PSYCHOLOGY 305 / 305G
Social Psychology
Research in Social
Psychology
2005
Overview
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Triplett’s study of social influence (1897-1898)
Scientific Method
Experimental Advantages & Disadvantages
Non-experimental Advantages & Disadvantages
Experimental Method Flourishes: 1930’s-1970’s
Action research
Methodological crisis 1970s
Social constructionism
Methodological pluralism
Triplett (1898) Social Influence - 1
• Triplett (1897-1898)
conducted what has
been considered by
many the 1st social
psychology experiment
• Observed that cyclists go
faster when racing
against others or in front
of a crowd
1
Triplett (1898) Social Influence - 3
• Experiment: Children wound twine onto
reels, either alone or in the company of
another child performing the same task.
• Times were faster in the presence of
another -> i.e., social facilitation.
Theory <-> Research
Theory
Research
A Model of the Scientific Method
Employed by Psychologists
2
Scientific Research Methods
in Social Psychology
Methods used in social psychology often depend on the
research question.
• Experimental
– Laboratory
– Field
• Non-experimental methods
–
–
–
–
Survey
Case study
Archival
Observational
• Quantitative vs. Qualitative
Experimental Method
• The experimental method flourished within
social psychology 1930’s-1970’s
• Manipulate one or more variables
(independent variable) & look at effect on
other variable(s) (dependent variable)
• Still the most popular method in social
psychology today
Experimental Method
Social psychology experiments 1930-1970 often
involved:
• Manipulate IV(s), measure DV, control
extraneous variables
• Intricate enactments of well worked out scripts
in the lab
• ‘Cover story’ often deceived participants
• Careful to debrief after experiment was over
• Experiments help get a handle on factors
affecting social perception, influence, &
interaction
3
Laboratory Experiments
– Typical Advantages
Internal Validity
controlled environment means that results obtained
are due to manipulation of IV & causality can be
inferred?
Laboratory Experiments
– Typical Issues - 1
• Construct Validity
do IV & DV correspond to theoretical constructs
being investigated?
e.g., does measure of aggression used in lab really
measure true aggression? (often low in lab studies)
• External Validity / Mundane Realism
generalisable to ‘real’ world? (i.e., what is the
similarity between experiment & ‘real’ world?)
• Ethics?
experiments tend to be less ethical since they often
involve deception
Laboratory Experiments
– Typical Issues - 2
• Experimental Realism
degree to which experiment absorbs participants
• Demand Characteristics
experiment demands a certain response
(lessened by use of deception)
• Reactivity
behaviour changes because part of experiment
• Subject Effects
participants act in ways to please experimenter
(social desirability)
• Experimenter Effects
experimenter gives clues to hypothesis ->
therefore, use double-blind design
4
Field Experiments
• Like lab experiments we still manipulate
an IV and measure its effect on a DV.
• e.g., Sherif’s summer camp studies.
Field Experiments
– Typical Advantages
• External Validity / Mundane Realism
conducted in naturalistic settings, therefore more
mundane realism / generalisable to ‘real’ world?
• Less Reactivity
fewer behaviour changes due to being part of
experiment
Field Experiments
– Typical Issues - 1
• Construct Validity
do IV & DV correspond to theoretical constructs
being investigated?
• Internal Validity
less experimental control over potentially
confounding variables
• Measurement Difficulties
How do we measure concepts like emotions in
this type of experiment?
• Ethical issues
Participants generally don’t know they are in an
experiment, therefore can’t get their informed
consent
5
Non-Experimental Methods - 1
Often used when it is impossible to perform an
experiment:
• Archival Research
e.g., look at media reports & how they change
over time – this type of data may be biased.
• Case Study
e.g., major events, such as genocide, tsunami
• Survey Research (usually correlational)
e.g., look at the relationship between attitudes &
intentions to behave a certain way
• Observational Field Studies
(observe behaviour in natural setting)
e.g., observe aggression in children’s play – this
type of research tends to be less reactive.
Non-Experimental Methods
• Advantages
– more naturalistic
– may be more ethical
– potentially large amounts of data
– better construct validity
• Disadvantages
– lack of control - less internal validity
– researcher bias
– demand characteristics
– subject effects
Action Research
• An iterative approach to research
• Developed by Kurt Lewin (1940’s)
(who is known as the founder of modern
social psychology)
• Lewin conducted systematic, dynamic
experiments with real groups
• Pioneered use of “action research”, in
which what is learnt is applied again,
within the experiment, in a cyclical,
dynamic fashion
6
Action Research
“Action Research is the process by which
practitioners attempt to study their
problems scientifically in order to guide,
correct, and evaluate their decisions
and actions.”
- Kurt Lewin (1947)
Action Research – Advantages
• Relatively natural
more mundane realism / external
validity
• Better construct validity
because the situations are less artificial
and multiple measures are used
• Ethical
• Empowering
e.g., research is combined with
education
Action Research – Disadvantages
• Internal Validity
Lack of scientific control - can’t infer
causality
• Demand Characteristics
e.g., wording effects in surveys.
• Participant Effects
May guess the purpose of a survey,
may have social desirability effects.
• Researcher-Dependent
7
•
•
The Crisis in Social Psychology:
Who Cares? (The Relevance
Crisis)
1970’s: Limits of the scientific method
become clear and the social
constructionist viewpoint became more
accepted.
Criticism of experimental social
psychology as obsessed with arcane
theory and conducting clever
experiments without any social relevance
(Ring) vs. Criticisism of social
constructionism for being too concerned
with relevance (McQuire)
The Crisis in Social Psychology:
Empiricist vs. Constructionist Debate
Major criticisms of social psychology (late
1960s)
• reductionist
• positivistic
• demand characteristics
• experimenter effects
• ethical issues
• lack of social context
Reductionism
• Reducing behaviour to the individual,
ignoring social context
• e.g. studying stereotyping in the lab by
looking at individual cognitive processes
8
Positivism
• Non-critical acceptance of science and
its methods
• Is the scientific method & especially the
experiment suitable for social
psychology?
• Science as ‘religion’
• Is objectivity possible?
Research Ethics
•
•
•
•
•
Informed consent
Protect participants from harm & discomfort
Avoid excessive use of deception
Confidentiality
Fully debrief participants
Social Constructionism
1. Culturally Embedded:
Social psychology experiments ‘dis-embed’ events from the
cultural context e.g., body language, spitting.
2. Sequentially Embedded:
Experiments only consider very short sequences of events –
so are they appropriate for explaining phenomena like
attraction?
3. Openly Competitive:
In the real world, a no. of stimuli compete – isolated in the lab.
4. Final Common Pathways:
Multiply determined; naturally confound each other.
5. Complexly Determined:
Difficult to manipulate greater than 3 IVs in the lab.
6. Social Psychology as History:
Meanings change over time e.g., racism/language – change
from negroes/coloured to Black to African Americans (back to
Black?)
9
Social Psychology as History
•
•
Interpretation of the meaning of events
& behaviour change across cultural
history
Therefore,
– there are no general laws of behaviour
– all hypotheses contain some truth for
some persons at some time
Research Methods in Social
Constructionism - 1
• Social constructionism
(social world is product of socially & historically situated
practices)
• Research findings do not have meaning until
‘interpreted’
• No knowledge is transhistorical &
transcultural
(i.e., all ‘knowledge’ is culturally situated)
Research Methods in Social
Constructionism - 2
• Importance of reflexivity
(researcher’s awareness of own biases, assumptions etc.)
• Critical social psychology
(value-laden & political)
• Research methods focus on analysis of
language, discourse & use of rhetoric
• Observations, interviews, records of
naturally occurring events
10
Summary
• The application of scientific methods
distinguished psychology as a unique and
respected field during the 20th century.
• Social psychology has been a hot-bed of
development and debate with regard to
research methods in social science.
• Research methods in psychology have
exhibited a waxing & waning paradigmatic
debate between specific, controlled
experimental studies and larger, more
complex, naturally occurring social
psychological studies
Questions
• Which research method is best?
• Is the experiment still useful?
• Methodological pluralism?
References
• Danziger, K. (2000). Making social
psychology experimental: A conceptual
history, 1930 - 1970. Journal of the History of
the Behavioral Sciences, 36, 329 - 347.
• Richard, F. D., Bond, C. F., Jr., & StokesZoota, J. J. (2003). One hundred years of
social psychology quantitatively described.
Review of General Psychology, 7, 331-336.
11