Introduction to Methods
When you accept unquestionably what your own personal judgment tells you about the world, you are relying on _______.
What is intuition?
A type of research that involves manipulating and controlling the different variables with the purpose to identify cause and effect relationships.
What is experimental research?
Knowledge comes from systematic and objective observations of the real world
What is the empirical method, systematic empiricism, or the scientific method?
The group that receives no treatment.
What is the control group?
The study of principles relating to right and
wrong conduct; a set of moral principles.
What is ethics?
What are two main types of papers and journal articles written in academic psychology?
What are two main types of papers and journal articles written in academic psychology?
Description, Explanation, Prediction
What are the 3 goals of science/scientific psychology?
anything that changes or can take more than one value and is measured or manipulated in research.
What is a variable?
A participant's agreement to take part in a study after being told what to expect.
What is Informed Consent?
This is happening when a teacher monitors their class from behind a one way mirror to take notes on the classes’ behavior.
What is a naturalistic observation?
What are the 3 Main ethical Principles of the Belmont Report?
Beneficence, Autonomy, and Justice
Which type of psychology paper or article describes 1 or more completed studies in detail, including implications and how it fits in with past research?
Empirical or Research Report
Claims that are made based on "evidence" that is designed to appear scientific but are not based on systematic empirical evidence are referred to as
What is pseudoscience?
The variable that is manipulated in an experiment is called
What is the independent variable?
Why is it necessary to do a literature review before designing a new study?
Find out what is already known about the topic (past research, theories); Can help you evaluate the
interestingness of a research question; Can give you ideas for how to conduct your own study; Can show how your study fits into the existing research literature
The direct relationship between two variables, i.e., when the value of one variable increases, the value of the other increases too.
What is Positive correlation?
An ethical principle requiring that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate.
What is Informed Consent?
Which of the 2 main types of psychology articles is a critical summary of what the scientific literature/past research says about a specific topic or question?
Literature Review
The practice or science of diagnosing and treating mental disorders, often with medication.
What is Psychiatry?
a tentative statement, subject to empirical test, about the expected relationship among variables
What is a hypothesis?
Ask a question, create a testable hypothesis, choose a research design and collect data, Analyze the results and propose a theory, share your findings, that could lead to replication!
What are the FIVE basic steps of scientific research?
Procedure where both the participants and the experimenter are unaware of the treatment the participants are receiving.
What is a double-blind procedure?
Which ethical principle from the Belmont report means that research should maximize benefits and minimize risks (any possible harmful effects) of participation
What is Beneficence?
Which section of an empirical article includes a description of exactly how the current research was conducted?
Method
Which of the following questions is not falsifiable?
A) Does Bigfoot exist?
B) Do men drive faster than women?
C) Does number of hours of sleep relate to cognitive functioning in adults?
D) Does Facebook increase symptoms of narcissism in its users?
A) Does Bigfoot exist?
Scientific study in which the researcher observes or measures (without directly manipulating) two or more variables to find relationships between them.
What is correlational research?
What are the 3 ways to Demonstrate Causation?
Temporal Precedence: the cause must occur before the effect. We know the direction of causality
Covariation of the Cause and Effect/Association: a change in the IV is associated with a change in the DV; when the cause is present, the effect is more likely to occur, when the cause is not present the effect is less likely to occur
Eliminate Alternative Explanations: there should be no other plausible cause of the behavior of interest (DV) than the IV.
A numerical value that indicates the degree and direction of the relationship between two variables.
What is a correlation coefficient?
Researchers must conduct a Risk-Benefits analysis before conducting their research. What are 2 examples of benefits?
Benefit to scientific understanding and
benefits to individual participants (e.g., financial compensation, learning about oneself, beneficial treatment)
What section of an APA style research article explains how the data was analyzed and whether the statistical analysis supports the original hypotheses? It often includes tables and graphs.
Results
Is psychology a science? Why or why not?
Yes, psychology is a science. Psychology uses the scientific method to empirically study human behavior, thoughts and emotion. We measure variables scientifically and attempt to be objective and systematic in coming to conclusions.
Is this experimental or correlational research? A researcher observed that people who have a large number of pets also live in houses with more bathrooms than people with fewer pets.
Correlational research
Give an example of an "empirical question" and explain why it is an empirical question
many possible answers
The way a variable is measured or manipulated in a
study is called the
What is the operational definition?
What are 2 examples of potential risks in psychological research?
- Physical harm- pain, sleep deprivation
- Psychological Stress- more common, usually minor
- Loss of privacy and confidentiality
What section of an empirical article repeats the results, explains what they mean and how they fit in with past research, and offers conclusions, implications and ideas for future research?
Discussion
In experimental research, the variable considered to be the “effect”. It is measured by the researcher.
What is the Dependent Variable?
What is meant by the Conceptual Definition of a variable?
The actual meaning of the variable. The behaviors and internal processes that make up a construct. Researchers often develop
definitions more detailed and precise than the dictionary.
Why do we need operational definitions of variables in research?
To study variables empirically and to communicate to others what we mean by a variable
What is debriefing and why is it important?
It is where the research explains the study, reveals any deception and explains why it was necessary; research tries to decrease any potential harmful effects of the participation, provide additional resources, if necessary, and Make sure participant leaves the experiment without any ill feelings towards the field of psychology
In which section of an APA style research paper would you find the purpose of a study, a review of past research on the topic and the hypothesis for the current study?
Introduction
What are the three defining features of an experiment?
1. Random assignment to groups
2. Manipulation of the independent variable
3. All other variables are held constant
What is deception in research and why is it sometimes used?
Deception is the active misrepresentation of information in a study.
Why? Sometimes providing all the information about a study may bias participants or sample/invalidate
the results.
• Generally acceptable to withhold info when it would
NOT affect the decision to participate and when it
will be provided later
• Some feel deception is lying and is morally
unacceptable and so they avoid it