Research Methods

Question 1

Empiricism

Answer 1

We can gain accurate knowledge through observing something

Question 2

Dogmatism

Answer 2

Clinging on beliefs even in the absence of proof or contradictory evidence

Question 3

The Scientific Method

Answer 3

A procedure for finding information using empirical (observable) evidence

Question 4

Ways of knowing

Answer 4

personal experience (anecdote)
A true or unreliable / unverified story
Intuition
accessing /aquiring knowledge in the absence of conscious reasoning
The scientific method
Repeatable observations across many individuals
Lead to the same conclusion
??? missed a line
Use it to test theories
Orginizations of our obsewrvations of natural phenomena
Proposed explanations for why the phenomena occur(ed/s)

Question 5

Theories

Answer 5

Bystander effect
Ppl less likely to help in emergency cayse of others. Others reduce amount of personal responsibility
Testable prediction (hypothesis)
In emergency situation the more people that are present, the longer it wil ltake before someone wull help
Theories organize understanding of phenomena
Hyptheses test the tenability of our theories in the … missed it
Theories -hypothesis - research observation (goes back to theories)

Question 6

Theories

Answer 6

organize understanding of phenomena

Question 7

Hypotheses

Answer 7

test the testability of our theories in the real world

Question 8

Observation to theory

Answer 8

inductive reasoning

Question 9

Inductive

Answer 9

start with an observation use to generate a theory

Question 10

Deductive

Answer 10

start with a theory use to test a hypothesis

Question 11

Theories must

Answer 11

be able to be proved wrong

Question 12

Testable prediction -

Answer 12

in an emergency situation, the more people that are present the longer it will take before someone helps
Theory - the more people in an emergency the less responsibility people feel to help -> the more in ambiguous emerg less rep to help

Question 13

Research methods

Answer 13

Casse study
Naturalistic observation
Surveys
Archival research ( read through twice**)
Longitudinal and cross sectional research

Question 14

Case Studies

Answer 14

When we hav every rare disorders
Conduct in depth interviews to gain insight to a rare disorder
Can provide profound insight into the workings of the brain
Eg the case of H.M., phinneas gage
Hyperthymesia - incredible autobiographical memory: 60 people in the world
Conjoined twins
Covid 19 case studies when only some people had it
PROS
Incredible detail on studied phenomena
CONS
Cases are so rare we cant take the data and generalize it to the population, application of gained knowledge is limited

Question 15

Naturalistic Observation

Answer 15

Observe behavior in its natural habitat
Considerations:
Researcher needs to be inconspicuous
If people are aware of being watched they will change their behaviour
PROS
High on ecological validity: expect natural behavior in a natural setting - findings = very generalizable
CONS
Difficult to set up - ex what if no one shows up to the situation
Observer bias -researchers seeing what they want to see ( get around this by getting multiple people watching the same behavior and then compare notes to see reliability)

Question 16

Surveys

Answer 16

To gauge the public’s understanding/interest in something
Can do so by ask… missed the slide
PROS
Can gather a lot of data/participants, great generalizability
CONS
Not a lot of “why” we get the info we do
Sacrifice the richness of the data
People coil dlie, misremember or respond in a socially desirable way.

Question 17

Cross sectional

Answer 17

Correlation - if i do x, y will happen
Quantify relationship between tow variables
Correlation coefficient
-1 > r < 1
As x increases, y increases -> POSITIVE CORRELATION(ex. 0.62)
Closer r is to one the stronger relation between two variables
As x increases y decreases -> NEGATIVE (ex -0.40)
Close to zero - x and y are unrelated
- .80 is stronger than +.60
Average effect size is .21
Scarcity increases perceived value of commodity .12
People attribute to bad luck .10
Taking ib profun as a reduction of pain .14

Quantifies relationship between 2 variables
Direction of a relationship (positive or negative
Strength of a relationship
Directly comparable

Question 18

Correlations

Answer 18

Correlation does not imply causation
Ex friendship and happiness, we don’t know which causes the other even though there’s a correlation of .25

Question 19

3rd variables

Answer 19

If you see a correlation of one you are suspicious
Ex day night - one does not cause the other, the rotation of the earth causes both
This is a confounding variable
There is an infinite number of confounding variables
Ex head size/intelligence - age, food supply, wealth, social stability/economic status

Question 20

Illusory correlations

Answer 20

Correlations seem to be related, but it’s just by chance
1/20 correlations is illusionary

Question 21

Cross sectional study

Answer 21

measuring a correlation between variables at one point in time

Question 22

Time based variables

Answer 22

longitudinal
(helps see what causes what)
Follow same people over time and match up earlier responses with later ones
PROS - better idea of causality, see how processes unfold over time
CONS - time intensive, participants drop out, 3rd variable problem

Question 23

Independent variable

Answer 23

variable you manipulate (ex violent video game) also predictor variable

Question 24

Dependent variable

Answer 24

variable that is measured in the study (ex violent behavior) also outcome variable

Question 25

Control group

Answer 25

group that does not receive an intervention (ex the 50 playing non violent video games

Question 26

Experimental group

Answer 26

group that receives the intervention (ex the 50 playing violent video games)

Question 27

How do we make sure there’s an equal number of types of both groups?

Answer 27

Random assignment
That way each participant has equal opportunity to be assigned to the control or experimental condition
Random assignment must be checked because of “dumb luck”

Question 28

Defining your dependent variable

Answer 28

Important - dictates how you measure it and is called your operational definition
Influences conclusions you can draw from it
Video game violence relationship is unclear cause no consistent definition of “violent behavior”
Ex, angry verbal behavior does not mean links to mass shootings

Question 29

quasi experimental design

Answer 29

Naturally occurring group that we preform exp on -
Useful but can limit the claims we can make about causality

Question 30

Single blind

Answer 30

participants are unaware of the hypothesis or which experimental condition they ar ein

Question 31

Double blind

Answer 31

participants and experimenter are blind to which condition the participant is in (both blind to hypothesis)

Question 32

ROsenthal and Fode

Answer 32

Fast mouse and slow mouse
Time how long it takes you rat to learn maze
Gave them the same speed mice
Diff expectations make diff results form expirementers bias

Question 33

Random selection

Answer 33

more likely to be representative
Everyone in agiven population has equal opportunity of being selected for the sample
Given sample has equal opp to br assigned condition
Allows us more confidence in generelizing our effects from sample to population

Question 34

Sir Francis Galton

Answer 34

First set of studies into intelligence
Measured using reaction time
Ex how quickly someone could classify a sound
First to coin eugenics
Not valid

Question 35

Validity

Answer 35

Does out instrument measure what we want it to measure
Ecological validity

Question 36

Reliablility

Answer 36

Does our test return consistent results iver time
5 big personality test: 7 years later, personality score would r=.74

Question 38

Are dev trajectories universal