Research Methods in Psychology
Research Methods in Psychology
Dr. Ghada Shahr
Introduction
psychologists believe that research is the best tool for understanding human beings and their relationships with others. Rather than accepting the claim of a philosopher that people do (or do not) have free will, a psychologist would collect data to empirically test whether or not people are able to actively control their own behavior
This statement and others made by psychologists are empirical, which means they are based on systematic collection and analysis of data
The Scientific Method
All scientists (whether they are physicists, chemists, biologists, sociologists, or psychologists) are engaged in the basic processes of collecting data and drawing conclusions about those data. The methods used by scientists have developed over many years and provide a common framework for developing, organizing, and sharing information.
The scientific method is the set of assumptions, rules, and procedures scientists use to conduct research
Characteristics of the Scientific Method
1- Empirical: refers to the systematic collection and analysis of data.
2- Procedures used need to be objective: free from the personal bias or emotions of the scientist.
3- replication: to repeat, add to, or modify previous research findings.
Products of the Scientific Method
1- Laws: Principles that are so general as to apply to all situations in a given domain of inquiry .
Example: Law of effect: is the belief that a pleasing after-effect strengthens the action that produced it.
Theory: is an integrated set of principles that explains and predicts many, but not all, observed relationships within a given domain of inquiry.
Example: Piaget stage theory of cognitive development
Products of the Scientific Method
3- Research Hypothesis:
Theories are usually framed too broadly to be tested in a single experiment. Therefore, scientists use a more precise statement of the presumed relationship between specific parts of a theory — a research hypothesis.
A research hypothesis is a specific and falsifiable prediction about the relationship between or among two or more variables, where a variable is any attribute that can assume different values among different people or across different times or places.
The research hypothesis states the existence of a relationship between the variables of interest and the specific direction of that relationship.
Products of the Scientific Method
Example: “using marijuana will reduce learning”
The ideas that form the basis of a research hypothesis are known as conceptual variables.
Conceptual variables are abstract ideas that form the basis of research hypotheses
A conceptual variable can be simple (e.g., age, gender, education level) or complex (e.g., self-esteem, anxiety, cognitive development)
Products of the Scientific Method
Operational definition: refers to a precise statement of how a conceptual variable is turned into a measured variable.
e.g., The conceptual variable “participating in psychotherapy” could be represented as the measured variable “number of psychotherapy hours the patient has accrued.
Types of Research Design
A research design is the specific method a researcher uses to collect, analyze, and interpret data.
Psychologists use three major types of research designs in their research, and each provides an essential avenue for scientific investigation:
Descriptive research
Correlational research
Experimental research
Descriptive Research
Designed to provide a snapshot of the current state of affairs.
There are 3 types of descriptive research:
Case study
Survey
Naturalistic observation
Case study
Is an in-depth descriptive record of one or more individual’s experiences and behavior.
Example: Phineas Gage, a man whose thoughts and emotions were extensively studied by cognitive psychologists after a railroad spike was blasted through his skull in an accident
Sometimes case studies involve ordinary individuals. More frequently, case studies are conducted on individuals who have unusual or abnormal experiences or characteristics or who find themselves in particularly difficult or stressful situations.
Surveys
a survey is a measure administered through either an interview or a written questionnaire to get a picture of the beliefs or behaviors of a sample of people of interest.
The people chosen to participate in the research (known as the sample) are selected to be representative of all the people that the researcher wishes to know about(the population).
Naturalistic Observation
naturalistic observation: is research based on the observation of everyday events.
For instance, a developmental psychologist who watches children on a playground and describes what they say to each other while they play is conducting descriptive research.
Correlational Research
Correlational research involves the measurement of two or more relevant variables and an assessment of the relationship between or among those variables.
e.g., height and weight
When there are two variables in the research design, one of them is called the predictor variable and the other the outcome variable
Example: viewing violent TV show and aggressive play.
Correlational Research
The linear relationship between two variables are measured by Pearson correlation coefficient, which is symbolized by the letter r.
The value of the correlation coefficient ranges from r = –1.00 to r = +1.00.
Positive values of r (such as r = .54 or r = .67) indicate that the relationship is positive linear, whereas negative values of r (such as r = –.30 or r = –.72) indicate negative linear relationships
The strength of the linear relationship is indexed by the distance of the correlation coefficient from zero (its absolute value). For instance, r = –.54 is a stronger relationship than r = .30, and r = .72 is a stronger relationship than r = –.57.
Correlational Research
The disadvantage of correlational research is that it can not draw a causal relationship between the variables and another variable may explain their relationship, this variable is called a common-causal variable.
It is a variable that is not part of the research hypothesis but that causes both the predictor and the outcome variable and thus produces the observed correlation between them.
Example:
Viewing violent TV Aggressive play
Parent’s harsh discipline
Experimental Research
The goal of experimental research design is to provide more definitive conclusions about the causal relationship among the variables in the research hypothesis than is available from correlational designs.
The variables of interest are called the independent variable (or variables) and the dependent variable.
he independent variable in an experiment is the causing variable that is created (manipulated) by the experimenter
The dependent variable in an experiment is a measured variable that is expected to be influenced by the experimental manipulation.
Experimental Research
Example: the effect of meditation on stress
Despite the advantage of determining causation, experiments do have limitations. One is that they are often conducted in laboratory situations rather than in the everyday lives of people. Therefore, we do not know whether results that we find in a laboratory setting will necessarily hold up in everyday life. Second, and more important, is that some of the most interesting and key social variables cannot be experimentally manipulated
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