1. Part III: Designing Psychological Research In Part II of the course, we discussed what it means to measure psychological variables, and how to do so. Now that we’re familiar with the basics, we can get to some of the really interesting stuff.

2. Where do we get our questions? One reason why we want to measure psychological variables is that we have questions we would like to answer about those variables. One thing that young researchers often have difficulty with is generating interesting research questions.

3. Take 5 minutes to think about some of the big psychological questions

4. Here are 3 of my Top 10 Is it possible for subjective things, such as thoughts, memories, and feelings, to emerge from non-subjective things, such as neurons and chemicals? To what extent does human thought, feeling, and motivation reflect our evolutionary history? Are there ways to organize a society such that human suffering is minimized, yet human freedom is not compromised?

5. Answers versus Constraints To some extent, these questions seem like the kinds of questions that philosophers might lose sleep over—they seem unanswerable. But, let’s say we found evidence that certain chemicals or drugs made us feel safe. This kind of finding would constrain the way we think about the first question... right?

6. Answers versus Constraints In this respect, it is often useful to begin by thinking about some of the deeper, interesting issues concerning psychology when you’re beginning a research study. If your research can help constrain or limit the way we think about a question, then you have helped to make a big contribution to understanding the phenomenon.

7. Answers versus Constraints Example: Here is a “big” question: To what extent does human behavior reflect an evolutionary past (i.e., one shared with non-human animals and that originated prior to human civilization)? Here is a more tractable research question: In what proportion of mammalian species do infants exhibit fear-like behavior when separated from their mothers?

8. Answers versus Constraints Once we’ve operationalized our variables (e.g., fear-like behavior), we can, in principle, answer the question. We could study, let’s say, a random sample of 100 mammalian species and see how many of them exhibit fear under these circumstances. Does it answer the “big” question. No. But, it does have an impact on how we think about the bigger question. If we found that 100% of mammals behaved in this manner, we would think about the issue much differently than if we found that 2% of mammals behaved in this manner. The answer constrains the way we think.

9. Applied and Basic Research Not all kinds of research questions are of this “philosophical” kind. Oftentimes we’re confronted with practical problems for which we need solutions –Does sending criminals to prison help reduce or increase the likelihood that they will commit crimes in the future? –Will providing people with health-related information help change people’s health behavior?

10. Applied and Basic Research Some psychologists call these kinds of questions “applied,” in contrast to “basic” questions. In short, basic questions are usually researched in an attempt to better understand some psychological phenomenon of theoretical or philosophical interest. Applied research is usually conducted to solve a more tangible, practical problem (e.g., evaluate a treatment program).

11. Applied and Basic Research It is easy to view these different goals as if they are in competition. However, it is important to keep in mind that applied problems are typically rooted in or inform a deeper theoretical issue. –criminality | What is the nature of society & human motives? –health behavior | How can we make deep and enduring changes in the way people think and behave?

12. Applied and Basic Research A basic understanding of a phenomenon is useful before application can be useful. For example, if we try to implement programs that are designed to reduce crime without having a deep understanding of why people commit crime, we might have a difficult time designing successful programs.

13. Different kinds of research questions In the next few weeks, we’ll begin to talk about some of the ways that research can be designed in order to answer both basic and applied research questions. Some of the key questions we’ll have to ask ourselves throughout this process are: (a) does this question involve one variable or more than one variable and (b) does the question concern the causal nature of the relationship between two or more variables?

14. Different kinds of research questions Descriptive UnivariateMultivariate CausalDescriptive

15. Different kinds of research questions Univariate: questions pertaining to a single variable –how long are people married, on average, before they have children? –how many adults were sexually abused as children? Descriptive research is used to provide a systematic description of a psychological phenomenon.

16. Different kinds of research questions Multivariate: questions pertaining to the relationship between two or more variables –How does marital satisfaction vary as a function of the length of time that a couple waits before having children? –Are people who were sexually abused as children more likely to be anxious, depressed, or insecure as adults?

17. Different kinds of research questions Notice that in each of these cases there is no assumption that one variable necessarily causes the other. In contrast, causal research focuses on how variables influence one another –Does psychotherapy help to improve peoples’ well- being? –Does drinking coffee while studying increase test performance?

18. Different kinds of research questions Descriptive UnivariateMultivariate CausalDescriptive