Unit 2: Research Methods In Psychology (Chapter 2) Flashcards
Theory
An integrated set of related principles that explains and generates predictions about some phenomenon in the world.
Ex: Schachter-Singer theory of emotion (uses environmental cues to label unexplained or ambiguous signs of arousal).
Putting common sense to the test
Ex: Late fee daycare study
Hypothesis
A testable prediction about what will happen under specific circumstances if the theory is correct.
Ex: Subjects who encounter the lady on the dangerous bridge (vs. safe bridge) are more likely to call her and include erotic content in their written responses.
Data
A set of observations that are gathered to evaluate the hypothesis.
Replication study
Repetition of the study with a new group of participants. Direct replications attempt to recreate the original experiment exactly. Conceptual replications try to recapture the original finding using different methods or measures.
Open science movement
Initiative to make scientific research, data, and methods openly accessible and transparent, with the goal of increasing reproducibility of research.
Meta-analysis
Combination of the results of multiple studies (since there is only so much confidence one can obtain from a single study).
Peer review
Critical evaluation of the study’s quality by trained psychological scientists.
Just because a research paper has been peer reviewed does not mean it’s free of limitations.
Variable
Anything (typically something of interest) that can take on different values.
Ex (person): age, gender, ethnicity, mood, dance floor confidence level.
Ex (content, condition or situation): time of day, temperature, ambient noise, stressfulness.
Manipulated variable
Variable intentionally changed by the researcher. Not all variables can be manipulated.
Ex: participants assigned to low vs. high stress condition.
Measured variable
A variable whose values are simply recorded. Used in every study, as all variables can be measured.
Ex: # of life stress events a participant has experienced within the past year.
Operational variable
Specific description of how a variable will be measured or manipulated in a study. (From abstract to concrete, quantifiable, specific.)
Creating an operational definition = operationalizing a variable.
Ex: Operationalizing positive emotionality = smiles in high school yearbook photos (using systematic method to describe and analyze facial movement).
Fixed response questionnaires (surveys)
Specific set of questions and possible responses predetermined by the researchers.
Ex: Beck Depression Inventory.
Open-ended (self-report) questions
Participant gives any answer that comes to mind. Helpful when studying something we don’t know much about yet. A way of gathering information to generate more specific questions later on.
Self-report
People describe themselves and/or their behaviour.
Ex: Asking participants how many hours they spend on social media per week.
Self-report advantages
- Allows us to “get inside people’s heads”.
- Easy, relatively inexpensive (in the case of surveys).
- Allows us to collect data from more participants, which will make our study stronger.
Self-report limitations
- Social desirability bias.
- May be difficult to identify and verbalize experience (ex: how one feels).
- Not always aware of why we do the things we do. [Often relies on retrospective report -memories may be inaccurate or coloured (biased) by current experience. This can be mitigated by using methods where participants are asked to report their experience soon after it happens (ex: immediately after, at the end of each day).]
Social desirability bias
Tendency to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favourably by others. Includes impression management (“faking good”), which can be mitigated with anonymous participation, and self-deceptive enhancement (honestly held but unrealistic self-views).
Behavioural observation
Direct observation: Researchers observe and record the occurrence of behaviour. Can take place in a lab or the field and use technology.
Ex lab research: Stage emergency to examine factors promoting or inhibiting helping behaviour. Ex naturalistic research: Jane Goodall’s observation of intergroup warfare among Gombe chimps.
Behavioural observation advantages
- More objective than self-report (if done right).
- Observe real-world behaviour (or at least a close approximation).
- Source of nuanced, rich information.
- Possible to capture behaviours in their natural context.
Behavioural observation limitations
- More time and resource-intensive. (Requires extensive training to achieve consistency and minimize bias. May not be able to recruit as many participants.)
- Reactivity
(May use unobtrusive observation/recording, but this raises ethical issues.)
Reactivity
A change in behaviour caused by the knowledge one is being observed.
Indirect measures
Designed to avoid reactivity and social desirability. Ex: reaction time = the time it takes to respond to a stimulus on a screen. Can be used to assess implicit attitudes (the automatic tendency to associate a given stimulus with positive or negative feelings).
Indirect measures pros
- Avoid social desirability & reactivity problems (could be particularly useful for sensitive topics).
