chapter 4/week 4 Flashcards
approaches to psychological measurement
Approaches to Psychological Measurement
Observational approaches
Physiological approaches
Self-report approaches
Archival approaches
Observational Methods
research involving the direct observation of human or non-human behavior
Three decisions to make:
Will the observation occur in a natural or contrived setting?
Will the participants know they are being observed?
How will the participants’ behavior be recorded?
Naturalistic observation
observation of ongoing behavior as it occurs naturally with no intrusion or intervention by the researcher
Researchers observe people or animals in their natural environment and record their behavior
Participation observation
participation observation
one type of naturalistic observation; research engages in the same activities as the people he or she is observing
Contrived observation
behavior is observed in settings that are arranged specifically for observing and recording behavior
Most take place in the laboratory; however, some researchers set up situations outside of the laboratory to observe people’s reactions
Undisguised observation
when the individuals who are being studied know that the researcher is observing their behavior
Reactivity
reactivity
when participants act differently because they know they are being observed
Disguised observation
when researchers conceal the fact that they are observing and recording participants’ behavior
Raises ethical issues
Informed consent
informed consent
the practice of informing participants regarding the nature of their participation in a study and obtaining their written consent to participate
Should participants know that they are being observed?
Problem with disguised observation:
May violate right of informed consent
Potential violation of privacy
Problem with undisguised observation:
Reactivity
Ways to minimize reactivity:
partial concealment
knowledgeable informants
unobtrusive measures
partial concealment
allow participants to know that they are being observed but do not tell them what specific aspects of behavior are being observed
knowledgeable informants
get people who know the participants well to observe and rate their behavior
unobtrusive measures
use indirect measures that can be taken without the participants knowing they are being studied
Techniques used to observe and record behavioral data (4)
narrative records
checklists
temporal measures
rating scales
narrative records
full description of a participant’s behavior
(Piaget used this type of recording when studying his children’s behavior)
unstructured; Everything the person said and did during a specified period of time
Field notes
field notes
Include summary descriptions of the participant’s behaviors but do not attempt to record every behavior
checklists
Structured
Researcher records attributes of the participants (sex, age, and race) and whether particular behaviors were observed
must formulate` cellar operational definitions
Temporal measures
latency
- reaction time
- task completion time
- interbehavior latency
(duration)
latency
the amount of time elapsed between a particular event and a behavior; or between two behaviors (see examples below)
reaction time
the time that elapses between the presentation of a stimulus and the participant’s response (e.g., IAT)
task completion time
the length of time it takes participants to solve a problem or complete a task (e.g., puzzles)
Interbehavior latency
the time that elapses between two behaviors (e.g., multiple stimulus habituation studies)
duration
how long a particular behavior lasted
Ex: how long people talk during a conversation; how long people engage in eye contact
(observational) rating scales
Researcher rates the quality or intensity of participants’ behavior
Ex: rates the degree to which a participant working on a difficult task appears to be frustrated, relaxed, and happy on 5-point scales (1=not at all, and 5=extremely)
Ex: rating a child’s crying as (a) slight, (b) moderate, or (c) extreme
Increasing the Reliability of Observational Methods
Researchers must have clear and precise operational definitions for all behaviors that will be observed and recorded
Raters should practice using the coding system by comparing and discussion their practice ratings
This is the place where you use interrater agreement level as an indicator of interrater reliability
Neuroscience
a broad, interdisciplinary field that studies biochemical, anatomical, physiological genetic, and developmental processes involving the nervous system
- Cognitive, affective, and behavioral neuroscientists focus both on physiological processes and psychological phenomena
Psychophysiological/Neuroscientific measures
a measure that assesses processes occurring in the brain or other parts of the nervous system
Commonly used psychophysiological and neuroscientific measures
measures of neural electrical activity
neuroimaging
measures of autonomic nervous system activity
blood and saliva assays
precise measurement of overt reactions
Measures of neural electrical activity
EEG - brain waves
EMG – electrical activity in muscles (index of physiological activity related to emotion, stress, reflexes, etc)
Neuroimaging
Brain imaging
fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) – head is placed in an fMRI chamber, which exposes the brain to a strong magnetic field and low power radio waves
Measures of autonomic nervous system activity
Heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, skin temperature, electrodermal response
Blood and saliva assays
Hormones released in response to stress; cortisol
Precise measurement of overt reactions
special sensors, facial EMG (for muscles nerves)
Questionnaires
participants respond by writing answers or indicating which of several responses they endorse
Require less extensive training, can be answered online
Most common method of self-report measurement
Single-item measures
intended to be analyzed by themselves
Multi-item scale
a set of questionnaire or interview items designed to be combined and used as a measure of a single variable
how to find existing questionnaires
Search the research literature (i.e., journal articles)
Consult books that contain and critically evaluate measures
Find databases that describe measures purchase from commercial publishers
important things to do with questionnaires
Be specific and precise
Use simple, straightforward language
Avoid assumptions
Key idea should follow conditional information
Do not use double-barreled questions
Response format
the manner in which the respondent indicates his or her answer to the item
Free response
Rating scale response
Multiple choice or fixed alternative response
Free response
Open-ended item
Participant provides an unstructured response
Drawbacks: force the respondent to figure out the kind of response that the researcher desires as well as how extensive the answer should be and if verbal, the answers must be coded before they can be statistically analyzed
Rating scale response
Participants rate the intensity or frequency of their behaviors, thoughts, or feelings
Ex: rate how tired you feel right now; how anxious do you feel right now; I am an outgoing person
Multiple choice or fixed-alternative response
Participants choose one of several possible answers on a questionnaire or interview
Fixed-alternative ex – true/false
Multiple choice/true or false
Ex: what is your attitude toward abortion
Ex: disapprove under all circumstances; approve only under special circumstances, such as when the woman’s life is in danger; approve whenever a woman wants one
Experience sampling methods (ESM)
participants report on what they are thinking and feeling right now
- diary methods
- computerized experience sampling
Diary methods
participants keep a daily record o information pertinent to the researcher’s questions
Computerized experience sampling
participants carry small units that are programmed to ask them specific question throughout the day
Interviews
participants response orally to an interviewer
interview schedule
structured interviews
semi-structured interviews
interview schedule
the series of questions that is used in an interview
structured interviews
follow the protocol and the interviewer’s role is to simply ask the questions as they are worded
Semi-structured interviews
gives more freedom to the interviewer to focus on general topic without strict guidelines about a set of questions
How to make interviews more effective?
- Create a friendly atmosphere
- Order the sections of the interview to facilitate building rapport and to create a logical sequence
- Conceal personal reactions to the respondent’s answers
- Ask questions exactly as they are worded if you are conducting structured interviews
- Don’t lead to respondent
Biases in Self-Reports
Social Desirability Response Bias
Acquiescence Response Style
Nay-saying Response Style
Social Desirability Response Bias
the tendency to answer questions in a socially acceptable way
Acquiescence Response Style
the tendency to agree with statements, regardless of content
Nay-saying Response Style
the tendency to disagree with statements, regardless of content
Archival Data
In archival research, researchers work with existing data, such as census data, court records, personal letters, old newspapers, etc.
Archival data is very useful for studying:
Social and psychological phenomena of the past
Social and behavioral changes over time
Topics that involve articles, advertisements, or speeches
Anything that must be studied after it has occurred
Content Analysis
a set of procedures to convert textual information to more relevant, manageable data
The goal is to classify words, phrases, or other units of text into a limited number of meaningful categories
Steps to Content Analysis
Must classify or rate the text
1. Classification into mutually exclusive categories
- E.g., introvert vs extravert
2. Rating each unit on some specified dimensions
- E.g., rate each behavior on a 5 point Likert scale: 1 = non helpful; 5 = helpful
Rates code the textual material for all participants to establish interrater reliability
