Research Methods in Psychology
The following videos present valuable information regarding the stages of the scientific method as well as a number of different research methods available to psychologists. It also provides some very interesting examples of these research methods
Research Methods in Psychology PART 1
Research Methods in Psychology PART 2
Stages of the Scientific Method
Stage 1: Problem definition which includes critical thinking, formulates hypothesis and relationship you would expect
Stage 2: Study design which is conducting procedures. How should study be inducted? what is interested population? what about participants? |
Stage 3: Analysis researcher selects and tries to see whether information supports the hypothesis
Stage 4: Publication which includes scientific researches, the fact that studies should be verified. |
Types of Research Methods
Characteristics of Naturalistic Observation
1) Goes into real world context 2) Observes people behaving in the way they normally behave. 3) People don’t know they are observed Example: Darwin’s work Advantages: It’s very natural and less artificial. Disadvantages: Cause of relationships are not possible, wide questions are not able to be answered. |
Characteristics of Correlational
Studies 1) Relationship between only 2 variables 2) Can know the nature of the relationship between the 2 variables 3) How much TV you watch and id you watch TV, you’ll know few new words. Example: Height and weight tend to be correlated positively. Advantages: Can identify consistent patters to predict from 1 variable Disadvantages: No matter how close variables are related, it can’t define the cause of affect. |
Characteristics of Experimental
Studies 1) It’s one of the most powerful 2) It allows a lot of inference to be done on cause and affect 3) Allows researchers to have control 4) Has 3 characteristics Example: Finding out if playing video games violent content makes kids more prone to violent behavior. Advantages: Researcher can determine the cause and effect of a study. Disadvantages: Cannot give definite answer and it’s expensive and harder to perform. |
Key Research Methods Vocabulary
Aim: Purpose of a study
Target Population: The group whose behavior the researcher wishes to investigate. Procedure: Step-by-step process used by the researcher to carry out the study. Findings: State how researchers interpreted the data that were collected. Participants: People who take part in a psychological study. Sample: The group of participants. |
Types of Sampling
Opportunity sampling is a sample of whoever happens to be there and agrees to participate. It’s an easy way for the researcher to get participants, but one has to question the nature of the opportunity sample. Self-selected sample is a sample, which is made up of volunteers. Its advantage is that it is relatively easy to obtain, and it almost guaranteed that the sample would be highly motivated. The problem is that volunteer samples rarely reflect the more general population. Snowball sampling is when participants recruit other participants among their friends and acquaintances. This is used in social psychology research, where it may be difficult to access research participants. Participant variability is the extent to which participants may share a common set of traits that can bias the outcome of the study. In order to obtain representative sample psychologist may use random sampling. It is defined as every member of the target population has an equal chance to be selected. It’s considered to be the most desirable sampling method because it is assumed that if the sample is large enough, it is most likely to contain all the characteristics of the population. Stratified sample attempts to overcome the problem of selecting participants from the same group by drawing random samples from each subpopulation within the target population.
Sampling Bias: Also know as selection bias, ias an error in choosing participants for a scientific study leading to distorted results. Some of the types of sampling above are more successful in avoiding sampling bias.
Interesting example: A telephone survey was conducted to assess peoples opinions during the Truman- Dewey American Presidential race in 1948. These polls suggested that Dewey would win very easily. However, the problem was that telephones were only owned by a small, wealthy minority of the population who tended to support Dewey much more than the average voter. Based on this Survey, the Chicago Tribune ran a famous Headline in their front page ¨Dewey defeats Truman¨ .... Truman would go on to win the election easily.
Sampling Bias: Also know as selection bias, ias an error in choosing participants for a scientific study leading to distorted results. Some of the types of sampling above are more successful in avoiding sampling bias.
Interesting example: A telephone survey was conducted to assess peoples opinions during the Truman- Dewey American Presidential race in 1948. These polls suggested that Dewey would win very easily. However, the problem was that telephones were only owned by a small, wealthy minority of the population who tended to support Dewey much more than the average voter. Based on this Survey, the Chicago Tribune ran a famous Headline in their front page ¨Dewey defeats Truman¨ .... Truman would go on to win the election easily.
Ethics in Psychological Research
Psychological associations from all around the world have prepared a set of guidelines which helps to ensure that participants in research are treated with respect and dignity. These ethical guidelines also apply to any research in the IB. There are 6 main points.
1) Informed consent: Participants must be informed about the nature of the study and agree to participate. 2) Deception: Sometimes the researcher doesn’t want the participants to know the exact aim of the study because it could affect the results. Deception should generally not be used; however, slight deception – which doesn't cause any stress to the participant – may be used in some cases. At the end of the study, any deception must be explained to the participants. 3) Debriefing: At the end of all studies, the true aims and purpose of the research must be revealed and justified. All participants should leave the study without undue stress. 4) Withdrawal from a study: At the beginning of any study, participants should be told that they have the right to leave the study at any time, and that they can withdraw their data at the end of the study if they wish. 5) Confidentiality: All the information that is obtained in a study must be confidential. 6) Protection from physical or mental harm: It is important to make sure that no harm is done to participants. It is not permitted to humiliate a participant or force them to reveal private information. |
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Validity Vs Reliability
Validity
Validity is considering whether the research does what it claims to do. One way to look at validity in research is ecological validity, which simply means that the study represents what happens in real life. If an experiment has been carried out in a situation with very well controlled environment to the extent that normal influences on behavior were eliminated (for example, in laboratory), and participants have done things that they would never do in real life, the experiment is said to lack ecological validity. Another example is lack of cross-cultural validity. It means that the psychologists had been ethnocentric (based on the values and beliefs of one culture) in their approach to assessing what is normal childhood behavior, because their checklist was based only on their own culture. |
Reliability
If a study is reliable, it means that the results can be replicated. Usually, reliability is used in reference to experimental study, because the procedure is standardized and, theoretically, if another researcher uses exactly the same procedure, it should give the same results. |
Six Key Questions
We must assess any piece of Psychological Research critically. There are six questions we can ask when reviewing a piece of research that will help us to determine its value, reliability and validity.
2) Was the study conducted in a laboratory or in a natural setting?
A laboratory study is an artificial environment, so it is not possible to be certain that participants act as they would in real life.
3) Were the participants asked to do things that are far from real life?
If participants are asked to do things they would not normally do, the study is said to lack ecological validity.
6) Ethical considerations
For example, were participants harmed?
A laboratory study is an artificial environment, so it is not possible to be certain that participants act as they would in real life.
3) Were the participants asked to do things that are far from real life?
If participants are asked to do things they would not normally do, the study is said to lack ecological validity.
6) Ethical considerations
For example, were participants harmed?
Was the study by Asch ethical?
The study was conducted in a natural setting, which is an advantage for the study. Participants were asked to do things that they wouldn’t do in real life, which was saying if the lines were the same length or not. This type of exercise was invented specially for this study and it wasn’t something participants would casually do. That's a disadvantage. Deception was used on participants of the Asch’s study, which might have caused stress on them, in that particular situation that they had to deal with. |
Was the study by Bandura ethical?The study was conducted in the laboratory, which means that it may lack ecological validity. Participants were asked to watch a video and then were put in the room with an object from the video. Not something they would do everyday, but it is not something very far from the real life. Ethical considerations weren’t met. Participants might have gotten harmed and stressed by the aggression that the video was causing.
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