Research Issues Goal of research is often to replicate study’s results or generalize findings to real world behavior. Replication- Repetition of Study

Problematic Issues 1.) Sampling Bias 2.) Placebo Effects 3.) Self-Report Distortions 4.) Experimenter/ Participant Bias

1.) Sampling Bias In research, we take a sample of people to represent the population of larger people we wish to generalize to. Examples There may be situation where sample is not representative of the population Examples

2.) Placebo Effects Placebo- a substance that resembles treatment (or drug) but actually has no effect. Placebo Effect – Participant’s expectation leads to change in behavior even though they receive fake or empty treatment. Examples

3.) Self-Report Distortions Social Desirability Bias- The tendency to give socially approved answers about self Example

4.) Experimenter Bias Experimenter Bias- Researcher’s preference or expectations about study influence results Example Participant Bias (Demand Characteristics)- A participant may act in a different way based upon their expectations of study. Example Way to correct for these two issues: Double- Blind Study-

Ethics Is Deception an appropriate tactic to use in psychological research? It is common to mislead participants in order to achieve desired research outcome Examples When do you think it is appropriate/inappropriate?