Research & Methods

Separate paper in group tables to write examples; you will submit at the end of period for points for today!!

What do you think?A kid, a grandma or a man

• Who is the notorious cowboy Bob who stole money from banks and ended up getting killed in a standoff? http://www.trutv.com/shows/most-shocking/videos/cross-dressing-culprit.html#autostart

Overconfidence• We tend to think we know

more than we do.

82% of U.S. drivers consider themselves to be in the top 30% of their group in

terms of safety

81% of new business owners felt they had an excellent chance of their

businesses succeeding. When asked about the success of their peers, the answer was only 39%. (Now that's

overconfidence!!!)

Hindsight Bias

• The tendency to believe, after learning the outcome, that you knew it all along.

Only after Obama won for reelections people began to say that of course he will win. It was obvious. Although many doubted he will be reelected for his second term.

Why Understand Research Methods?

• Two Reasons:

• It is important to remember that psychology is a science. So whenever a psychologist has an idea that he or she wants to show the world, there are a certain set of rules they must follow called

• the scientific method. The Scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena and acquiring new knowledge, as well as for correcting and integrating previous knowledge.

Applied Research

• Applied research is when the scientist has clear and practical reasons and applications for her study.

• If a psychologist was trying to come up with a new behavior therapy to stop heroin use, it would be applied research

Basic Research

• Explores questions that are really interesting to psychologists but have no immediate, real-world application.

• Ex. Studying the differences between cultures and physical beauty is an example of basic research.

Basic Research

• Applied research is designed to solve practical problems of the modern world, rather than to acquire knowledge for knowledge's sake. One might say that the goal of the applied scientist is to improve the human condition .

Pfungst Hypothesis

• For Hans, Pfungst operationalized his hypothesis by stating the horse could not give the correct answer when it could not see its owner.

Rules to Experiments

• 1. Scientific Method– 5 step procedure to reach your conclusion.

Scientific Methodhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A20BLo0gxYY&feature=rellist&playnext=1&list=PLCB4307975BEFDA1C

1.Observe some aspect of the universe. 2.Invent a theory that is consistent with what you have observed. 3.Use the theory to make predictions. 4.Test those predictions by experiments or further observations. 5.Modify the theory in the light of your results. 6.Go to step 3.

Horse-Scientific Method • 1. Psychologist observed horse doing simple math• 2. Psychologist did not think he was actually doing

math, but was receiving cues to know the answers• 3.Hypothesis stated the horse could not give the

correct answer when it could not see its owner.• 4. Tested his hypotheses • 5. The horse could not give the correct answer

when it could not see its owner.• 6. Publicize it

Scientific Method:Apply what you learned!

• In your table of 2-3 create an example of the scientific method (test it).

• Step by step

– 1. Observe universe

– 2. Write a theory (s)

– 3. rewrite it to be in a operational hypotheses form (measureable)

– 4. Test it

– 5. Rewrite hypotheses to match testing results

– 6. Share results/replicate

Random Sample

• Choose 5-6 groups to share their example with the entire class.

Types of Research

• Descriptive

• Correlational

• Experimental

Descriptive Research

• Any research that observes and records.

• Does not talk about relationships, it just describes.

What is going on in this picture?

We cannot say exactly, but we can describe what we see.

Thus we have…..

Types of Descriptive Research

• The Case Study

• The Survey

• Naturalistic Observation

The Case Study• Where one person (or situation) is

observed in depth. Give your example.

Strengths and weakness of case study

• Strength – provides detail descriptive data

• Weaknesses- may not be representative of everyone

The Survey MethodGive an example

• Used in both descriptional and correlational research.

• Use Interview, email, phone, internet etc…

• The Good- cheap, anonymous, diverse population, and easy to get random sampling (a sampling that represents your population you want to study).

Survey Method: The Bad and good

• Weakness• Low Response Rate• People Lie or just misinterpret themselves.• Wording Effects

• Strength

• Easy to score and report

Sampling• Random Sampling must be from a

Representative sample- must be from group testing like teens then select only teens, teachers tested then select only teachers (names).

• A Random sample is where every person in the group has the same chance of being selected for the survey. (Chose 4 random, survey)

Random Sampling

Hypothesis

• Students who use notes will score higher on the quiz than Students who were not allowed to use their notes on the quiz.

• (volunteers/test hypotheses)

Random Assignment

• Once chosen to be in the study, participants are randomly assigned to either the control group or experimental group.

Quiz - Questions:

Words to Choose from A. Dependent

VariableB. Independent

Variable C. Extraneous

Variable D. Experimental

Group E. Control Group

Definitions

1. factor that is manipulated

2. factor that is measured

3. factors that effect DV, that are not IV.

4. Group exposed to IV

5. Group not exposed to IV

Quiz - Questions

Words to chose from DefinitionsA. Dependent

VariableB. Independent

Variable C. Extraneous

Variable D. Experimental

Group E. Control Group

1. B. factor that is manipulated

2. A. factor that is measured

3.C factors that effect DV, that are not IV.

4.D Group exposed to IV

5. E Group not exposed to IV

Double Blind Proceduregive an example

• Researcher and client don’t know who is getting meds or placebo. (class and Mrs. Gonzalez didn’t know who were allowed to use the correct notes)

• Placebo – Assumes they are getting an active drug to cure their mental illness but is only getting a daily piece of candy (but they assume its medicine). (both students thought they were receiving notes)

Evaluating the Theory

• Hypothesis:

• Students who receive the notes specific for the quiz will score higher than students who do not have the correct specific notes.

Why do we sample?

• One reason is the False Consensus Effect (bias): the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors. Note: Common errors in experiments: Overconfidence, Hindsight bias and False Consensus Effect.

Experimental Researchgive an example

• Explores cause and effect relationships.

Eating too many bananas causes Makes you sick

Experimental Method: A kind of research in which the researcher controls and manipulates the conditions including the IV.

Experimental method must account for independent variables, dependent variables and confounding or extraneous variables.

There are many challenges with conducting experiments. First one has to make sure that all groups being tested have the same conditions. This is called control.

Second, for an experiment to be valid, one has to make sure the subjects are drawn from a population which consists of everyone who fits the description of your test group.

To ensure we have a group which represents the demographic we want, we must use random selection.

Random Selection: Each subject of the sample has an equal likelihood of being chosen for the experimental group.

-Ex. Names drawn out of a hat.

Experimental Vocabulary• Independent Variable: factor that is

manipulated• Dependent Variable: factor that is

measured• Extraneous Variables: factors that

effect DV, that are not IV.• Experimental Group: Group exposed

to IV• Control Group: Group not exposed to IV• Placebo: inert substance that is in place

of IV in Control Group

Confounding Variables: Variables that have unwanted influence on the outcome of an experiment.

Or, other possible explanations for the dependent variable (result).

Let’s review your handout and add confounding variables…

Naturalistic Observationgo outside/observe for 2 minutes and

record

• Observing and recording behavior in natural environment.

• No control- just an observer.

What are the benefits and detriments of Naturalistic Observation?

Types of Research Grouping

• Ex-Post Facto

• Correlation

• Longitudinal Study

• Cross-Sectional Studies

• Cohort – Sequential Studies

• Avoid: Personal bias or Personal expetancy bias in research

Note: Sometimes we are unable to do experiments for ethical or practical reasons. In this case we must do another kind of research.

-Ex post facto: Research in which we choose subjects based on a pre-existing condition.

-Ex: Cancer research.

A correlation study is one where researchers try to show the relationship (or correlation) between two variables.

Correlation studies are largely based in statistics. ◦It is important to remember that correlation does not necessarily mean causation.

In a longitudinal study, one group or subject is studied for an extended period of time to observe changes in the long term.

+ Same subjects for the entire study- Time and expense

These studies are designed to cut down on time and expense.

Cross-sectional studies look at a cross section of the population and studies them at one point in time.

-Ex:different stages of a disease MS .Cohort-sequential studies look at a cross

section of population and then studies them over a short period of time. (checks on people as a disease develops or as a treatment is used MS)

Personal Bias: When the researcher allows his or her personal beliefs affect the outcome of the study.

Expectancy Bias: When the researcher allows his or her expectations to affect the outcome of the study.

How can you reduce bias? Double Blind Study: An experiment where both

subject and the person administering the experiment do not know the nature of the independent variable being administered.

Steps in Designing an Experiment(hand-out)

1. Hypothesis2. Pick Population: Random Selection then

Random Assignment.3. Operationalize the Variables4. Identify Independent and Dependent

Variables.5. Look for Extraneous Variables6. Type of Experiment: Blind, Double Blind

etc..7. Gather Data8. Analyze Results

Let’s practice identifying Let’s practice identifying variablesvariables

Hand-out – I will randomly select volunteers/ select someone from your group to come up and write your answer IF you get selected.

DESCRIBING DATA -

Measures of Central Tendency • Refers to the center of a bunch of numbers. There

are 3 usual measurements of central tendency :

• Mode – # which occurs most frequently

• Mean – Average #

• Median – Middle # (list from low to high)

Median: List all #s from lowest to highest, if total #s is even median is center #. If it is an odd number add the 2 center #s and divide by 2.

Mode: # that occurs most often.

Mean: Add all the scores and divide by the number of scores.

Mean, Median, Mode

The weekly salaries of six employees at McDonalds are $140, $220, $90, $180, $140, $200.

For these six salaries, find: ▪ (a) the mean ▪ (b) the median ▪ (c) the mode

Mean, Median, Mode

AnswersMean: 90+ 140+ 140+ 180 + 200 + 220 =$ 161.67 6

Median: 90,140,140,180,200,220

The two numbers that fall in the middle need to be averaged.

140 + 180 = 160 2

Mode: 90,140,140,180,200,220

The number that appears the most is 140

Measures of Variation

Range – is the distance between the lowest & highest numbers in a group

Example 3, 6, 9, 2, 4, 3, Range is 2 -9 = 7 range

Standard Deviation (SD): A measure of variability that indicates the average distance between the scores and their mean.

If the numbers are all pretty close, the SD will be low. If the numbers have a wide range, the SD will be high

Normal Distribution

The standard deviation and mean together tell us a lot about the distribution of scores.

A data set with a mean of 50 (shown in blue) and a standard deviation (σ) of 20.

MEAN=20

SD=20

Normal Distribution

A standard deviation of 15 accounts for about 68% of responses.

A normal distribution is a bell shaped curve.

Comparing Distributions

Hand-out – Let’s practice creating graphs and interpreting data

Correlation – When 2 two things are related or they go together, they are said to be correlate.

Statisticians use a correlational coefficient to measure how closely 2 things go together (or not)….

Coefficient seen in 2 ways…

Numerically – The correlation coefficient is on a scale from 1.0 down to – 1.0

Scatterplots – Graphs with the 2 things on the X and Y axes and dots scattered throughout the graph Coefficient of say .95 is very high (close

to 1.0) and would look like…

If the correlation coefficient is a positive number, there is a positive correlation between the variables. (ex. .95 close to 1.0 high correlation)

If the correlation coefficient is a negative number, there is a negative correlation (connection) between variables.(ex. -.85 close to -1.0 high correlation)

If the correlation coefficient is 0, there is no correlation between variables.

Positive Correlation Negative Correlation No Correlation

Positive Correlation Coefficients

Positive correlation coefficients indicate a stronger connection as they get closer to 1.

Correlation and Causation – Only an experiment shows causation because it isolates one variable to be tested.

Illusory Correlations – When we see a pattern that seems to correlate but are not there.

Outside activity

Let’s review!!Outside Review!!

Basic Statistic concepts

Dichotomy –separate data into 2 groups Discrete – Only one – ex.Males only and

females only, blue eyes vs. brown eyes, etc.. Nominal Groups – Classification based on

dichotomyTrichotomy – separate data into 3 groups Continuous Variable- place data from

smallest to largest on a continuous line. More accurate.

Making Inferences: 2 pillars of measurements

Validity – A test or bit of research measures what it’s supposed to measure.

Reliability – Same results over and over.

Extra review slides

To have confidence in results, they need to be taken from a sample of participants chosen in an unbiased manner.

Random Sample: A sample group of subjects selected by chance, or without biased selection techniques.

Sampling

Representative Sample: A sample obtained in such a way that it reflects the distribution of important variables in the larger population in which the researcher are interested-variables such as age, SES, ethnicity, education….

How to Read a Correlation Coefficient

Analyze Results

• Use measures of central tendency (mean, median and mode).

• Use measures of variation (range and standard deviation).