1. Lecture 2 Psyc 300A

2. Where Do Research Ideas Come From? Curiosity In mature areas, there are usually competing theories Theory-based research will usually produce more cumulative effects Stay away from “what-if” experiments. It is important to know what has been done Tweaking a previous study is a good starting place

3. Role of Replication in Science Benefits of replication Kinds of replication –Literal (exact) replication –Replication with extension –Conceptual replication Replication is not always done

4. Literature Searches: Purpose Want to understand what has been done. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Stand on the shoulders of those who came before you A lit search is included in APA Introduction section

5. Types of Literature Differences in quality of literature Empirical vs. other (commentary, review, non-research/popular) articles Peer review

6. How to Do a Literature Search Use an electronic database (PsycINFO, PubMed) Choose appropriate terms Expand or reduce search Use wilcard (*), history, and crossing terms Use of thesaurus, index Look at citations Look at references of articles you get. –Look up key words, other terms and authors Literature search exercise

7. APA Format: General Comments This “rigid” format may seem to stifle creativity Format is organized Uses technical language, not entertaining language Format increases predictability. Content and findings are what make it interesting Some articles are more complicated than the sections covered today

8. APA Introduction Section Purpose: –Prepare reader for the research that is to follow by providing necessary background. Addresses: –Why are you doing the study? –How does your study tie-in with the previous research? –What are your hypotheses, how did you derive them, and how are you testing them? Organization: –Statement of problem, define concepts. –Summary of what is known –Funnel of relevant research –Rationale for current research. –Hypotheses of the present research.

9. APA Method Section Purpose: Describe what you did in enough detail that another investigator could literally replicate your study. Style: Complete and thorough, but concise. Organization: –Participants How many, description, how chosen? –Apparatus and Materials What kind of stimuli (e.g., tests) used? Instruments used in study –Procedure What did participants do? Often sequentially presented

10. APA Results Section Purpose: Present results of the study Includes: Statistical analyses Tables & figures Style: Emphasize important findings No raw scores Text and tables support each other Don’t discuss meaning of results here

11. APA Discussion Section Purpose: –To interpret results, especially with respect to hypotheses Addresses: –Support for hypothesis (from intro) –Interpretation in terms of theory –Relationship to other studies –Methodological limitations –Implications –Suggestions for future research

12. APA Reference Section All citations in text must be in references. All references must be cited. Only cite what you have read; don't cite second-hand. Accuracy is important in citations and references. Consult the publication manual frequently.

13. APA Abstract Section Purpose: to summarize the study. –Used for indexing. –A good abstract is accurate self-contained concise and specific nonevaluative coherent and readable For an empirical study, 100-120 words. It should include –the problem or purpose (from intro) –participants, materials, procedures (from method) –findings (from results) –conclusions/implications (from discussion)

14. Summarizing Articles How to read a research article –Use the APA sections –Don’t need to read in order –Take notes, understand the “story” Article summary –In one page, what was the article about? –Use objective language –Like an abstract but …

15. Discussion Stanovich, Ch.1 “Psychology is Alive and Well (and Doing Fine Among the Sciences)”