Lecture 2 Flashcards
Researchers specialize by ?
- Substance
- Theoretical model
- Population
- Methodological approach
What is involved in the scientific method ?
- Ask the question
- Design the study
- Collect the data
- Analyze the data
- Report the results
What are the common designs ?
- Descriptive
- Case study
- Observational/correlational
- Quasi-Experimental
- Experimental
- Cross-sectional
- Longitudinal
What is descriptive ?
Quantifies (numbers)
What is case study ?
In-depth examination of the life of one person (qualitative)
What is observational/correlational ?
Studies naturally occuring relationships (no manipulation)
What is Quasi-Experimental ?
Studies impact of manipulation but no random assignment
What is Experimental ?
Studies impact of manipulation that is randomly assigned
What is involed in Experimental methods ?
- Experimental group
- Control group
- Placebo control group
What is between-group design ?
Individuals experience one condition and compared to other group
What is within-group design ?
Individuals experience multiple conditions and are compared to selves
What is cross-sectional ?
One time point
What is longitudinal ?
Multiple time points
What are the stengths and limitations of descriptive ?
- Strengths: not intrusive; best when using population-based samples vs convenience
- Limitations: not looking at cause and effect; limited to quanitifying single variables
What are the stengths and limitations of case-study ?
- Strengths: in-depth understanding
- Limitations: results cannot be generalized and cannot establish causality
What are the strengths and limitations of observational/correlational ?
- Strengths: ask about experiences, basic understanding of correlation, confounds/third-variables
- Limitations: cannot conclude cause-effect
What are the strengths and limitations of quasi-experimental ?
- Strengths: more control over factors
- Limitations: cannot conclude cause-effect, altering persons experiences
What are the strengths and limitations of experimental ?
- Strengths: can make cause-effect conclusion
- Limitations: may not translate to real world
What are variables ?
A quality that differs and can take different values
What are independent variables ?
A variable that influences another variable
what is manipulated
What are dependent variables ?
the variable that is influenced by the independent variable
what we measure
What are common independent variables ?
- Substance exposure
- Risk factors- psychological, social, cultural, and biological factors that increase risk
- Protective factors- less studied, focused on decreasing risk
What are treatment and intervention effects ?
- Decrease risk factors
- Increase protective factors
- Examine individual or population outcomes
What are common manipulators ?
- Exposure to substance in the laboratory
- Exposure to risk or protective factors
- Provide an intervention or treatment
What are the types of exposure to substance ?
- Oral
- Inhalation
- Transdermal
- Intravenous
What are common dependent variables ?
- Substance use and addictive behaviours vs addiction
- Short-term vs long-term impacts
What are the methods for measuring outcomes ?
- Self-report or other informant report
- Behavioral observation
- Tests ( e.g: cognitive )
- Neuroimaging methods
- Biomarkers
What are the strength and limitations of self-report method ?
- Strengths: easy and quick
- Limitations: social desirability bias, memory, requires awareness
What are the strength and limitations of behavioural observation method ?
- Strength: less subject to reporting biases, directly related to outcomes of interest
- Limitations: ecological validity and limited ability to observe certain outcomes
What are the strengths and limitations of tests ?
- Strengths: less subject to reporting biases
- Limitations: ecological validity and may not relate strongly to behaviours of interest
What are the strengths and limitations of neuroimaging ?
- Strength: quanitfy change or patterns of brain activity
- Limitations: indirect measures of drug effects on brain and require specialized and expensive eqiupment
What are the strengths and limitations of biomarkers ?
- Strengths: objective way of quantifying risk or exposure
- Limitations: can be costly and time consuming depending on biomaker and many are still indirect measures of drug exposure and do not quanitfy amount of substance that crosses blood-brain barriers to produce psychoactive effects
What is included in participate selection ?
- Inclusion and exclusion criteria ( substance history and demographics )
- Human vs animal
What are the Belmont principles ?
- Respect for Persons
- Deception and debreifing
- Beneficence
- Justice
What is Respect for Persons ?
Protecting the autonomy of all people and protecting those with reduced autonomy
What is under Beneficence ?
- Do no harm
- Minimize risks to participants and maximize benefits of findings
- Consider “Is there a way to obtain the same knowledge but with lower risk to participants?”
What is under Justice ?
- Fair distribution of burdens and benefits of research
- Concerns who is selected as participants and who ultimately benefits
What are additional considerations ?
- Privacy: protecting the person
- Confidentiality: protexting the data that participants provide
- Conflicts of interest - financial or personal considerations can compromise researcher’s ability to conduct or report findings from research
