Research Methods in Psychology Flashcards
Four ways of knowing about the world
- INTUITION: gut feeling
- LOGIC: thinking rationally through it
- AUTHORITY: where is this knowledge coming from? Expert, friend
- OBSERVATION: seeing it/empirical observation (collecting data using scientific method)
- reliance on observation + making claims about phenomenons
What is science?
- defined by how you study it (through scientific method)
* how you go about making claims, testing hypothesis
Four Canons of Science
1. Determinism
•universe is orderly – all events have meaningful, systematic causes, predictable
•Theories: Statements about causal relation betw 2/+ variables, principle of science
–Variables: characteristic/condition that changes/diff values for diff ppl
•we can make causal statements between variables
Four Canons of Science
2. Empiricism
- best way of figuring out orderly principles: by collecting data/making observations
- get it straight from the horses mouth
Four Canons of Science
3. Parsimony: aka “Occam’s razor”
- explain observations in simplest possible way
- 2 competing theories equally good job of explaining set of empirical observations: prefer simpler
Four Canons of Science
4. Testability
theories should be testable using available research techniques
–Falsifiability: must be possible to make an observation that would prove hypothesis/theory to be false
•to find evidence/or show we lack support
-operational definitions: define how we’re gonna measure variables, definitions of theoretical constructs stated in terms of concrete, observable procedures
Operational Definitions
- Sometimes variables are/not well-defined + easily measured
- Well defined: weight, time
- Not well defined: constructs – things that we can’t directly observe
- Ppl use diff ways to operationalize
Constructs
-Internal attributes/characteristics that cannot be directly observed, but useful for describing + explaining behaviour
The Scientific Method
- Theory: explanation based on observations, broader than hypothesis
- Hypothesis: prediction based on theory
- Research: operationalize variables
- Support theory: refine with new hypothesis + research
- Refute/fail to support: discard/revise
Types of Research
- Diff types of control over
- Descriptive/Observational: less
- Correlation: more control
- Experimental: full control
Descriptive Research
–observing + classifying behaviour
•wide range of contexts
–often the first step in a line of research/part of larger research project
Observational Research: Masters & Johnson
•Direct observation of sexual activities •Described the four-stage model of sexual arousal •Dispelled many misconceptions regarding female sexuality
Descriptive Research
- Naturalistic observation: Passive. don’t change behaviour
- Participant observation: actively involved in situation
- Lab observation: Systematic observations made within a laboratory setting
Descriptive Research: Potential Threats
•Observer bias
•Reactivity
–Experimenter expectancy effects/Hawthorne effect
•Important to have multiple observers + very strict cues
Surveys & Interviews: Kinsey
- Interviewed thousands
- shocking at the time
- First to suggest orientation continuum
“Kinsey scale”
0 (exclusively heterosexual) - 6 (exclusively homosexual); used to describe sexual history or behaviour during a certain period of time
Surveys & Interviews:
Sexual Strategies Theory
- W: older men, good looks not important, ambition + industriousness
- M: younger, good looks more important than for W
- Way more similarities betw M + F than differences
- Key findings: Age of spouse; “good looks”; “ambition and industriousness”
Sexual Strategies Theory
•evolutionary theory M + W rank importance of qualities differently because of gender-specific adaptive problems
–Reproduction intensive commitment for W more cautious about having sex
•Investments in terms of people
•M want good healthy W for good offspring
•W want someone that can support them
Self-Report
- Self-report methods: provide info about themselves
- Self-report bias
- Emphasize no judgements + anonymity
Self-report bias
–Socially desirable responding
–“Better-than-average” effect: we inflate our responses
Impact of Culture, Societal Views
• Is “hooking up” a new thing? Probably not.
-more likely to freely acknowledge it.
•Ambiguity: make sure that everyone will interpret it the same way
Correlational Research
–how variables are related
–Allow researchers to make claims about associations between variables
Correlational Research
CORRELATION ≠ CAUSATION
- don’t know if one variable causes changes in another variable
- Directionality problem
- Third-variable problem
Types of Relationship
- Positive: move in same direction
* Negative: one goes up, other goes down
Correlational Research
- Sometimes unethical/impossible to manipulate variables/use random assignment
- E.g Children raised by divorced vs. married parents
Experiments
- Manipulation of variable(s)
- Random assignment
- Control
- Independent variable + Dependent variable
Experiments: Confound
–Another difference between each of your treatment groups/conditions
–limit ability to make causal claims
-anything apart from the independent variable that varies systematically between the different conditions in a study
Experiments: Random assignment
•Each participant equal chance of being assigned to each experimental condition
–ensures that diff groups are equivalent on average, on known + unknown variables
Experiments: Random sample
•Each member of population interested in equal chance of being chosen to participate
Experiments: Random sample
–Not a necessary component of an experiment
•Researchers often use convenience samples: ppl conveniently available
-May limit generalizability of results,but does not limit ability to make a causal claim
Internal and External Validity
•Internal validity - extent findings provide evidence of causality
–Lab experiments high in internal validity because they eliminate confounds
•External validity: extent findings accurately describe what happens in real world
–Generalizability with respect to other people, places, and situations
The third-variable problem
specific to correlational research: when researchers cannot manipulate variable
A lot of sex research is “quasi-experimental”
•quasi-independent variable: used to define different groups in a research study, but not manipulated by the researcher (sex)
Quasi-Experimental Studies
•involve a manipulated independent variable along with a quasi-independent variable
Data Collection Methods
•Response performance:
–Reaction time
–Response accuracy
–Stimulus judgments
Response performance
quantifying perceptual/cognitive processes in response to a specific stimulus
Stroop Effect
- Slower when there’s a mismatch: interference betw word reading + colour of the ink
- we automatically read the word: delay indicates how long it takes to overcome that automatic reaction
Psychophysiological Assessment
- how bodily functions change in association with behaviours or mental states
- includes assessments of brain activity, such as EEG, fMRI, and PET scans.
EEG, fMRI, and PET scans
- EEG: good at measuring time, measures brain activity with electrodes
- fMRI: good at pinpointing areas that are active in the moment, measures blood flow by assessing changes in blood’s oxygen level
- PET: looking at glucose, blood flow increases to most active regions, which emit more radiation
Sex and Love and the Brain
•Helen Fisher - three types of love involve three separate (though overlapping) brain systems:
–Lust: Androgens (testosterone), hypothalamus, amygdala
–Attraction: Dopamine system
–Attachment: Oxytocin
The Scientific Method
- Hypothesize
- Operationalize
- Measure
- Evaluate
- Replicate/Revise/Report
- Single study, cannot make giant claims
- Research is cyclical process
The Hawthorne effect/Reactivity
-changes in behaviour that occur when ppl know that others are observing them
Observer bias
preconceived notions might become bias, interpret things differently based on biases, observations diff based on expectations
Directionality Problem
is there bidirectionality, does A cause B/vice-versa
Third variable
is there another variable involved
