Psychology Research Methods
There are a variety of ways of
validating truth
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Personal experience
Intuition
Social or cultural consensus
Religious scripture and interpretation
Philosophy and reasoning
Science and the scientific method
Why study research?
The sky sure
is a pretty
blue!
Facts rather than opinions
Remember Critical Thinking ?
• thinking that does not blindly accept
arguments and conclusions
• examines assumptions
• discerns hidden values
• evaluates evidence
• assesses conclusions
www.explodingdog.com
Scientific Method
a procedure for acquiring and testing knowledge through
systematic observation or experimentation.
Generation
or refinement of
Theories
Which are tested with
research & observation
Hypotheses
Lead to
Having my say!
• Hypothesis - educated prediction
• Null hypothesis - prediction that the
action does not cause effect
• Theory - set of facts, concepts, and
principles that allow description and
explanation
• Law - firmly established, thoroughly
tested
Does the research really prove
anything?
Reliability relates to our confidence that a
given finding can be reproduced again and
again — that it can be replicated — and isn’t
just a ‘freak’ or chance occurrence.
Validity relates to our confidence that a given
finding shows what we believe it to show.
• Internal - the extent to which an experiment allows
confident statements about cause and effect
• External - the extent to which the results of an
experiment can be generalized to other
circumstances
Types of Research
• Descriptive
• Correlational
• Experimental
Types of Research
Descriptive
• general term to describe a research
project that does not manipulate variables
and does not try to establish causal
relationships between events.
• Used when we have little knowledge of
phenomena and we want to describe it
accurately and truthfully
– Naturalistic observation
• Look listen measure record
– Case Study
– Survey
– Psych tests
Raw Data is hard analyze
Frequency Distribution
• Central Tendency
– Mean
• Calculated by adding the scores and
dividing the resulting sum by the total
number of scores
– Median
• The score at the midpoint of the
distribution
– Mode
• Most frequently obtained score in the
distribution
Frequency Distribution
Variability and Standard
Deviation
Types of Research
Experimental
 Research method in which the
researcher sets out to systematically
manipulate one source of influence
while holding others constant
Variables
• Independent variable -- a variable that
researchers manipulate and modify to see
its impact on children
• Dependent variable -- a variable that
researchers assume under the influence of
the independent variable
• Control variable -- a variable that
researchers maintain unchanged
throughout an experiment
• Confound -- a variable that systematically
changes along with the independent
variable, potentially leading to a mistaken
conclusion about the independent variable.
Types of Research
Correlational
 Quantitative method of research in which you
have 2 or more quantitative variables from the
same group of subjects, & you are trying to
determine if there is a relationship (or
covariation) between the 2 variables (Capliano College, 2004)
 Whether and to what degree variables are
related.
Correlation and Causation
Three possible cause-effect relations
(A)
Low self-esteem
could cause
(B)
Depression
or
(B)
Depression
could cause
or
(C)
Distressing events
or biological
predisposition
could cause
(A)
Low self-esteem
(A)
Low self-esteem
and
(B)
Depression
Research Ethics
• Follow informed-consent rules
• Respect confidentiality and privacy
• Debrief
Group Task
• Pick one issue about which your group
designs an applied study
• Your group members will present
– The research question and the rationale
– Hypotheses
– Method
• Participants (why choose them)
• Materials
• Procedures
– Expected results (how results are expected to
confirm or disconfirm your hypotheses)
Evaluating Media Reports
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Be skeptical of sensationalist claims
Goal of “shock” media is ratings
Look for original sources
Separate opinion from data
Consider methodology and operational
definitions
• Correlation is not causality
• Skepticism is the rule is science.
Stanford Prison Research
A Simulation Study of the Psychology of Imprisonment
Conducted at Stanford University
Welcome to the Stanford Prison Experiment web
site, which features an extensive slide show and
information about this classic psychology
experiment, including parallels with the recent abuse
of Iraqi prisoners. What happens when you put good
people in an evil place? Does humanity win over evil,
or does evil triumph? These are some of the
questions we posed in this dramatic simulation of
prison life conducted in the summer of 1971 at
Stanford University. © 1999-2005, Philip G. Zimbardo