlation• -0.3 weak negative correlation• -0.5 moderate negative correlation• -0.8 strong negative correlation• -1.0 perfect negative correlation

TYPE OF CORRELATION WHERE VARIABLES GO IN THE SAME DIRECTION

Positive Correlation

Studying and good grades hopefully has a positive correlation.

TYPE OF CORRELATION WHERE VARIABLES GO IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION

NEGATIVE CORRELATION

• The variables go in opposite directions

• as one variable increases the other decreases

Heroin use and poor grades probably has a negative correlation.

SCATTERPLOTS

VALUES THAT BEST DESCRIBE A SET OF DATA

MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY•Mean - average•Median – middle value•Mode – Number repeated most often

1, 10, 15, 18, 20, 20, 25, 30, 32, 38, 40, 45Median = 25Mode = 20Mean = 24.5

BOARD THAT CREATES THE APA ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR RESEARCH

• IRB- Institutional Review Board

• Both for humans and animals.

HUMAN RESEARCH

• No Coercion- must be voluntary

• Informed consent• Anonymity• Prevent negative

long-term effects• No significant risk• Must debrief

ANIMAL RESEARCH

• Clear purpose• Treated in a

humane way• Acquire animals

legally• Least amount of

suffering possible