#2 (Psychology as a Science; Research Methods (Ch 2) Textbook + lecture)

(Lecture)

An Experiments Reliability and Validity

• Reliability - how consistent the measure

• Validity does the measure, measure what it’s supposed to (is it measuring correctly)

(Lecture)

Correlational study

• looks at two or more variables to see if they are connected or move together, without the researcher changing anything

• Correlation is not causation

(Lecture)

Operational

• how we measure something

(Lecture)

Dependent/Independent variable + Experiment

• Independent: the factor that a researcher deliberately manipulates or changes to test its effect on another factor (Whats changed)

• Dependent: the factor that a researcher measures and records in an experiment to see if it changes in response to the independent variable (Outcome/result of change)

• researcher directly manipulates independent variables to test their causal effect on a dependent variable

(Textbook)

Deductive reasoning

• ideas are tested in the real world

• If the hypothesis is correct, then the logical conclusions reached through deductive reasoning should also be correct.

(Textbook)

Inductive reasoning

• real-world observations lead to new ideas (empirical observations that construct generalizations)

(Textbook)

Falsifiable Hypothesis

• A scientific hypothesis should be capable of being shown to be incorrect.

(textbook)

correlational research relation to an experiment

• Correlational research can find a relationship between variables

• only way a researcher can claim that the relationship between the variables is cause and effect is to perform an experiment.

(Textbook)

Thalamus major sensory relay center

• Most incoming sensory information is sent through the thalamus before reaching higher regions of the cerebral cortex for processing.

(Textbook)

Clinical study

• any research project involving human volunteers answers specific health or medical questions

(textbook)

case study and it’s cons

• in-depth, detailed analysis of a single patient or a small group with a rare condition/unique symptom,

• less frequent as focus attention on small sample size deviates from trying to explain all behavior

(textbook)

Generalizing

• to apply the findings of a particular research project to larger segments of society.

(Textbook)

Naturalistic observation

• observing behavior in its natural setting

(Textbook)

Structured observational studies

• In these cases, people are observed while engaging in set, specific tasks.

(Textbook)

Observer Bias

Generally, people who act as observers are closely involved in the research project and may unconsciously skew their observations to fit their research goals or expectations.

(Textbook)

inter-rater reliability (Consistency)

• assesses the consistency of observations thru different observers

(Textbook)

Surveys

• surveys as a means of gathering data.

• lists of questions to be answered by research participants

• surveys better for larger groups and generalization than case study

(Textbook)

cons of surveys

• People don't always give accurate responses.

(textbook)

sample

• subset of individuals selected from a population,

(Textbook)

Measures of central tendency

• These measures provide an overall summary of what a typical response looks like. There are three measures of central tendency: mode, median, and mean.

• The mode is the most frequently occurring response, the median lies at the middle of a given data set, and the mean is the arithmetic average of all data points.

• Means tend to be most useful in conducting additional

• Means are very sensitive to the effects of outliers

(Textbook)

Archival research

• Archival research relies on looking at past records or data sets to look for interesting patterns or relationships.

(Textbook)

cons of archival research

• researcher employing archival research never directly interacts with research participants. Therefore, the investment of time and money to collect data is considerably less with archival research. Additionally, researchers have no control over what information was originally collected. Therefore, research questions have to be tailored so they can be answered within the structure of the existing data sets. There is also no guarantee of consistency between the records from one source to another, which might make comparing and contrasting different data sets problematic.

(Textbook)

Longitudinal research

• Sometimes we want to see how people change over time, as in studies of human development and lifespan. Longitudinal research is a research design in which data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time.

(Textbook)

Cons of Longitudinal research

• studies require an incredible time investment by the researcher and research participants. Given that some longitudinal studies take years, if not decades, to complete, the results will not be known for a considerable period of time. In addition to the time demands, these studies also require a substantial financial investment. Many researchers are unable to commit the resources necessary to see a longitudinal project through to the end.

(Textbook)

Cross sectional research

• compares multiple segments of the population at the same time.

(Textbook)

Cons of cross sectional research

• Instead of studying a group of people for 20 years to see how their dietary habits changed from decade to decade, the researcher would study a group of 20-year-old individuals and compare them to a group of 30-year-old individuals and a group of 40-year-old individuals. also limited by differences that exist between the different generations (or cohorts) that have nothing to do with age per se, but rather reflect the social and cultural experiences of different generations of individuals that make them different from one another.