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