1. Psychological Research Strategies Module 2

2. Why is Research Important? Gives us a reliable, systematic way to consider our questions Helps us to draw logical, supported conclusions “Not all will conduct research, but all have to evaluate its relevance”

3. Research Methods Example research topic: Does listening to music through headphones affect studying? What does common sense say?

4. Observation Benefit: simplest scientific technique Problem: bias Two Types of bias: Researcher bias – observation may be influenced by what they want/expect to discover Participant bias – may respond a certain way because: know they’re being observed believe they know what the researcher wants

5. What do you see?

6. Ways to reduce bias: Researcher – finding ways to rely less on observers’ opinion (example: checklists) Participant – using naturalistic observation – naturally occurring settings

7. Case Studies one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles Problems: bias can’t always apply results of one study to other situations Sometimes necessary for ethical reasons Example: Genie

8. Surveys Goal: discover the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a sample of people using questionnaires or interviews Benefits: efficient, can reach large crowds Problems: bias in wording, social desirability Age Interviews!

9. Surveys For results to be relevant to the population: Random sample – every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected Adequate number of participants – determined by mathematical formulas; larger samples = more relevant results

10. Correlational Study Reveals the extent to which two variables are related to each other Examples: Is there a relationship between… diet and health? training techniques and success in sports? studying and better grades?

11. Uses of Correlational Studies notcause-and-effect does not prove that a cause-and-effect relationship exists onlyrelated tell you only that variables are related, not why they are related So why use them? predictions Useful for making predictions – the stronger the correlation, the more accurate your prediction

12. Correlation Positive Correlation – both variables increase or decrease together Examples: height & weight, studying effectiveness & frequency of wearing headphones Perfect Positive CorrelationModerate Positive Correlation

13. Correlation Negative Correlation – one variable increases while the other decreases Example: hours spent watching TV & GPA, studying effectiveness & frequency of wearing headphones Perfect Negative CorrelationModerate Negative Correlation

14. Correlation Zero Correlation – no relationship between the variables Example: the number of carrots you eat per day and your shoe size

15. Experiments only cause-and-effect Purpose: only method that allows you to establish a cause-and-effect relationship

16. Hypotheses and Operational Definitions 1 st step: form a hypothesis – testable prediction of the experiment’s outcome

17. Independent and Dependent Variables Two variables of a hypothesis: 1. Independent variable (IV): the variable that should cause something to happen 2. Dependent variable (DV): the variable that should show the effect (or outcome) of the IV

18. IV & DV Example “Students who listen to music during class will have higher average grades at the end of the quarter.” What are the independent and dependent variables? IV = listening to music during class DV = participants' average end-of-quarter grades

19. Groups & Random Assignment Most experiments have two groups: Experimental group – exposed to the IV (music) Control group – not exposed to the IV (no music) Critical feature: people placed in groups by random assignment – assigning by chance

20. Controlling Your Experiment (Testing only what you want to test) Control for experiments by: Blind procedure - participants don’t know hypothesis until after data is collected Double-blind procedure – the people collecting the data & participants don’t know the expected outcome Placebo – nonactive substance or condition that is given instead of a drug or active agent (all drug studies)

21. Ethics: Human Research 4 Ethical Principles Guiding Human Research: 1. Informed consent – about nature of research & risks 2. Right to be protected from harm and discomfort 3. Right to confidentiality – can’t release data about individual participants 4. Right to debriefing – full explanation of research when involvement is done

22. Ethics: Animal Research Must have: 1. clean housing 2. adequate ventilation 3. appropriate food 4. be well-cared for