UNDERSTANDING THE RESEARCH PROCESS

Goal 1.2

HOW DO PSYCHOLOGISTS PROVE THEIR THEORIES???

You decide that you are going to prove that being an organized student has NO or a BIG impact on students’ grades.

How would you go about proving this theory?

Brainstorm with two or three other students.

RESEARCHERS NEED

1. A plan

2. People willing to participate in the study

3. A method for collecting and analyzing the data

AIM, PROCEDURE AND FINDINGS

Aim – this is the purpose of the study. It indicates which behavior or mental process will be studied Target population – these are the group who is

being investigated Procedure – the step-by-step process used by

the researcher. Must be carefully written so that it is replicable

Findings – states how the researcher interpreted the data that were collected. Must be interpreted in terms of the culture in

which it was conducted

A CLASSIC STUDY: THE PYGMALION EFFECT (ROSENTHAL AND JACOBSON, 1968) (P. 18 IN CC)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNbXb94RdeE Start at 1.20

State the aim, procedure and findings of this study undertaken by Rosenthal and Jacobson

What 4 factors by teachers seem to influence student achievement?

POSSIBLE ANSWERS! Aim – to determine if teacher expectations of

students’ performance effects how well students learn.

Procedure – Give each class of students an achievement test

to see if there is development during the year of the study

Chose 18 classes of students from kindergarten through 6th grade

Chose 20% of students at random and told the teachers that these were truly gifted students.(not so)

Retest students at the end of the school year and compare the scores of those labeled “gifted.”

FINDINGS!

Those students labelled as “gifted” showed a significantly greater increase in test scores than other children. The “self-fulfilling prophecy” influences the performance of the students.

PARTICIPANTS – WHO SHOULD BE IN THE STUDY?

Participants – who take part in a psychological study

Target population –specific group they are interested in for the study

Sample – the nature of the group of participants

Representative sampling – since you can’t sample everyone in that group, you try to get a sample of as many as you can. More is better. Small is more open to distortion

PICK YOUR PARTICIPANTS

You want to replicate the Pygmalion effect experiment. How would you go about picking your participants?

In a small group of 2 or 3 write out your plan.

KINDS OF SAMPLING

Opportunity Sampling– whoever happens to be there and agrees to participate. Easy to get them, but often lead to biased results Sampling bias – 2/3 of research done at

universities uses exclusively students to participate! HMMMM. Can you see a problem?

Self-selected Sample –volunteers. Easy to obtain and usually highly motivated, but don’t always reflect whole population

Snowball Sampling – Participants recruit other participants from among their friends and acquaintances.

Random Sampling – sampling where every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected. Pull names out of a hat Everyone in the population has an equal chance

of getting selected. Stratified Sample- draws random samples

from each sub population in the group If school has 20% Hispanic, 50% African

American, 30% Caucasian students then the samples must include 20% Hispanic, etc.

This is the most accurate reflection of the actual distribution of the school population

YOUR TURN: 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. Discuss the following: If you use an opportunity sample at a local

fitness center, which group of people would be overrepresented? Which group would be underrepresented?

Would you get a more representative sample if you advertised for participants in your school?

ETHICS IN RESEARCH

Restaurant research study 1999 p. 21-22 CCSince then Psychological groups around the world have adopted the following:

1. Informed Consent2. Deception3. Debriefing4. Withdrawal from a study5. Confidentiality6. Protection from physical or mental harm

CHECK IT OUT

Review the research carried out by Rosenthal and Jacobson. Was this study ethical? Discuss your reasons.

EVALUATING FINDINGS

Application – how is the theory or empirical study going to be used? Studies of neurotransmitters are used to develop

drugs to treat depression, schizophrenia Use of memory research improves how we take

evidence from eyewitness testimony (an application of cognitive theory in forensic psychology)

Research on effect of light on mood (an application of biological theory in occupational psychology)

VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY – DID THE RESEARCH DO WHAT IT CLAIMED TO DO?

Ecological Validity Did the study represent what happens in real

life? If took place in a laboratory may lack e.v. If it was so well controlled that normal influences

were eliminated, may lack e.v. If no e.v. it may not predict what will happen

outside of lab

Cross-cultural Validity Is it relevent to other cultures? If not, it may be

ethnocentric and based on values and beliefs of one culture

RELIABILITY

Can the results be replicated? If another research uses the exact same

procedure, it should give the same results

LET’s REVIEW!!

POINTS TO CONSIDER WITH EMPIRICAL STUDIES

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

Is there a bias in the sample? Is one group overrepresented?

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

Lab setting is artificial. It isn’t possible to be certain that participants act as they would in real life

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

Remembering nonsense syllables? Lacks ecological validity

MORE POINTS TO CONSIDER

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

Consider in what ways the findings are different and try to exolain how and why. Maybe you can suggest which study was better designed and sow which results seem to be more valid

5. Do the findings have practical relevance? Consider how the study is applied to real life

situations

6. Ethical considerations Check IB psychology code of ethics

ACTIVITY: ARE THE FOLLOWING ETHICAL?

You are the committee selected by your college or university to determine which research studies will be allowed.

Get into groups of 3 or 4. Read your assigned scenario. Determine if it is ethical and should be allowed to be used.

SUPERIOR MEMORY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHeEQ85m79I