ch2 varieties of psychological research

basic research

conducted simply for the knowledge it produces, advances theory, ie. what factors most heavily contribute to attitude change?

applied research

conducted to solve an existing, real life problem, ie. how do different advertising techniques impact buying?

mundane realism

how closely a study mirrors real life experiences

experimental realism

how deeply involved participants become in an expt.

lab research

research occurring inside the controlled E of a lab, increase in experimental realism and decrease in mundane realism

field research

research done outside the lab, more closely matching situations encountered in daily life, increase in mundane realism and decrease in experimental realism

lab research ±

pros:

• control for extraneous factors and focus on variables of interest

• yields valid conclusions regarding how specific factors influence B

• maximizes control and produces causal conclusions

cons:

• artifical, ie. milgram’s obedience studies

• demand characteristics

demand characteristics

features of experiment that increase chance Ps will detect purpose of study

field research ±

pros:

• proximal to everyday life

• conditions in the field sometimes can’t be replicated in lab, ie. ethical concerns

• confirms lab findings

cons:

• forfeits control

• difficult to make systematic conclusions

descriptive research

aims to describe characteristics of a population or phenomenon being studied, focused on ‘what’ not ‘why’, observational research

experimental research

aims to systematically investigate why a relationship exists between 1+ variables, causal relationship between x and y

decriptive research ±

pros:

• descriptions are informative, ie. political attitudes

• provides starting point for future research

• sometimes is the only way if there are ethical or practical complications

cons:

• no control

• can only speculate on causes of B

case studies

making careful analyses of a particular person/group, can add to or invalidate theories but hard to be sure our results generalize

archival research

used to analyze previously collected data to answer an empirical question, useful when seeking evidence in a non-lab E but can be messy and susceptible to missing data

meta analysis

analysis of effect sizes across multiple studies all related to a similar topic, can be used to find if effect of x on y is consistent across studies and what the size of the effect is

file drawer effect

journals often only publish things that have positive effects, and rarely studies that have no effects

observational research

main goal is description, allows events to be captures in “wholeness”, explores generalizability, observe events that are too risky in a lab

naturalistic observation

kind of OR that studies B of people/animals in everyday E, Ps must be unaware of observer’s presence, ie. one way mirrors

participant observation

kind of OR where researchers join a group being observed or they make their presence known, allows researcher to get as close as possible

ways to reduce bias

• behavioral checklists: predefined lists of B provide structure

• multiple raters/inner rater reliability: % of time 1+ observers agree

• blind coders/observers: observe w/o being told why

observational research drawbacks

• absence of control: difficult to reobserve to make cause-effect assertions

• experimenter/observer bias: researcher may only see what they want to see (B confirmation)

• participant reactivity: change in B due to knowledge one is being observed

• ethics: intrusion of privacy and inability to obtain informed consent

surveys

aim to describe some specific property/characteristic of a large group of people, not interested in “causes” but rather the state of some factor of interest

experimental research

investigator manipulates 1+ variables (V) to observe the effect of these factors on some other V

independent variable

experimental factor being manipulated whose effect is being studied

dependent variable

the outcome factor, or V that may change in response to manipulation of the IV

situation IV

factors in the P’s E that are manipulated and their effects are studied, ie. chameleon effect (chartrand and baugh 1999) where Ps unconsciously mimicked mannerisms of others like shaking foot

task IV

when Ps are asked to perform a task that varies on a certain dimension, ie. impact of pornography on acceptance of violence towards women (malamuth and check 1981)

instructional IV

different groups of Ps are given different instructions to accomplish the same task, ie. taking notes by hand vs. computer

extraneous variables

any V that are not of interest to researcher but might influence B if not controlled properly

confound variable

uncontrolled EV that could provide an alt., misleading explanation of results

random assignment

assigning Ps to experimental/control conditions randomly, ensuring pre-existing differences are evenly distributed

quasi experiment

lacks random assg.

quantitative research

data collected and presented as #s, most psychological research, ie. average scores

qualitative research

characterized by narrative analysis of info collected, ie. case studies and OR