Introduction to Research
Ways of Knowing
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Tenacity
Intuition
Authority
Reasoning (Rationalism)
Observation (Empiricism)
Science
Tenacity
• Most primitive approach
• Stubbornly hold on to an idea or tradition
– No evaluation
• One of the most common and dangerous
ways of accepting new information
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Intuition
• “Believe it is true because I feel it is true”
• Knowledge/belief from within
• Belief is unsupported by objective
evidence
Authority
• Minimally superior to the method of
tenacity
• Accepting word of authority figure without
skepticism
– Famous person
– Respected person
Disadvantages of Method of
Authority
• Authority could be
wrong
– Nazi war atrocities
– Freud and cocaine
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Disadvantages of Method of
Authority
• Granting authority when it isn’t justified
Disadvantages of Method of
Authority
• Granting authority
when it isn’t justified
– Celebrity
endorsements
Disadvantages of Method of
Authority
• Granting authority
when it isn’t justified
– Celebrity
endorsements
– Psychics
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Disadvantages of Method of
Authority
• Granting authority
when it isn’t justified
– Celebrity
endorsements
– Psychics
– Radio Psychologists
Advantages of Method of
Authority
• True authorities are often correct
Advantages of Method of
Authority
• Obtain knowledge we
don’t have time or
training to acquire
– Education
• Evaluate knowledge
skeptically
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Reasoning
• Use individual powers of pure reason and
logic
– Rationalism
• Beliefs are deducted from prior
assumptions according to rules of logic
• Often takes the form of a syllogism
Logical Syllogism
• True Premises
– Premise:All humans are
mortal;
– Premise: I am a human;
– Conclusion: Therefore, I must
be mortal
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Pitfalls of Rationalism
• Incorrect premise leads to false conclusion
– Premise:
No woman can count
– Premise:
I am a woman
– Conclusion: Therefore, I cannot count
• Can construct logical, eloquent arguments
for both sides of a debate
– Gun control
Observation
• Learning through direct observation and
experience
– Empiricism
• Can use other’s observations if trustworthy
• Empirical evidence
– Often the cornerstone of solid argument
Pitfalls of Empiricism
• Experiences of the world are limited
• Difficult to be an objective observer
– Biases or preconceived ideas influence
observation
• Reasoning strategies/errors
– Availability heuristic
– Confirmation bias
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Availability Heuristic
• Estimate frequency or probability on the
basis of how easily examples come to
mind
– May cause overestimation of likelihood of
vivid events
• What percentage of convictions for felony crimes are
obtained through trial instead of plea bargaining?
– Less than 10%
Confirmation Bias
• Search out information to confirm beliefs
• Ignore contradictory information
If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will
scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he
will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered
something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his
instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence.
- Bertrand Russell
Empiricist
Rationalist
• Empiricism: phenomena investigated by
careful, objective observation
• Rationalism: phenomena understood by careful
thought, and logical proof
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Science
• Combination of observation and reasoning
by logic
• Advantage
– Objectivity
• Observations can be verified/replicated by others
• Logical reasoning
– Used to explain observed events
Scientific Method
• Building blocks
– Empirical observation
– Replication by other scientists
– Logical explanation
• Used for experimentation
– Generating hypotheses (educated guesses)
– Conducting tests
– Tests support or refute hypotheses
Pre-scientific Revolution
• Empiricism and
rationalism used for
centuries
• Method of authority
– Most common means
used to answer questions
of reality
• Religious dogma
– Authority figures might use
empiricism or rationalism
• Conclusions rarely
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Scientific Revolution
(1550 – 1700)
• Scientific method developed
– Used both empiricism and rationalism
• Post revolution
– Scientific method became favored method of
answering substantive questions
• Very successfully
– Yielded rapid advances in the sciences
• Medicine, physics, chemistry
Scientific Method and
Psychology
• British Associationism
– School of thought
emphasizing empiricism
– Human behavior is
determined by experience
• Spawned many
researchers
– Wilhelm Wundt
– First psychology lab (1879)
Scientific Thinking
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Determinism
Objectivity
Data-driven
Empirical Questions
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Determinism
• All events have causes
• Understanding causes allows us to predict
events
• Determinism and free will
– Illusion of free will?
– Or is free will meaningless without
determinism?
Objectivity
• Can be verified by more than one observer
• Define terms and research procedures
– Allows others to replicate study and observe
same outcome
• Reliable replication
– Scientists trust the observation
• Failure to replicate
– Outcome not believed
Data-driven
• Conclusions about human behavior
– Must be supported by objective information
– Objective information gathered through a
systematic procedure
• Judge whether data given to support claim
are adequate
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Empirical Questions
• Can be answered through systematic
observations and experiences
• Precise enough to allow specific
predictions to be made
• Nonempirical
– “Is there a God?”
• Empirical
– “Does belief in God increase with age?”
Broad Research Approaches
• Descriptive
• Relational
• Explanatory
Descriptive Research
• Carefully describing behavior
• Explanation of behavior is not
a goal
• Necessary first step
– Establishes foundation for
future study
• Observation
– “Many great artists suffered
from mental illness”
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Relational Research
• Two or more variables are measured and
related to each other
• Relationship
– Existence
– Pattern
– Strength
• Observation
– “More highly creative individuals experience mental
illness than noncreative individuals”
Explanatory Research
• Focuses on identifying the causes of
behavior
• Manipulating conditions believed to be
responsible for behavior
• Manipulation
– Artists receive no recognition for work
– Artists receive recognition for their work
Generating a Research
Question
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Intensive Case Studies
Paradoxical Incidents
Resolving Conflicting Results
Serendipity
Observations
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Intensive Case Studies
• In
- depth examination
– Individual or group of
individuals
• Qualities
– Meticulous records
– Sharp discriminations
• Methods
– Archival material
– Record behavior
– Report what they/others
have done
Resolving Conflicting Results
• Competing theories
– Different explanations to support existing
data
• Evidence in support of both theories
• Resolving conflict
– Identifying influential variables/situations
– Consolidation of theories
Paradoxical Incidents
• Observations of behavior/phenomena
– Unexplained causes
• Examples
– Zeigarnik effect
– Kitty Genovese
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Zeigarnik Effect
• Memory better for incomplete tasks
• Origins of research
– Coffee shop discussions
– Waiter’s memory of orders
• Orders forgotten once bill was settled
• Phenomena intrigued Zeigarnik
– Designed study to examine hypothesis
Kitty Genovese
Kitty Genovese
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Serendipity
• “Lucky” Discoveries
– Occur when looking for something else
• Chance encounters
– Velcro
• Anomalous data
– Sensory store
Chance Encounters – Velcro
• George deMestral
• Walk through field
• Cockleburs stuck to
clothing
Invention of Velcro
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Anomalous Data – Sperling
• Harvard graduate
student
• Research interest
– Information
processing in visual
system
• Amount of information
obtained in single
fixation
Anomalous Data – Sperling
• Subjects reported they could see more than they
could report
• Very short term memory store
– Trace faded before subjects finished reporting
X B S T
D H M G
R L W C
Report Identity and
Location of every item
in the display
Stimulus presented
for 50 msec (.50 sec)
Observations
• One of the most common sources of research
ideas
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Fundamental Principles of Science
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Determinism (Discussed previously)
Empiricism/Operationalism
Falsifiability
Replicability
Parsimony
Asking Empirical Questions
• What is an empirical question?
– Answered through systematic
observations
– Precise
• Allow specific predictions
• Operationalize terms
– Defined in terms of a set of operations to
be performed
• Strict definition
Operationalizing Terms
• Strict definition
– Based on set of operations/procedures
– Works well for some sciences
– Physics, geology
– Causes problems for other sciences
– Psychology, Sociology
• Creates arbitrary limitations on concept
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Operational Definitions
• Links concepts to
measurable, observable
events
• Creativity
– # Ss drawing animals
with the same features
– Rating scale
– # Features shared by
earth animals
Pre-existing Bias Problem
• Intuitive theories
• Same terms used by laymen and
scientists
– Technical concepts are different
– Leads to misunderstandings
• “Depression”
– Layperson – “Down in the dumps”
– Psychologist – DSM III-r definition
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Basing Views on Intuition
• Operational approach dehumanizes
people
– Should base views of human beings on
intuition
• Problems
– Disagreements difficult to resolve
– Disagreements result in a power struggle
Operationalism: A Humanizing
Force
• Truth of a knowledge claim not determined
by strength of belief
• Theoretical views should be based upon
observable behavior
– Knowledge claims become public
– Conflicting ideas can be tested
• Operational definitions evolve
Theories
• Theory
– Set of logically consistent statements
about a behavioral phenomena
• Can be derived from observation
– Tentative first step
• Can be derived from experimental data
– Many experiments
– Theory explains the whole set of data
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Characteristics of Theories
• Summarize empirical knowledge about a
phenomena
• Organizes the knowledge
• Provides a tentative explanation for
phenomena
• Serves as a basis for making predictions
about behavior
Falsifiability
• Theory must make falsifiable predictions
• Predictions must be specific
– Predict what should happen
– Predict what should not happen
The Freedom to Make Mistakes
• Falsifiability allows mistakes
• Falsification of predictions is progress
– Used to adjust theories
– Theories accord more closely with data
• Better reflect the nature of the world
• Driving force in the evolution of a theory
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Replicability
• All experiments have flaws
• New data is replicated by others to verify
results are reliable
– Replication occurs
• Greater confidence in results
– Replication fails
• Determine source of failure
– Conditions under which effect is seen
– Flaws that produced false result
Theories and Hypotheses
• Hypothesis
– Can be derived from theory
– Selects what the researcher observes
• “Working” hypothesis
– Falsifiable
– Corresponds with reality
– Coherent and parsimonious
Correspondence with Reality
• Follows logically from what is known
– Consistent with respected scientific
theories
– Consistent with available empirical data
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Coherence and Parsimony
• Coherence
– Hypothesis statement is logical
• Parsimony
– Hypotheses must be a simple as possible
– Occam’s razor
• “Cutting away” superfluous concepts
– A prescription rather than a description
Variables
• Events or conditions
– Observed or measured
– Subject to change
• Three types
– Independent variables
– Dependent variables
– Extraneous variables
Dependent Variables
• Effect or outcome of interest
• Manipulate presumed causes to determine
their effect on the DV
• Measurement
– Operational definitions critical
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Independent Variables
• Factor of interest to the experimenter
– Hypothesized “cause” of phenomena
• Variable being manipulated
Independent Variables –
Characteristics
• Minimum of two levels
– Comparison between two situations
• The effects of different dosages of
marijuana on reaction time
– IV = amount of marijuana
• Level 1 = High dose
• Level 2 = Low dose
– DV = reaction time
Context and Variables
• Variable can be an IV or a DV
– Depends on presumed direction of
causality
• Mental illness and Creativity
– Mental illness enables creativity
• IV = degree of mental illness
• DV = degree of creativity
– Creativity causes mental illness
• IV = degree of creativity
• DV = degree of mental illness
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Extraneous Variables
• Variable that might affect DV
– Not of current interest to experimenter
• Has the potential to influence the results of
the study
– Experimenter needs to control variable
Extraneous Variable - Example
• Examine relationship between
time spent reading the textbook
and grade received in class
– IV = Time spent reading
– DV = Grade received in class
– Extraneous variable = Reading
ability
Mediating and Moderating
Variables
• Mediating variable
– An intermediate variable that enables
relationship between IV and DV
• Moderating variable
– Influences perceived relationship between
IV and DV
Education
Social
Class
Mediating variable
Self
Breast
Exam
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Mediating and Moderating
Variables
• Mediating variable
– An intermediate variable that enables
relationship between IV and DV
• Moderating variable
– Influences perceived relationship between
IV and DV
Education
Mediating variable
Self
Breast
Exam
Social
Class
Mediating and Moderating
Variables
• Mediating variable
– An intermediate variable that enables
relationship between IV and DV
• Moderating variable
– Influences perceived relationship between
IV and DV
Age
Younger
Moderating variable
Self
Breast
Exam
Social
Class
Mediating and Moderating
Variables
• Mediating variable
– An intermediate variable that enables
relationship between IV and DV
• Moderating variable
– Influences perceived relationship between
IV and DV
Age
Older
Social
Class
Moderating variable
Self
Breast
Exam
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