Research Methods

Since psychology is a science, many psychologists have to research and do experiments. Listed below is information on the research methods that psychologists have to use!

Scientific Method

1. Develop a question and a theory — a theory is an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events
2. Create a hypothesis — a hypothesis is a testable explanation of a relationship between two things (often stated as a prediction like “if… then…”)
3. Test hypotheses through experiment or study
4. Analyze the results
5. Draw conclusions
6. Replicate the experiment or study to get the same results — use different participants and situations to allow researchers to see if basic findings continue to apply

Research Participants (Subjects)

Population: all members of a group being studied (N)

Sample: smaller group from the population who actually participate (n)

• needs to be representative to generalize results
• needs to be chosen RANDOMLY to minimize bias

Descriptive Research Methods

1. Case Study: in-depth investigation of individuals through observation and interviews. Not used for diagnoses but used to help people open up

• advantage: get a lot of info about one person
• disadvantage: can’t generalize results to the population, subjects could lie, and there could be interviewer bias

2. Studying change over time

• Longitudinal Study: follow the same group of subjects for a length of time
  • advantage: clearly see a change over time
  • disadvantage: takes a lot of time and money, you can lose participants
• Cross-Sectional Study: study differences in people across a certain age range at the same time
  • advantage: quick way to see change over time
  • disadvantage: comparing apples to oranges

3. Naturalistic Observation: observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without manipulating or controlling the environment

• advantage: participant behavior is honest
• disadvantage: not in control and can’t determine why behaviors occur

4. Laboratory Observations: observing and recording behavior in a controlled setting

• advantage: researchers have control over many aspects
• disadvantage: participants might act differently because of the setting

5. Surveys: gather self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group

• advantages: information from a large group in a short period of time, easy to administer
• disadvantages: easy for subjects to lie, non responsive, must be very carefully worded

Correlation: 1. How much does a change in A predict a change in B? 2. Reveals a relationship between the variables (tells nothing about cause and effect)

Definitions

Experiment: a way to research in which the experimenter manipulates one or more factors and actually has control over them

Random Sample: a random sample of that fairly represents the population because each member has an equal chance of getting picked

Operational Definition: a carefully-worded statement of the procedure used in a research study

Placebo Effect: experimental results caused by expectations alone

Double-Blind Procedure: an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff don’t know whether the participant is getting the treatment or the placebo

Control Group: the group in an experiment that is not being treated; used to contrast the experimental group

Experimental Group: the group in an experiment that is receiving treatment

Random Assignment: assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance; minimizes preexisting differences between the differing groups

Independent Variable: the experimental factor that is being manipulated

Confounding Variable: a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment

Dependent Variable: the variable that changes in response to the independent variable