Psychological Research Flashcards
Scientific Research
•Grounded in an objective, tangible evidence – can be observed from time to time again
Claim
- An assertion that something is true
- Examine it from different perspectives
- expertise of the person making the claim
- what might they gain if the claim is valid
- does the claim seem justified given the evidence
- what do other researchers think of the claim
Empirical Observations
•Data collected through direct observation and experiment – carried out carefully and reported in detail
Theory and Hypothesis
- Theory – well-developed set of ideas; propose an explanation for observed phenomena (too complex to be tested all at once
- Hypothesis – a testable prediction (if-then statement)
Deductive and Inductive Reasoning
•Deductive reasoning – ideas tested against the empirical world;
begins with a generalization > one hypothesis > reach logical conclusion
•Inductive reasoning – empirical observations that lead to new ideas;
conclusions drawn from inductive reasoning may or may not be correct (regardless of observations)
Clinical/Case Studies
- Observational research – focus on a very small number of people; the richness of information collected
- Rarely used; only individuals who are interesting/have rare characteristics
Naturalistic Observation
Ecological Validity/Realism
Observer Bias
Inter-rater Reliability
- Validity or accuracy of the information collected unobtrusively in a natural setting
- Ecological validity/Realism – individuals behave as they normally would in a given situation; enhance the ability to generalize findings to real-world situations
•Observer bias – unconsciously skew their observation to fit their research goals
Preventive measures: establish clear criteria and classifying these behaviors
•Inter-rater Reliability – a measure of reliability that assesses the consistency of observations by different observers
Surveys
- List of questions answered by research participants
- Easy to collect data from a large number of people
- Requires short amount of time to complete
- Better generalizability
- Downside – unable to collect the same depth of information (i.e. misremember/ego)
Archival Research
- Look at past records to look for interesting patterns/relationships
- No direct interaction between researcher and participant
- Low investment of time and money
- Downside – no control over what information is collected; no guarantee of consistency will result in comparing and contrasting different data sets to be problematic
Longitudinal and Cross-sectional Research
- Longitudinal research – data gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time
- Take years/decades and substantial financial investment; participants may choose to discontinue
- Cross-sectional research – compares multiple segments at the same time
- Shorter time investment
Correlational Research
- The relationship between two or more variables
- Limited; tells us little about cause and effect
- One variable changes so do the other
- Calculated by the correlation coefficient; represented by r
- No. -1 to no.+1 = strength and direction of the relationship between the variables
- -/+ number closer to 1 = stronger relationship; more predictable changes
- -/+ number closer to 0 = weaker relationship; less predictable changes
- +r = move in same direction
- -r = move in the opposite direction
Confounding Variable
- Factors other than the independent variable that may cause a result
- Inability to point out a clear confounding variable does not imply that one variable among the two causes change in another
Illusory Correlation
- Occur when people believe that a relationship exists between two things when no such relationship exists
- Simply accept the information as valid; confirmation bias
Experimental Hypothesis
•Formulated through direct observation/real world
Experimental and Control Group
- Experimental group – gets experimental manipulation
* Control group – does not get experimental manipulation
Operationalize
•How a variable is clearly defined by the researcher
Single- and Double-blind Study
- Single-blind study – participants are unaware of which group they are in (experimental/control); researchers are aware
- Double-blind study – both participants and researchers are unaware
Placebo Effect
•People’s expectations/beliefs influence/determine their experience in a given situation
Independent and Dependent Variable
- Independent variable – manipulated or controlled by the experimenter
- Dependent variable – measures to see how much effect the independent variable had
Samples and Splitting
- Samples are used as population are too large to reasonably involve every member
- Splitting – separating the participants into environmental/control group
- Any differences between the two groups are the manipulation of the independent variable
Quasi-experimental
•Limited by ethical constraints; unable to make cause and effect claims under these circumstances
Statistical Analysis
- Determines how likely any differences found is due to chance
- Chance > 5% = not meaningful
- Greatest strength – ability to assert any significant differences caused by independent variable
Peer-reviewed Journals
•Read by several artists who expertise in the subject matter (generally anonymously)
Peer-reviewers
- Provide feedback to author and journal editor to check the quality of the draft
- Evidence of research conducted in an ethical manner
- Description of how research was conducted
- Quality control for psychological research
Journal Editor
- Compile peer-reviewer’s feedback
* Determine of the research is able to be published – current state or revised version
Reliability and Validity
- Reliability – ability to consistently produce a given result
- Validity – given instruments /tool accurately measures what it is suppose to measure
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
Deception
- IRB review proposals and check if the principles mentioned in the research details are ethical
- Participants are to sign informed consent form
- Participants below 18 years old need their parents/legal guardians to sign the informed consent form
- Participants are able to discontinue without penalty
- Deception – purposely mislead participants to maintain integrity of the experiment (not harmful); full debrief upon the conclusion of the study (in-depth)
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
- IACUC reviews animal experimental proposals
* Ensure humane treatment of animal research subjects
