Comprehensive Guide to Research Methods, Ethical Standards, and Measurement Scales in Psychology

Basic research

Understanding behavior without real-world goal.

Applied research

Solving real-life problems using basic research.

Basic and applied research relationship

Basic research generates ideas; applied tests them.

Example of basic research

Studying rewards' effect on learning.

Example of applied research

Using rewards to improve classroom behavior.

Bad psychological question example

Cannot be tested scientifically.

Descriptive research question example

How many believe in a soul?

Causal research question example

Does belief in a soul affect grief coping?

Literature review

Summary of past research for new hypotheses.

Directional hypothesis

Predicts result direction (e.g., less sleep = worse memory).

Non-directional hypothesis

Predicts relationship without direction.

Zimbardo study ethical changes

Informed consent, IRB monitoring, debriefing.

Early ethical codes

Nuremberg Code (1947) and Belmont Report (1979).

Nuremberg Code emphasis

Voluntary consent and avoiding harm.

Belmont principles

Respect for persons, beneficence, justice.

Deception in research

Allowed if necessary and non-harmful.

Acceptable deception example

Faking study purpose to test conformity.

Unacceptable deception example

Participants think they're in real danger.

Deception control rules

Warn about possible deception; debrief afterward.

Best design for Red Bull study

Experimental design.

Red Bull study variables

IV = Red Bull/placebo; DV = tasks completed.

Experiment necessity

Only way to test cause and effect.

Design for school dropout study

Correlational or mixed-method design.

Operational definition of dropout

Leaving school before diploma.

Factors affecting school dropout

Income, support, grades, mental health.

Factors affecting validity

Confounding variables, experimenter bias, participant bias.

Controlling confounding variables

Use random assignment or matching.

Controlling experimenter bias

Use double-blind procedures.

Controlling participant bias

Use deception or filler tasks.

Nominal scale

Categories with no order.

Ordinal scale

Ordered categories with uneven spacing.

Interval scale

Equal spacing but no true zero.

Ratio scale

Equal spacing and true zero.