Revision #3 Flashcards
Research methods
– Link between theories and empirical evidence
– Five steps to collecting empirical evidence
– Research Designs
– Ethics in research
– Values of a good researcher
DEF Theory:
Explanation of a large number of findings
Relationship b/w theory and empirical evidence
Theories used to explain findings from empirical studies
Theories used to generate ideas for empirical studies
Empirical evidence provides knowledge to advance/ develop theories
Basically: empirical studies test the accuracy of theory and theories are used to explain empirical findings
Five steps to collecting empirical evidence
- Formulate a hypothesis
- Design the study
- Collect the data
- Analyse the data and draw conclusions
- Report the findings
Step 1- Formulating a testable hypothesis
– Hypothesis- specific prediction about the relationship between variables
• Variables:
- factors that are manipulated or measured in a study
- Must be able to change, vary or be manipulated Examples
- Taller people are more attractive than shorter people
- Owning a dog decreases stress levels
Operational definition: how the variables are measured/ manipulated
Measure: ways of assessing the variable
Eg. Taller or shorter→ height measured through centimetres
Is the measure a good measure?
Reliability - measures ability to produce consistent results
Retest reliability- very similar results yielded by the same person over time
Interrater reliability- two different scorers make the same judgement
Validity- measure is assessing what it is supposed to
Reformulate hypotheses after variable have been operationlised
Eg.
theoretical hypothesis: owning a dog decreases stress levels
Research hypothesis: people who have a dog at their place of residence will have lower blood pressure than people who do not have a dog at their place of residence
Step 2- Designing the study
Choosing the participants b
Participants : people who are being studied
Who are they?
Where do they come from?
How many?
Population: all the people the researcher is interested in studying
Sample: the group of people the researcher studies
Random sampling: Every member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen for the study
eg., Picking names from electoral roll
Advantage
sample represents the population in general
high generalisability
- Sample bias
- Low generalizability
- Sample does not represent the wider population
Step 3: Collecting the data
Chose a method Direct observation (observing behaviour eg. washing hands in hospitals)
Questionnaire (specific Q’s that participant responds to)
Interview (speaking to participant and recording their responses)
Psychological test (measure variables that are consistent over time eg. personality test)
Physiological recording (Eg. blood pressure measure)
Examination of archival records (eg. hospital records→ more admissions during a particular month)
Step 4: Analyzing data and drawing conclusions
Statistics: summarises the data (descriptive statistics)
Means, SD, frequencies etc.
Descriptive statistics: how often a score occured
Measures of central tendency
One score that is representative of the entire sample
Means: average
Median: middle score
Mode: most frequently occurring score
- Measures of variability
- Score that represents the spread of scores
- Standard deviation
- Semi-interquartile range
- Range
Statistics
draw inferences (inferential statistics)
is the differences between the groups large enough to be a real differences, or did it occur by chance?
is the relationship between the variables strong enough to be a real relationship, or did it occur by chance?
Need to take into consideration the spread of scores as well (spread)
Statistics tell us if the difference is large enough, or relationship strong enough
Statistical Significance = whether the effect found is real or occurred by chance; avoids researcher bias
Quantitative analysis
Data consists of numbers and statistics used to summarize and interpret data
Qualitative analysis
Data is non-numeric (ie., words or images), analysis involves looking for meaning and themes.
Possibility of researcher bias
» interpretation of the data influenced by the researches own biases (hopes/wishes, beliefs, upbringing).
Step 5: Reporting the findings
knowledge can be used by others
knowledge can be scrutinized
Findings can be replicated •
repeating the study to see if the same results can be found again
- APA (American Psychological Association) report writing
- what information needs to be included
- where to put the information
Study designs
Descriptive (Correlational) methods naturalistic observations case studies Surveys Behavioural genetics
Experimental method
identify cause and effect
Naturalistic Observation
observation of behaviour performed in natural settings
Advantage
study factors unethical to study any other way
ie., bullying, behaviour following natural disaster
complete picture
high external validity
External validity: How well the study generalises outside of the study situation
» ie., how well it reflects real world situations
Disadvantage
observer bias - expectations of the observer/researcher might distort the interpretation of what is being observed
have all the factors been noted? Have the behaviours been interpreted correctly?
Identification of variables to be measured and operational definition before hand
• advantage: overcomes observer bias
• disadvantage: decreases the chance of a complete picture
low generalisability
Will the findings apply to everyone?
participants may change behaviour if aware of study. - concealing observers sometimes difficult.
Case study
- in- depth investigation into a single participant (or small number of people)
- +:
complete picture
utilised: event being studied is new or rare, clinical situation - -:
observer bias and low generalisability
Survey
predetermined questions asked either in questionnaires or face to face interviews
+:
no observer bias
high generalisability is random sampling used
-:
- not a complete picture
social desirable picture
response set
memory distortion
misunderstanding of the questions
Behavioural genetics
Studies designed to identify whether the psychological phenomenon is the result of nature (genetics) or nurture (environment)
Family studies:
- evidence for genetics- the more closely related the more likely they will share the trait in common
- However, the environment of siblings tends to be more similar than the environment of cousins- thus the finding could indicate environment
Twin studies:
- twins share a more similar environment than siblings
- identical twins are genetically identical. Fraternal twins are no more similar than regular siblings
- if identical twins are more similar than fraternal twins this indicates that genetics is more important than environment
