Chapter 2: Research Methods in Relationship Science Flashcards
the short history of relationship science
- Relationship science began in the 1930s, with studies of children’s friendships, courtship, and marriage
- An explosion of studies put the field on the map in the 1960s and 70s
relationship science today
- Often uses diverse samples of people
- Examines varied types of family, friendship, and romantic relationships
- Studies both the pleasant and unpleasant aspects of relationships
- Often follows relationships in their natural setting
- Uses sophisticated technology
developing a research question
The first step in any scientific endeavour is to ask a question
relationship questions can come from:
- Personal experience
- Social problems
- Previous relationships
- Suggestions from theories
two broad types of research questions
- Describe events
- Establish causal connections between them
convenience sample
using anyone who is readily available and who consents to participate
representative sample
strives to ensure that collectively, participants resemble the entire population of people of interest
what types of samples are best?
Representative samples are better than convenience samples
where is most research conducted?
in WEIRD samples (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic)
are studies with convenience samples still important?
yes, even small studies using convenience samples can make important contributions to relationship science! no study is perfect
volunteer bias
of the people invited to participate, those who do may differ from those who don’t
correlations
describe patterns in which change in one event is accompanied to some degree by change in another
positive correlation
as the independent variable increases, so does the dependent variable
negative correlation
as the independent variable increases, the dependent variable decreases
a correlation could mean:
- X causes y
- Y causes x
- A third variable may explain the relationship
experiments
- Provide straightforward information about causes and their effects
- Can determine causal connections
self-reports
asking people to report on their experiences
pros of self-reports
- Allow us to get inside people’s heads
- Inexpensive
- Easy to obtain
cons of self-reports
- Involve interpretation of questions
- Difficulties in recall or awareness
- Bias in participants’ reports
social desirability bias
participants’ reluctance to tell researchers anything that makes them look bad or portrays them in an undesirable light
observations
Researchers can collect information about relationships by observing behaviour directly
how are observations conducted?
- Measuring behaviour with sophisticated tools
- Carefully training colleagues to make observations that are accurate, reliable, and detailed
ecological momentary assessment
uses intermittent, short periods of observation to capture samples of behaviour
pro of observations
Avoid the challenges of self-reports
