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PSYC 474 > Lecture 3: Research Methods in Relationship Science > Flashcards

Lecture 3: Research Methods in Relationship Science Flashcards

1
Q

why talk about research methods?

A

Foster critical thinking and media literacy

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2
Q

limits of personal experience & intuition

A
  • Confirmation bias
  • We aren’t objective observers of our relationship interactions
  • Our perspective is unique and limited
  • We’re too quick to see causal relationships where there may be none
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3
Q

confirmation bias

A

the tendency to seek out, pay attention to, and believe the evidence that supports our preexisting beliefs

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4
Q

the scientific approach

A

Relationship scientists examine questions systematically by collecting data and testing their hypotheses while taking steps to reduce bias, and subjectivity, and rule out alternative explanations

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5
Q

can we study love?

A
  • Studying love is possible, but challenging
  • Things research scientists are interested in, like love, commitment, satisfaction, trust, and attraction, are all very abstract
  • How we operationalize these psychological constructs is key
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6
Q

operationalizing our constructs

A
  • We can’t measure these psychological constructs directly
  • We need to carefully consider whether we are really measuring what we think we are measuring
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7
Q

measurement validity

A

the extent to which an operationalization adequately captures the psychological construct of interested

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8
Q

measurements should

A
  • Be well-grounded in existing theoretical conceptions of the construct
  • Relate to other measures of the construct & predict future outcomes
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9
Q

different types of measurement

A

Self-report
Behavioural observations
Physiological measures

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10
Q

self-report

A

Simply ask participants to describe their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours

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11
Q

two types of self-reports

A

fixed-response questionnaire & open-ended question`

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12
Q

fixed-response questionnaire

A

a specific set of questions and possible responses are pre-determined by the researcher (ex. The love scale)

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13
Q

open-ended question

A
  • The participant gives any answer that comes to mind
  • Helpful when studying something that we don’t know much about yet
  • A way of gathering information to generate more specific questions later on
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14
Q

qualitative research

A

a methodological approach relying primarily on open-ended questions

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15
Q

content analysis

A

examine the broader themes that emerge from participants’ responses

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16
Q

pros of self-reports

A
  • Inexpensive
  • Easy to administer
  • No special equipment is required
  • Allows us to recruit more participants
  • Allows us to “get inside people’s heads”
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17
Q

cons of self-reports

A
  • Difficulty with self-awareness and recall
  • Social desirability bias
  • Participants may not interpret questions in the way you intended
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18
Q

social desirability bias

A

desire to be seen in a positive light

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19
Q

sentiment override

A

global beliefs about the partner/relationship may colour perception and memory of specific interactions

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20
Q

example of sentiment override

A

“how many times did your partner kiss you yesterday?”
“I don’t remember, but he loves me and we have a good relationship, so it must have been a lot.”

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21
Q

behavioural observation

A
  • Gather data about relationship events without having to ask people who are experiencing those events directly
  • Train observers to watch & code recordings of participant behaviour
  • We can observe people anywhere (with participants’ consent)
  • We need to decide which behaviours to observe
  • Coders must agree on what constitutes incidents of a given behaviour category
  • A lot of behaviours require interpretation
  • Requires extensive training
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22
Q

interrater reliability

A

the extent to which coders agree on whether a specific behaviour has or has not occurred

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23
Q

pros of behavioural observations

A
  • Directly assess behaviours of interest
  • Don’t have to rely on faulty memories
  • Avoid social desirability bias
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24
Q

cons of behavioural observations

A
  • Expensive
  • Time-consuming
  • Labour-intensive
  • Reactivity
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25
Q

reactivity

A

a change in one’s behaviour caused by the knowledge that one is being observed

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26
Q

indirect measures

A
  • Designed to avoid reactivity and social desirability
  • Ex. reaction time can be used to assess implicit attitudes
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27
Q

implicit relational attitudes test

A
  • Instructions: indicate the valence of the word as quickly as possible
  • Index of automatic attitudes = negative word -RT - positive word RT
  • A higher score = a more positive attitude
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28
Q

underlying premise of implicit relational attitudes

A

some concepts are more tightly linked in our minds based on experience

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29
Q

implicit vs. explicit attitudes and relationship satisfaction

A
  • Conscious/explicit attitudes are not correlated with implicit attitudes
  • Implicit but not explicit attitudes are associated with newlywed’s changes in satisfaction over time (4 years)
  • Implicit attitudes predict nonverbal behaviour in couple’s discussions
  • Nonverbal behaviours are linked to satisfaction with conversation and relationship satisfaction over the following week
  • Explicit attitudes did not predict either verbal or nonverbal behaviour
30
Q

pros of indirect measures

A
  • Avoid social desirability bias & reactivity problems
  • Could be particularly useful for sensitive topics
31
Q

cons of indirect measures

A
  • Big gap between the construct of interest and operationalization
32
Q

physiological responses

A
  • the body’s reaction to various experiences/stimuli
  • Ex. autonomic nervous system, hormone changes, brain activity, and immune system changes
33
Q

challenges collecting and interpreting fMRI data

A
  • Very confined & noisy environment
  • Makes it challenging to create powerful psychological experiences for participants
  • Don’t see brain activation per se: we infer activation by subtracting responses on the control trial from the trial of interest
  • Need to think carefully about task design
34
Q

pros of physiological measures

A
  • Interesting in their own right (ex. Understanding the link between relationships and health)
  • Outside participants’ control (not susceptible to social desirability bias
35
Q

cons of physiological measures

A
  • Very expensive -> smaller sample size
  • Ambiguity in interpretation
  • Can be more invasive (depending on the measure)
36
Q

archival data

A
  • Data that has been collected by others, often for other purposes
  • We might be able to draw on publicly available data & documents
  • Ex. more positive facial expressions in yearbook photos predict the likelihood of being happily married 30 years late
37
Q

pros of archival data

A

Typically economical
Can examine historical trends

38
Q

cons of archival data

A

Limited by the type and quality of the original data

39
Q

takeaways: measurement

A
  • No single approach is perfect & free of limitations
  • Ideally, we want to adopt a multimethod approach: using a combination of methods to triangulate an answer
40
Q

correlational design

A

Allow us to examine naturally occurring associations between variables

41
Q

interpreting correlational data

A
  • The strength of association is captured by the correlation coefficient (r), which can range from -1 to +1
  • The sign tells us the direction
  • The magnitude tells us the strength of the association
42
Q

pros of the correlational design

A
  • Sometimes the only option available
  • We can’t manipulate some variables
43
Q

cons of the correlational design

A

We can’t conclude causation

44
Q

does marriage cause happiness?

A
  • There is evidence to suggest that marriage & happiness are associated
  • It’s plausible that marriage may increase happiness
  • But, it could also be true that happier people are more likely to get married
  • Or, there may be a third variable responsible for the effect
45
Q

factors necessary for causation

A
  1. Two variables must be correlated
  2. One variable must precede the other
  3. There must be no alternative explanation for the association
46
Q

cross-sectional data

A

data collected at one single point in time

47
Q

longitudinal data

A
  • Data collected from the same participants on multiple occasions
  • Allows us to examine change over time
48
Q

challenges and considerations of longitudinal research

A
  • choosing the right interval
  • the sample you start with may not be the same one you end up with
49
Q

daily diary study

A

a type of longitudinal approach where participants provide data every day at about the same time

50
Q

experience sampling

A

a type of longitudinal design where data is gathered throughout the day, thereby capturing behaviours, thoughts, and feelings as they occur

51
Q

attrition bias

A

the participants who drop out may systematically differ from those remaining in the study

52
Q

pros of longitudinal research

A
  • Captures change over time
  • Can examine processes that would be impossible/unethical to cause
  • Daily diaries and experience sampling are less subject to retrospective bias
53
Q

cons of longitudinal research

A
  • Expensive
  • Time and labour-intensive
  • Attrition bias
  • Getting one step closer to making causal claims, but still not there
54
Q

statistically controlling alternative explanations

A
  • You measure an alternative variable that might explain your effect, and you include it in your analysis
  • If your effect is just a proxy for something the control variable is doing your effect will be wiped out
  • Although helpful, this type of statistical control is still subject to limitations
  • It can be hard to anticipate every relevant variable
55
Q

experimental design

A
  • Manipulate one variable to determine the effect on another variable
  • The only design that allows us to make causal claims
  • Compare the experimental group to the control group to determine the effect of experimental intervention
  • We want the control condition to match the experimental condition as closely as possible (minus the IV) to avoid confounds
56
Q

random assignment

A
  • Every participant has an equal chance of being assigned to an experimental or control group
  • With a large enough sample, our two groups should be similar in all these individual traits
  • This helps rule out alternative explanations
57
Q

internal validity

A
  • Can we rule out alternative explanations in the experiment?
  • Relies on the selection of appropriate control & random assignment
58
Q

longitudinal experimental studies

A
  • Could expose couples to an intervention and track them over time (longitudinal assessments)
  • The same concerns about attrition bias apply
59
Q

pros of experiments

A

Allow us to make causal claims as long as there are no threats to internal validity

60
Q

cons of experiments

A
  • May have lower external validity: the extent to which results obtained in a given study generalize to other contexts
  • Not always an option
61
Q

population

A

all the people we are interested in

62
Q

sample

A

a subset of that population

63
Q

choosing a sample

A

Must be chosen carefully to ensure it represents the population we want to generalize to

64
Q

can we make universal claims about relationships?

A
  • We often make universal claims about relationships, but we don’t study diverse samples, so we can’t always make these claims
  • Ex. homosexual couples are historically underrepresented in relationship research
65
Q

convenience samples

A
  • Anyone who is readily available
  • Easier to get, but may not be representative of people in the broader population
  • They are used more frequently
66
Q

WEIRD participants

A

Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic

67
Q

representative sample

A
  • A sample that resembles the entire population we want to study on the variables of interest
  • Very difficult to get
68
Q

volunteer bias

A

the people who agree to participate may differ from those who don’t

69
Q

who participates in couples research study

A
  • Researchers mailed invitations to participate in a longitudinal study to couples who had obtained their marriage license in LA County between 1993 and 1994
  • Those who responded to the invitation
    1) Higher SES (more years of education, higher status job)
    2) More likely to have cohabitation prior to marriage
70
Q

what differentiates couples who participate from those who don’t?

A
  • Individuals whose partner agreed to participate with them reported greater relationship satisfaction, commitment, and more secure attachment
  • Couples who agreed to participate together were less likely to experience a breakup overtime
71
Q

actor-partner interdependence model

A

Allows us to examine how individual outcomes are affected by both one’s characteristics (actor effect) and the partner’s characteristics (partner effect)

72
Q

ethical issues

A
  • Asked to deeply think about and confide about issues of a highly personal and sensitive nature
  • They may experience negative effects, like recognizing problems in the relationship for the first time
  • We need to weigh the cost of doing the studies, the cost of not doing them, and the benefit of doing them
  • We need to be sensitive to how we approach our participants, provide effective debriefing, and counselling resources

PSYC 474 (15 decks)

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