Transcript Part II Descriptive Methods

Research Methods in Psychology 9th Edition
Part I General Issues
1 Introduction
2 The Scientific Method
3 Ethical Issues in the Conduct of Psychological Research
Part II Descriptive Methods
4 Observation
5 Survey Research
Part III Experimental Methods
6 Independent Groups Designs
7 Repeated Measures Designs
8 Complex Designs
Part IV Applied Research
9 Single-Case Designs, and Small-n Research
10 Quasi-Experimental Designs and Program Evaluation
Part V Analyzing and Reporting Research
11 Data Analysis and Interpretation: Part I. Describing Data, Confidence
Intervals, Correlation
12 Data Analysis and Interpretation: Part II. Tests of Statistical Significance and
the Analysis Story
13 Communication in Psychology
Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, 9th Edition
Part I: INTRODUCTION AND DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS.
1. Introduction to Statistics.
2. Frequency Distributions.
3. Central Tendency.
4. Variability.
Part II: FOUNDATIONS OF INFERENTIAL STATISTICS.
5. z-Scores: Location of Scores and Standardized Distributions.
6. Probability.
7. Probability and Samples: The Distribution of Sample Means.
8. Introduction to Hypothesis Testing.
Part III: USING t STATISTICS FOR INFERENCES ABOUT POPULATION MEANS AND MEAN
DIFFERENCES.
9. Introduction to the t Statistics.
10. The t Test for Two Independent Samples.
11. The t Test for Two Related Samples.
Part IV: ANALYSIS OF VARIANCE: TESTS FOR DIFFERENCES AMONG TWO OR MORE POPULATION
MEANS.
12. Introduction to Analysis of Variance.
13. Repeated-Measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA).
14. Two-Factor Analysis of Variance (Independent Measures).
Part V: CORRELATIONS AND NON-PARAMETRIC TESTS.
15. Correlation.
16. Introduction to Regression.
17. The Chi-Square Statistic: Tests for Goodness of Fit and Independence.
18. The Binomial Test.
19. How to Decide Which Statistics Technique Is Appropriate for a Given Data Set.
Psychology as a Science
• Use of theories and research to understand behavior,
emotion, motivation, cognition
• Generate useful knowledge that can be applied to individual
and societal problems
– For example
• research on the effects of media violence
• use of science in clinical psychology
• studies on attention blindness
• Use of the scientific method
– Ways of asking questions
– Logic and methods to get answers
– Two important characteristics
• Empirical approach
• Skeptical attitude
The Scientific Method
•Scientific Method
•an abstract concept
•not a particular technique or method
•ways in which scientists ask questions
•the logic and methods they use to gain answers
•Two important aspects of the scientific method
•reliance on an empirical approach
•skeptical attitude
•For Example How Do You Know ?
•Empirical approach
•observation of behaviors
•experimentation in which scientists employ systematic
control in the situation to be observed
Science in Context
•Three influences of context
•Historical
•Social/Cultural
•Moral
•Science is embedded in cultural influences
•Researchers are influences by culture
•Types of questions they study
•Willingness to accept findings
•Methods used to collect information
Science in Context
• Historical
– scientific psychology has increased dramatically in
100 years
– Psychology influenced from Philosophy, Physiology
and Physics Psychophysics was an early important
area in Psychology
– Early psychologists adopted the empirical approach
to emulate other sciences such as Biology, Chemistry
and Physics
– Separated from Philosophy although progress in
Psychology has been hampered by publics interest in
supernatural, metaphsical events.
Science in Context
• Social/Cultural
– Research questions, resources, and acceptance of
evidence are influenced by the current cultural
– Research done primarily within Western cultural
• Most subjects are college students which is a biased sample
referred to as WEIRD: White, Educated, Industrialized, Rich,
Democratic (Henrich, 2010)
– Susceptible to the potential bias of ethnocentrism
• A bias in which we try to understand the behavior of individuals in
a different culture
• For example examine questions of aggression and race rather
than nurturance and race
• For example: stereotype people based on their dress or hairstyle
Science in Context
• Moral
– High standards for integrity and ethical conduct
– Integrity is important
• Research findings can impact individual and societal
problems
• Acceptance of controversial findings is difficult
– Some obvious issues such as fabricated data,
plagiarize, or selectively report research findings.
– However other difficult issues related to risk/benefit,
deception and use of non-human animals in research
– Follow the ethical principles of the American
Psychological Association for guidance
Thinking Like a Researcher
•Be skeptical
•Regarding claims about the causes of behavior and
mental processes
•Even claims made on the basic of “published” scientific
findings
•Make decisions based on objective evidence not
subjective judgement
•Problems with being Skeptical
•"They simply insist on being allowed to test all claims and
to reject those that are inherently untestable." p15 from
SZ&Z
•“Researchers and juries both seek the truth, but their
conclusions are ultimately probabilistic. Certainty is often
beyond the grasp of both jurors and scientists." p17 from
SZ&Z
Thinking Like a Researcher
•Use converging evidence across many studies
•similar to detectives and others in the legal system.
•seek to make decisions based on evidence
•Strength of the Evidence
•description of behavior
•prediction about behavior
•evidence for the cause of a behavior
•replications (repetitions) of findings for the cause of
behavior
•The stronger the evidence, the more confident
we can be about the claim about behavior.
Evaluating Reports of Psychological Research
•Don’t confuse pseudoscience or non-science with
science
•Be skeptical
•Be aware that scientists may disagree
•Keep in mind that research is generally about
averages
•Whenever possible, go to the original source
•For example in the article People Like Us in the
Atlantic Monthly
Getting Started Doing Research
•Choose a research topic
•based on information from psychology journals,
textbooks, and courses.
•Working with a hypothesis
•a tentative explanation for a phenomenon
•stated in the form of a prediction
•together with an explanation for the prediction
•For Example
•Research participants who play violent video games are
predicted to behave more aggressively after exposure
than participants who passively view television violence
•Because video game participants’ aggression is
reinforced (rewarded) while playing the game.
Getting Started Doing Research
•How do I develop a hypothesis to test in my research?
•Think about deviations (oddities, exceptions) from a
general trend or principle.
•Imagine how you would behave in a task or when faced
with a specific problem.
•Consider similar problems with known solutions.
•Make sustained, deliberate observations of a person or
phenomenon (e.g., perform a “case study”).
•Generate counterexamples for an obvious conclusion
about behavior.
•Borrow ideas or theories from other disciplines.
•Read reports of psychological research.
The Multimethod Approach to
Psychological Research
•There are many psychological research questions
and research methods.
•No single research method or technique can
answer all of the different questions
•Obtain a more complete understanding of complex
behavior and mental processes.
•There is no perfect method for answering
questions
•each method or measure of behavior has flaws
•may be incomplete in its ability to answer research
questions
References
Joseph Henrich, Steven J. Heine and Ara
Norenzayana. (2010) The weirdest people in the
world? Behavioral and Brain Sciences /
Volume 33 / Issue 2-3 / June 2010, pp 61-83.
Group One
Anamelechi, Olachi E.
Callans, Molly G.
Goode, Jackson
Lecka, Trevor J.
Selters, Charlotte E.
Group2
Blish, Kimberly G.
Chin-Martin, Lilian S.
Guntupalli, Siri
Matsumoto, Erin S.
Shiffman, Andrew K.
Group3
Brakeman, Kylie M.
Dewey, Magdalen B.
Heile, Lisa M.
Munet, Matthew P.
Siegel, Raina D.
Group Four
Byrne, Robert W.
Fields, Raven B.
Kho, Tiffany L.
Rowshan, Kiana
Yee, Samantha A.
Meet and greet your group members