Lecture 2: Scientific Methods

Question 1

What is a theory?

Answer 1

Explanation based on observations.

Question 2

What is a hypothesis?

Answer 2

Prediction based on theory.

Question 3

What is research?

Answer 3

Testing the prediction.

Question 4

What do you do if your research supports your hypothesis?

Answer 4

Refine your theory and test new hypotheses.

Question 5

What do you do if your research refutes your hypothesis?

Answer 5

Discard your theory or revise and retest new theory.

Question 6

What are the three ways of gathering data?

Answer 6

1) Descriptive Research
2) Correlational Research
3) Experimental Research

Question 7

What is Descriptive Research?

Answer 7

• enables detailed description of behaviour.
• behaviour is not controlled
• cannot explain WHY behaviour occurred
• e.g. case-study, observation, self-report.

Question 8

What is Correlational Research?

Answer 8

• allows us to answer questions otherwise unethical to investigate experimentally.
• look at natural relationship between variables without intervention.

Question 9

What is Experimental Research?

Answer 9

• allows us to examine effect of IV on DV.

- If experiment is done well, cause and effect can be established.

Question 10

What are the pros and cons of case studies?

Answer 10

DESCRIPTIVE:
PROS:
1) low in generalisability.
2) useful starting points.

CONS:

1) Correlation vs. Causations: association between two things does not imply cause and effect relationship.
2) Inability to verify some or all information put forward by single individual.
- can it be applied to a wider population?
- deliberately false answers/information given.
3) concerns need to be raised regarding inference of cause and effect relationships.

Question 11

What are the pros and cons of naturalistic observation?

Answer 11

DESCRIPTIVE
PROS:
1) High in external validity (same as in real life).

CONS:
1) Low in internal validity

(depends on reactivity of observed).

Question 12

What is the Hawthorne effect?

Answer 12

• Act of observation changes behaviour.
• Reduced external validity of phenomena being studied.
• Reducing one’s presence maintains naturalism BUT involves ethical issues.

Question 13

What is an Observer Bias?

Answer 13

Having preconceptions regarding behaviour which influences observation of behaviour (e.g. societal/cultural norms).

Question 14

What is the Experimenter Expectancy Effect?

Answer 14

When the experimenter has expectations as to what they they will observe (e.g. rat observation).

Question 15

What are Experimenter Effects?

Answer 15

Experimenter has biased investment in one condition over another.

Question 16

What is Covert Observation?

Answer 16

identity of the researcher, the nature of the research project, and the fact that participants are being observed are concealed from those who are being studied.

• might reduce impact of experimenter effects.
• might not reduce impact of expectancy effects.

Question 17

What are the two classic expectancy effects?

Answer 17

1) Placebo effect: expectations are positive.

2) Nocebo effect: expectations are negative.

Question 18

What are the pros and cons of self-report/surveys?

Answer 18

DESCRIPTIVE

PROS:

1) easy to administer
2) cost-effective
3) relatively fast way to collect lots of data
4) contrast limited generalisability of case-study/observation

CONS:

1) questions can be poorly worded.
2) answer boxes that do not allow a full range/representation of answers.
3) possible to lie.

Question 19

What is important to consider when taking a survey/self-report?

Answer 19

• Where data came from.

- Other variables that effect results.

Question 20

What are the aims of correlational research?

Answer 20

1) to specify relationship between two variables.

2) to be able to predict one from the other.

Question 21

What are two factors to consider when using correlational research?

Answer 21

You must establish the DIRECTION and SIZE of 2 variables.

Question 22

What is direction in correlational research?

Answer 22

Positive: as x increases y increases (same for decrease).
Negative: as x increases y decreases (same for reverse).

Question 23

What is size in correlational research?

Answer 23

-How well one thing can be predicted from another.
Value +1 or -1: perfect correlation between x and y.
Value 0: no relationship between x and y.

Question 24

What are the pros and cons of correlational research?

Answer 24

PROS:
1) we need correlational design because there are some things we cannot ethically control.

CONS:

1) An association between two things does not imply a cause and effect relationship.
- CORRELATIONS DESCRIBE RELATIONS RATHER THAN CAUSATIONS.
2) Third variable problem: 3rd factor which drives relationship between x and y.
3) Directionality problem: does x effect y or y effect x?

Question 25

What is the aim of the experimental method?

Answer 25

to establish causation by controlling the environment.

Question 26

What are the different types of variables?

Answer 26

1) Independent: the thing you change
2) Dependent: the thing you measure
3) Extraneous: other things we must control

Question 27

What is a solution to an experiment in which we cannot control everything?

Answer 27

Random allocation of individual to group.

• does not entirely eliminate extraneous variables
• does help reduces chances of effect being due to EVs.

Question 28

What are the two fundamental characteristics of experiments?

Answer 28

1) Manipulation of IV.

2) Random assignment of participants to groups.

Question 29

What is an operational definition?

Answer 29

Establishes what you mean by the fact you are measuring.

-helps overcome conceptual vagueness.

Question 30

What is reliability?

Answer 30

refers to the consistency of measurement.

Question 31

What is test-retest reliability?

Answer 31

consistency of measurement across time (same results over time).

Question 32

What is inter-rater reliability?

Answer 32

consistency of measurement across people.

Question 33

What are two things to be wary of in experiments?

Answer 33

Random error: human error.

Systematic error: faulty equipment.

Question 34

What is validity?

Answer 34

refers to the meaningfulness of measurement.

-e.g. a ruler is a reliable but invalid way to measure intelligence.

Question 35

What is convergent validity?

Answer 35

Suggest that multiple measures that tap the same thing should yield similar results.
E.g. more smiles, jobs, donations = treated better.

Question 36

What are the differences between lab-based studies and field-based studies?

Answer 36

Lab-based studies:

• high internal validity
• low external validity

Field-based studies:

• low internal validity
• high external validity

Question 37

What are descriptive statistics?

Answer 37

A summary of what the data shows after collecting data from a study.

Question 38

Traditionally, what 2 pieces of information do descriptive statistics contain?

Answer 38

1) measures of central tendency (average)
- mean
- mode
- median

2) measures of variance
- range
- standard deviation

Question 39

What are the two types of privacy in the ethics of psychology?

Answer 39

1) Confidentiality: collecting personal information and not sharing it.
2) Anonymity: personal information not collected.

Question 40

What is a participation risk?

Answer 40

Ethics board weigh risk/benefit ration to see whether research is important enough.