Chapter 3: Psychological science and research Flashcards
basic research
answers fundamental questions about behaviour.
ex. nerves and sensation
applied research
investigates issues that have implications for everyday life and provides solutions to everyday problems.
ex. best way to help depression
research design
the specific method a researcher uses to collect, analyze, and interpret data.
descriptive research
designed to provide a snapshot of the current state of affairs.
correlation research
designed to discover relationships among variables and to allow the prediction of future events from present knowledge.
experimental research
conducted with a scientific approach, where a set of variables are manipulated while the other set of variables are being measured
the scientific method
the set of assumptions, rules, and procedures scientists use to conduct research.
It is:
Empirical: based on systematic collection and analysis of data.
Objective: free from the personal bias or emotions of the scientist.
Replicable: to repeat, add to, or modify previous research findings.
It is used to create:
Laws
Theories
Hypotheses
Laws
Principles that are so general as to apply to all situations in a given domain of inquiry (rarely directly suject subject to scientific test)
theories
an integrated set of principles that explains and predicts many, but not all, observed relationships within a given domain of inquiry. (e.g. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs).
(ex. theory of cognitive development proposed by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. The theory states that children pass through a series of cognitive stages as they grow)
good theories are
general – they can be applied to many different outcomes.
parsimonious – they provide the simplest possible explanation.
falsifiable – predictions can be made and measured to be correct or incorrect
research hypothesis
a specific and falsifiable prediction about the relationship between or among two or more variables
hypothesis
a testable prediction of what will happen given a certain set of conditions
variable
any attribute that can assume different values among different people or across different times or places
conceptual variables
abstract ideas that form the basis of research hypotheses.
e.g. aggression, overall happiness etc.
measurable variable
variables consisting of numbers that represent the conceptual variables
operational definition
a precise statement of how a conceptual variable is turned into a measured variable.
e.g. number of seconds taken to honk the horn at the car ahead of you after the stoplight turns green
ethics in psychology
prevent harm to participants
give participants free choice
protect the privacy of participants
active deception
when the researcher tells the participants that he or she is studying learning when in fact the experiment really concerns obedience to authority
passive deception
when participants are not told about the hypothesis being studied or the potential use of the data being collected
Nuremberg code
the importance of carefully weighing risks against benefits and the need for informed consent
declaration of helinski
research with human participants should be based on a written protocol—a detailed description of the research—that is reviewed by an independent committee.
belmont report
explicitly outlined principles of justice, respect for persons, beneficence, in response to the Tuskegee study
ethical/institutional review boards
responsible for reviewing research protocols for potential ethical problems
must include 5 people with varying backgrounds including one non-affiliated person
APA ethics code
roughly 150 ethical standards
Standard 8 ethical concerns
informed consent, deception, debriefing, the use of nonhuman animal subjects, and scholarly integrity in research.
scientific risk
research question is uninteresting, or a study is poorly designed.
Then the time, money, and effort spent on that research could have been spent on more productive research
society risk
research results could be misunderstood or misapplied with harmful consequences
respect for autonomy
Informed consent
(researchers obtain and document people’s agreement to participate in a study after having informed them of everything that might reasonably be expected to affect their decision)
respect for privacy
Confidentiality:
(an agreement not to disclose participants’ personal information without their consent or some appropriate legal authorization)
Anonymity:
(name and other personally identifiable information is not collected at all or is not published in a way to identify them)
four moral principles
weighing risks against benefits,
acting responsibly and with integrity,
seeking justice
respecting people’s rights and dignity
three groups of people
research participants
science
society
ways to reduce/eliminate risks
Shorten procedure
Give multiple rest breaks if the task is tiring
Replace upsetting or offensive content with milder content
Stopping the procedure if participants show distress
Use the smallest number of animal subjects that is necessary
Pre-screening participants
arithmetic mean
the sum of all the scores of the variable divided by the number of participants in the distribution.
(the most commonly used measure of central tendency)
dispersion
the extent to which the scores are all tightly clustered around the central tendency
measuring dispersion
find the largest (the maximum) and the smallest (the minimum) observed values of the variable and to compute the range of the variable as the maximum observed score minus the minimum observed score
correlation research
involves the measurement of two or more relevant variables and an assessment of the relationship between or among those variables.
E.g. the variables of height and weight are related (correlated) because taller people generally weigh more than shorter people
predictor variable
the variable assumed to have an effect on some other variable or explains a change in another variable
outcome variable
the variable that is observed to determine whether it changes due to the predictor variable
multiple regression
is a statistical technique, based on correlation coefficients among variables, that allows predicting a single outcome variable from more than one predictor variable
limitation of correlation research designs
cannot be used to draw conclusions about the causal relationships among the measured variables.
E.g. watching violent TV and aggressive play
common-casual variable
a variable that is not part of the research hypothesis but that causes both the predictor and the outcome variable and thus produces the observed correlation between them
spurious relationship
a relationship between two variables in which a common-causal variable produces and “explains away” the relationship.
When the common-causal variable is controlled for the relationship disappears.
experimental research
provide more definitive conclusions about the causal relationships among the variables in the research hypothesis than is available from correlational designs
independent variable
the causing variable that is created (manipulated) by the experimenter
dependent variable
a measured variable that is expected to be influenced by the experimental manipulation
descriptive designs (takeaway)
include case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation.
The goal of these designs is to get a picture of the current thoughts, feelings, or behaviours in a given group of people.
Descriptive research is summarized using descriptive statistics
good research valid and reliable
When research is valid the conclusions drawn by the researcher are legitimate, and when it is reliable the conclusions are consistent.
confounding variable
variables other than the independent variable on which the participants in one experimental condition differ systematically from those in other conditions
threats to validity of research
construct
internal
external
statistical conclusion
construct validity
the extent to which the variables used in the research adequately assess the conceptual variables they were designed to measure (ex. how do we measure intelligence)
internal validity
the extent to which the independent variable has caused the dependent variable.
- increases when confounding variables are reduced or eliminated or accounted for
external validity
the extent to which the results extend to other scenarios, populations, etc. (A.k.a. Generalizability)
- increases with replication
statistical conclusion validity
the extent to which we can be certain that the researcher has drawn accurate conclusions about the statistical significance of the research
- Research will be invalid if the conclusions made about the research hypothesis are incorrect because statistical inferences about the collected data are in error
why research never PROVES a theory
Normally, we can assume that the researchers have done their best to ensure the statistical conclusion validity of a research design, but we must always keep in mind that inferences about data are probabilistic and never certain
meta analysis
a statistical technique that uses the results of existing studies to integrate and draw conclusions about those studies.
A meta-analysis provides a relatively objective method of reviewing research findings because it:
Specifies inclusion criteria for exactly what will be examined
Systematically searchers the literature using the inclusion criteria
Provides objective measures of the strength of observed relationships
May also include unpublished research
exact (direct) replication
a scientist attempts to exactly recreate the scientific methods used in conditions of an earlier study to determine whether the results come out the same.
- Exact replications tell us whether the original findings are true
conceptual replication
a scientist tries to confirm the previous findings using a different set of specific methods that test the same idea.
- Conceptual replications help confirm whether the theoretical idea behind the findings is true
6 principles to open science
Open Data
Open Source
Open Access
Open Methodology
Open Peer Review
Open Educational Resources
5 reasons for non replication
Those replicating don’t have sufficient experiment or the right equipment (ay be true but it doesn’t explain why non-replication is such a problem)
The original findings were falsified
We hope faking is rate but the possibility must be considered
Small sample size
Not generalizable to other cultures, circumstances, populations.
Scientist error during replication
why does non replication continue
Institutions – they reward scientists with promotions when significant results are found, not null results or replications
Journals – there is a focus on only publishing significant results, not null results or replications
Textbooks – there is little information presented to new researchers about the replication crisis
Scientists themselves – without a change in views and attitudes around null results and replications the cycle will continue
solutions to the non replication problem
Some sites now focus on archiving original studies with their replication attempts
Some articles have stated they will publish replication attempts, even if they fail
A Replication Index (R Index) has been created to estimate the replicability of studies, journals, or specific areas of research.
A new focus on open science shares data between scientists and institutions
examples from other fields with reproductability
Physics & Engineering – Cold fusion energy
Medical science – Treatments for different illnesses
Genetics – Genetic diseases
organizing principles
including laws, theories, and research hypotheses, give structure and uniformity to scientific methods
1998 Lancet publication that claimed the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism
Altered testimonials of the participants
Falsified the symptoms of many participants
Reported false statistics to support their conclusions
Recruited participants who supported the anti-MMR agenda
Was paid by an anti-MMR organization to do the research
