1. The Study of Adult Development and Aging:
Chapter 3
The Study of Adult Development and Aging:
Research Methods

2. Research Methods
Research often starts with a hunch about a phenomenon.
Example hunch: Playing games that are cognitively challenging helps people retain their mental sharpness.
In order to conduct research, one must form a hypothesis, a testable statement that predicts an outcome.
Example hypothesis: The more often people play games, the faster they will be at solving problems.

3. Research Methods: Surveys
Surveys involve asking a sample of people about experiences, attitudes, or opinions
Example: Ask respondents how often they play games and to self-rate their problem-solving ability.

4. Simple Correlational Research Design
A correlational study looks for a consistent relationship between two phenomena
Correlation: A statistical measure of how strongly two variables are related to one another.
Correlation coefficients can range from -1.0 to +1.0.

5. Direction of correlations
Positive correlations
An association between increases in one variable and increases in another, or decreases in one variable and decreases in the other.
Negative correlations
An association between increases in one variable and decreases in another.

6. Explaining correlations
Correlations show patterns, not causes.
Third variable effect or confounding variable: an alternative explanation for the cause of a behavior or event other than the expected cause
Correlational analysis can not rule out confounding variables.

7. Experimental Research Design
Experiment: a controlled test of a hypothesis in which the researcher manipulates one variable to discover its effect on another
Allows psychologists to determine the cause of a behavior by controlling for confounding variables
Example hypothesis: Using Lumosity daily for one week will improve performance on a memory test.

8. Research groups
Experimental Group: exposed to the variable of interest (treatment)
These individuals will play Lumosity games daily for one week, and then take a memory test.
Control Group: a comparison condition in which subjects are treated like the experimental group except for the variable of interest
These individuals will play Pacman games daily for one week, and then take a memory test.

9. Variables of interest Independent variables
Variables the experimenter manipulates
IV1: Lumosity
IV2: Pacman
Dependent variables Variables the experimenter predicts will be affected by manipulations of the independent variable(s)
DV: Score on memory test

10. Age is not a true independent variable
 Studies on aging are never true experiments because age can’t be manipulated.
Quasi-experimental design allows researchers to compare groups on predetermined characteristics, including age, sex, ethnicity, and social class.

11. Confidentiality of data
Informed consent
Awareness of study procedures, risks, and benefits
Debriefing
Information at study’s completion about its true purpose
Suggest resources
Provide information relevant to participant’s experiences
Right to withdraw
Participant can withdraw without penalty
Confidentiality of data
Participant will not be identifiable in published reports and data will be securely stored.
Some of APA’s ethical guidelines for research on human participants

12. Research Methods: Observation
Researchers carefully and systematically observe and record behavior without interfering with behavior
Naturalistic observation
Purpose is to observe how people or animals behave in their natural environments.
Laboratory (Structured) observation
Purpose is to observe how
people or animals behave
in a more controlled setting.

13. Research Methods: Daily Diary
Participants enter data on a daily basis such as personal ratings or activities.

14. Research Methods: Case report
A detailed description of a particular individual being studied or treated, which may be used to formulate broader research hypotheses

15. Research Methods: Archival Research
Uses existing resources containing data relevant to a question about aging.
Example hypothesis: Young adult males have the highest rate of arrests.

16. Research Methods: Qualitative studies
Explores complex relationships in situations that don’t lend themselves to restrictions and assumptions of quantitative methods.
Example: How do you feel about the treatment of young
adult males by police?

17. Research Methods: Focus Groups
Meeting of respondents asked to provide feedback about a certain topic of interest.
Example: What services would you like to have on PCC’s
campus?

18. Research Methods: Epidemiological Study
Study frequency of particular disease in the population.
Example: How common is it to get breast cancer?

19. Designs for Studying Development
Cross-sectional designs: test or observe people of different ages at the same time.
Example:
Researchers survey
PCC students about
their political
opinions.

20. Designs for Studying Development
Longitudinal designs: test or observe the same individuals repeatedly at different points in their lives.
Example: Researchers follow a sample of individuals through their life to learn whether political opinions change over time.
Selective attrition: Loss of participation over time due to many factors, including:
Illness
Lack of motivation
Instability
Death
Moving to a remote area

21. Designs for Studying Development
Sequential designs: represent different combinations of cross-sectional or longitudinal studies
Example: Researchers take a poll of PCC students at one point in time as well as follow a sample of individuals through their life to learn about political opinions and whether they change over time.

22. Designs for Studying Development
Meta-analysis: Integrates findings from different studies
Powerful tool
Determines whether a finding generalizes across many studies that used different methods

23. Research Methods Reliability: Consistency in findings
Validity: Does research measure the phenomenon of interest?