Research methods for social psychology

Experimental methods

Manipulate an independent variable (IV) and observe the effect on a dependent variable

Types of experimental method

Laboratory experiment

Field experiment

Randomised control trial (new)

Non-experiemental methods

Correlation between variables (no manipulation of an IV)

Types of non-experimental methods

Archival

Case studies

Qualitative research

Surveys

Field studies

Evidence based interventions

Interventions based on social psychology theory aim to change thoughts, feelings or behaviours to improve societal outcomes

Health behaviours, wellbeing and environmental behaviours

Effectiveness of interventions should be evidenced based before they are implemented on a large scale

Experimental methods are best to evaluate interventions

• Compare effects to a control group

• Participant allocation to control vs intervention

To avoid negative consequences and wasting resources

Testing interventions using Randomised Contolled Trials (RCTs)

Used to evaluate interventions

Random assignment reduces allocation bias

Measure outcome at follow up

Differences in outcome can be attributed to the intervention

Reporting of RCTs

Report findings using standardised guidelines

• CONSORT (Consolida Standards of Reporting Trials)

Allows for replication

Allows for findings to be used in policy or practice

Allows for findings to be compared to other RCTs in reviews

Important things to consider in RCTs

User / patient / public acceptability

What if there are multiple studies on the same topic or research question?

Reviews collate and synthesise the methods and findings of multiple research studies on the same topic

Also peer reviewed

3 types of reviews

Narrative (or literature) reviews

Systematic reviews

Meta-analysis

Narritive (literature) reviews

Provide an overview of the current knowledge on a general topic

Introduction + seperate subheadings discussing seperate themes

No methods or results

Any studies are included or not based on researchers judgment

No new analysis

Similar to an essay

Systematic reviews

Well defined and precise reserach question

Includes an introduction, methods, reuslts and discussion section

Strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, and a clearly defined search for articles that could be reproduced

Assesses the quality of research studies

No new analysis

Meta analysis

Same as a systematic review but quantifies the magnitude of the effect across all studies → new analysis

Provides the strongest and most reliable evidence

Applying social psychology to COVID-19 issues

COVID 19 spread across the world in 2020

It has had a large impact on society and our social environment

Given rise to many issues relevant to social psychology

Some COVID-19 issues relevant to social psychologists

Risk and threat perception

Prejudice and discrimination

Promote alturism

Social norms

Stress, wellbeing and health behaviours

Applying social psychology methods to these COVID-19 challenges

COVID-19 impacted the methods that social pshychologists could use

Social distancing made face to face research extremely challenging

Choice of method depends on the nature of the hypothesis, resources available and ethics

Most evidence has been based on online surveys (and there are some qualitative focus groups / interviews)

How methods are relevant to your work

Helps you to engage and understand the studies you encounter on the course and as part of your reading

When presenting an argument with evidence, the reader needs to know what the evidence is based

Provides you with an opportunity to demonstrate critical evaluation skills

Informs conclusions drawn from research

Heirarchy of evidence