WK 5&6 - Alternatives & Correlational

NON-EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH METHODS

It is used to study behaviors in natural settings ( children playing, chimps parenting, or life in a gang)

INTERNAL VALIDITY

The degree to which a research design allows us to make causal statements

HIGH IN INTERNAL VALIDITY

This is when we can demonstrate certainty that the changes in behavior observed across treatment conditions were actually caused by differences in treatments

NON-EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH METHOD

IT IS USED TO:

• Explore unique or rare occurrences (case of multiple personality, presidential elections)

• To sample personal information (attitudes, opinions, perceptions, preferences)

• They are used in situations in which an experiment is not practical or desirable.

EXTERNAL VALIDITY

It is generalizability or applicability to people and situations outside the research setting.

HIGH IN EXTERNAL VALIDITY

It is when observations can be generalized to other settings and other people

NON-EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH METHODS

Also used whenever testing a hypothesis in an existing real-life situation is necessary or important.

NONEXPERIMENTS

low manipulation

EXPERIMENTS

high manipulation

THE DEGREE OF IMPOSITION OF UNITS

It is the extent to which the researcher limits the responses a subject may contribute to the data

THE DEGREE OF MANIPULATION OF ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS

It varies from low to high ( from letting whatever happens naturally to controlling it)

PHENOMENOLOGY

The description of an individual's immediate experience

• We cannot be sure that the process we are observing in ourselves is not altered in some way by our attention to it; uncertain degree of accuracy and objectivity compared to other methods

• Difficult to replicate our experiences and apply scientific criteria to our findings. Without replication, we cannot be sure if others have the same experience

• Cannot be used to understand the causes of behavior; only describes, but cannot explain behavior

• Useful source of information that may lead us to formulate hypotheses, but experimentation is still required to determine which antecedent conditions produce the behavior or experience

DISADVANTAGES OF PHENOMENOLOGY

CASE STUDIES

A descriptive record of a single individual’s experiences, or behavior, or both, kept by an outside observer.

1. Source of Inference, hypothesis and theories - Make inferences about the impact of life events, the origin of disorders, or developmental processes (inductive)

2. Source of developing therapy techniques - Anna O. (Bertha Pappenheim) and the Talking cure

3. Allows study of rare phenomena

4. Provide exceptions, or counter instances, to accepted ideas, theories, or practices

5. Have persuasive and motivational value

5 MAJOR PURPOSES OF CASE STUDY:

• Lack of certainty on the representativeness of the general population

• If we are not able to observe an individual directly all the time, we cannot be sure that we are aware of all the relevant aspects of that person’s life

• Subjects or others providing data for case studies might neglect to mention important information, either because they are irrelevant or because they find it embarrassing

• Focus is on retrospective data (retro=backward; data collected in the present that are based on recollections of past events)

DISADVANTAGES OF CASE STUDIES

FIELD STUDIES

• Nonexperimental approaches used in this study

• Often combined with various types of data gathering to capitalize on the richness and range of behavior found outside the laboratory

• Naturalistic Observational Studies

• Participant-Observer Studies

What are the types of field study?

NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION STUDIES

the technique of observing behaviors as they occur spontaneously in natural settings

• We are dealing with specific samples of time that may or may not contain the behaviors we want to observe

• Reactivity - tendency of subjects to alter their behavior or responses when they are aware of an observer’s presence

• Unobtrusive measures- behavioral indicators can be observed without the subject’s knowledge

DISADVANTAGES OF NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION

PARTICIPANT OBSERVER STUDIES

The researcher actually becomes part of the group being studied

ARCHIVAL STUDIES

A descriptive method in which already existing records are reexamined for a new purpose

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

Relies on words rather than numbers for the data being collected

• Many sources of potential bias

• High chance that interpretation of data might be influenced by the researcher’s own viewpoint

• The presence of a researcher could influence the way subjects respond

• Concerns about the accuracy of self-reports as well as the use of retrospective data (memory lapses)

• Hence, potential for mistakes and erroneous conclusions may be greater

DISADVANTAGES OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

SURVEY RESEARCH

Useful way of obtaining information about people’s opinions, attitudes, preferences, and behaviors simply by asking

Step 1: Map out your research objectives, making them as specific as possible

Step 2: Design the survey items, decide how you are going to address the imposition of units

STEPS IN CONDUCTING SURVEYS

CONTENT ANALYSIS

the process of quantifying open question answers

REACTIVITY

tendency of subjects to alter their behavior or responses when they are aware of an observer’s presence

UNOBTRUSIVE MEASURES

behavioral indicators can be observed without the subject’s knowledge

• Ambiguous Questions

• Difficult terms

• Double negatives

• Complex Sentences

• Double-barreled questions

• Exhaustive

What to avoid in constructing survey items?

CORRELATIONAL DESIGN

This can show relationships between sets of antecedent conditions and behavioral effects, but the conditions are pre-existing.

Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r)

It is the most commonly used procedure for calculating simple correlations.

• a negative relationship

• positive relationship

• no relationship

What are the 3 possible general outcomes on Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient ( r )?

CORRELATIONAL DESIGN

They are neither manipulated nor controlled by the researcher.

CORRELATIONAL DESIGN

Designed to determine the degree of relationship, between two traits, behavior, or events. When two things are correlated, changes in one are associated in another (change could be 2-way).

PEARSON R

It is used when interval or ratio scale data are collected

SCATTERPLOTS / SCATTER GRAPH / SCATTER GRAMS

A visual representations of the scores belonging to each subject in the study.

regression lines or lines of best fit and show the direction of the relationship.

Lines drawn in scatterplot are called?

POSITIVE CORRELATION (+)

direct relationship

NEGATIVE CORRELATION (-)

Inverse relationship

NO RELATIONSHIP

r is near the zero

QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

It can seem like a real experiment, but lack one or more of its essential elements, such as manipulation of antecedents or random assignment to treatment conditions

QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

Can be used to explore the effects of different treatments on pre-existing groups of subjects to investigate the same kinds of naturally occurring events, characteristics, and behaviors that we measure in correlational studies.

NATURAL EXPERIMENT

Quasi-experimental design can be called?

EX POST FACTO STUDIES

Means “after the fact”

CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES

Instead of tracking the same group over a long span of time, subjects who are already at different stages are compared at a single point in time

PRE-TEST & POST-TEST

Measuring people’s level of behavior before and after the event and compare the levels.