Chapter 3 Flashcards
How can experience help you come up with research ideas?
2 types: unsystematic observation and systematic observation
experiences help because the things that happen very day can influence questions that we want answers to
How can unsystematic observation help you develop research ideas?
using the experiences of everyday, trivial things can generate good questions to research
e.g. watching, reading and randomly creating an idea
How can systematic observation help you develop research ideas?
by sitting and actually observing a situation, research ideas can formulate
e.g. watching, reading with the intent of developing ideas
In what two ways can a theory help you develop research ideas?
1) a theory allows you to predict the behavior expected under new combination of variables
2) when two or more alternative theories account for the same initial observations
How can applied issues suggest research ideas to you?
Applied research means being out in the environment. You are actively there, and from being there, you can see what the problems are and create research ideas from that.
What are the characteristics of an empirical question?
Must be able to make the observations under defined conditions
observations must be reproducible when those same conditions are present again
observations must bee confirmable by others
Why is it necessary to define your terms operationally?
it allows you to measure precisely the variables that you include in your study and to determine whether a relationship exists between them
What makes a research question important, and why should you ask important questions?
answering it will clarify relationships among variables known to affect the behavior under study
the answer can support only one of several competing models or theoretical views
its answer leads to obvious practical application
Why should you conduct a literature review before you begin to design your study?
to avoid needless duplication of effort
your specific research question may have been answered
provides you with a rich resource for addressing these important design questions
keeps you up to date
What are the differences between the different types of periodicals, and on which should you rely out heavily (and why)?
scholarly: sober, serious look with graphs and tables, always sourced
substantive news/general interest: photographs, sometimes sourced
popular: often have attractive look, not really sourced
sensational: newspaper format, obscure sources
What is the difference between a primary and a secondary source, and why should you not rely to heavily on secondary sources?
primary sources are more informational, secondary are more brief
What are the advantages and disadvantages to using various types of books as sources?
anthology: assembled papers that an editor believes are important in a given area
original research: research done by the persona and written by the person
books don’t go under as vigorous of a review
Why are scholarly journals the preferred sources for research information?
because they are peer reviewed and more current
What is the difference between a non refereed and a refereed journal? Which is more trustworthy (and why)?
non refereed means not peer-reviewed. Refereed means peer-reviewed. Refereed is more trustworthy because it’s peer reviewed
how do you assess the quality of a scholarly journal?
1) consult Journals in Psychology
2) consul the Journal Citations Report
3) consult the Social Science Citations Index
4) ask professors
How can professional conferences provide you with information about research?
the information is from the very frontier of research
provides opportunity to meet other researchers in your field
How can Internet resources be used to track down research information?
using search engines
How do you assess the quality of information found on the internet?
refereed, non refereed, ISI ranking
What is the basic strategy you should follow when doing a literature search?
1) find relevant research article
2) use the reference section of the article to find more articles
3) repeat 1 and 2
4) use one of the indexes in your library to identify more recent articles
5) repeat the process
In what ways does PsycARTICLES differ from PsycINFO?
articles shows you the articles that you have full access to
How do you perform a basic and advanced PsycINFO search?
basic: enter one or more keywords
advanced: specify a precise rand of dates
How can you narrow or broaden a PsycINFO search?
narrow: use Advanced Search and a second term
broaden: select one or more alternative databases
What are the advantages and disadvantages of doing a PsychINFO search?
advantage: quick
dis: it’s only as good as the keywords
What is PsycARTICLES, and how can you use it to search the literature?
has downloadable articles
doesn’t have anything not published by AP
How can you use General Internet sources to find research information, and what cautions should you take before using information found on the Internet?
anyone can publish anything
How can you search for books using Internet resources?
search by author, title, subject, and keywords
Why is it important to read a research report critically?
to know if it’s garbage or not
What initial appraisals should you make of an article that you are going to read?
Author
date of publication
edition or revision
publisher
title of the journal
What should you evaluate when reading the introduction to an APA-style paper?
is it correctly representing the results from previous research?
Does the author clearly state the purposes of the study and the nature of the problem under study?
do the hypotheses logically follow from the discussion in the introduction?
are the hypotheses clearly stated and, more important, are they testable?
What should you look for when evaluating the method section of an APA-style paper?
Who served as participants?
Does the design of the study allow an adequate test of the hypotheses stated in the introduction?
Are there any flaws in materials or procedures used that might affect the validity of the study?
What information should you evaluate in the results sections of an APA-style paper?
Which effects are statistically significant?
Are the differences reported large or small?
Were the appropriate statistics used?
Do the test, figures, and tables match?
If data are presented numerically in tables or in the text of the article, graph those results.
What information would you evaluate in the discussion section of an APA-style paper?
Do the author’s conclusions follow from the results reported?
Does the author offer speculations concerning the results?
How well do the finding of the study mesh with previous research and existing theory?
Does the author point the way to directions for future research in the area?
What should you look for when evaluating the references in an APA-style paper?
Complete references are provided
How do publication practices affect the articles that ultimately get published in journals?
by whether the results reported meet conventionally accepted levels of statistical significance, whether the findings are consistent with other findings in the area, and whether the contribution of the research to the area is significant
What role does statistical significance play in determining what gets published in journals?
it determines how often effects that are just dance differences end up being declared statistically significant.
What is the file drawer phenomenon and how does it relate to published research?
a problem associated with publication practices and meta-analysis that occurs because results that fail to achieve statistical significance often fail to be published
How can consistency with previous knowledge affect whether a paper gets published in a journal?
most findings are expected to build on the existing findings. If they don’t, and they tell us something completely knew, people are more skeptical
How does the significance of a contribution influence an editor’s decision to publish a paper in a journal?
the contribution should have several levels of two or more variables ad a series of experiments
How can editorial policy affect whether a paper gets published in a journal?
editorial policy can be publishing what’s “hot” in the psychology world at the moment, leaving out other research areas
can also have bias
What is a peer review, and what are the major problems associated with the practice?
materials to be published or presented are reviewed by experts in the area that the material covers
there can be biases in the peers, lack expertise, be over critical
How can the peer-review process affect the likelihood that a paper will be published in a journal?
f
What evidence is there that the peer-review process affects publication practices?
Sue and Martin did tests to see if the peer readers would have biases and other things and they do
How do values affect the research process?
practices
questions
data
specific assumptions
global assumptions
How do you develop hypotheses for research?
based on what you find from research, find you what you want to further research
find two variables and link them with a specific statement concerning the expected relationship between them
reviewed, usually by two or more reviewers
refereed journal
no review process
nonrefereed journal
a question you can answer with objective observation
empirical question
defining a variable in terms of the operations required to measure it
operational definition
the process of locating, obtaining, reading, and evaluating the research literature in your area of interest
literature review
one containing the full research report, including all details necessary to duplicate the study
primary source
one that summarizes information from primary sources
secondary source
simultaneously conducted presentations conducted in different rooms and follow one another throughout the day
paper session
the presenter prepares a poster that is displayed on a bulletin board
poster session
information obtained privately from another researcher
personal communications
computer database that indexes journals and book chapters relevant to psychology and related fields
PsycINFO
computer source of articles, downloadable in PDF format, published by APA
PsycARTICLES
a problem associated with publication practices and meta-analysis that occurs because results that fail to achieve statistical significance often fail to be published
file drawer phenomenon
materials to be published or presented are reviewed by experts in the area that the material covers
peer review
empirical question
a question you can answer with objective observation
operational definition
defining a variable in terms of the operations required to measure it
literature review
the process of locating, obtaining, reading, and evaluating the research literature in your area of interest
primary source
one containing the full research report, including all details necessary to duplicate the study
secondary source
one that summarizes information from primary sources
refereed journal
reviewed, usually by two or more reviewers
nonrefereed journal
is not reviewed
paper session
simultaneously conducted presentations conducted in different rooms and follow one another throughout the day
poster session
the presenter prepares a poster that is displayed on a bulletin board
personal communications
information obtained privately from another researcher
PsychINFO
computer database that indexes journals and book chapters relevant to psychology and related fields
PsycARTICLES
computer source of articles, downloadable in PDF format, published by APA
file drawer phenomenon
a problem associated with publication practices and meta-analysis that occurs because results that fail to achieve statistical significance often fail to be published
peer review
materials to be published or presented are reviewed by experts in the area that the material covers
