The research process Psych 231: Research Methods in Psychology

Announcements Poster sessions in lab this week –Go to lab, set up posters, take attendance –We’ll take turns e.g., Ryan’s sections will view Chris’s sections first, then we’ll swap rooms In Labs –Turn in group ratings sheet –Turn in results and reference section for group project

The Research Process Get an idea Presenting your work  A set of skills leading to knowledge  A way of thinking  A way of life?

The Research Process  Get an idea – Often the hardest part – No firm rules for how to do this – Observations – Past research – Review the literature

The Research Process Review the literature –What has already been done? What variables have people looked at What hasn’t been looked at –How are other experiments in the area done? –What methods are used To measure the dependent variable To manipulate the independent variable To control extraneous variables

The Research Process Formulate a testable hypothesis – What’s a hypothesis? – A predicted relationship between variables – What does it mean to be testable? – Must be falsifiable – Must be able to measure (and manipulate for experiments) the variables – Directly – Indirectly – Operational definitions

The Research Process  Design the research – What method – Experiment – Survey – Small N designs – Developmental designs –What kind of comparisons are used –Control groups –Baseline conditions –How many levels of your Independent variable(s)

The Research Process Collect Data –May include pilot research –Who do you test? What’s your population Your sampling frame Your sample Your sampling method

The Research Process Analyze the data –Variables and variability Descriptive statistics (summarizing) –Means, standard deviations –Graphs, tables Inferential statistics (drawing conclusions) –What kind of analysis is appropriate for your design –T-tests –ANOVA –Between or within versions

The Research Process Interpret the results –Reject or fail to reject null hypotheses –Statistical vs. theoretical significance –Support or refute the theory (or revise) –Generalizability of the results

The Research Process Present the results –Getting the research “out there” Conference presentations –Posters –Talks Written reports –APA style »Supports clarity

The Research Process Repeat –Each set of results leads to more research questions Refine the theory Test a refined theory Test alternative explanations

Labs this week Poster presentations Turn in group ratings sheets Turn in results and reference section for group project