Psychology: Key Research Methods, Biases, and Ethical Guidelines

Guidelines to protect animals (BPS)

housed in reasonable natural living conditions; companions for social animals

Guidelines to protect animals (APA)

"humane care and healthful conditions"; "minimize discomfort"

Informed consent

Participants must agree to take part after being fully informed

Protection from harm

Participants must be protected from greater-than-usual harms and discomfort

Confidentiality

Researchers must keep information about participants private

Debriefing

Researchers must fully debrief participants afterwards, including explaining any temporary deception

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

University committees that screen research proposals for ethical considerations

Hindsight bias

Tendency to believe after learning an outcome that we would have foreseen it ("I knew it all along")

Overconfidence

Tendency to overestimate our abilities

Confirmation bias

Tendency to see what we want to see

Order in randomness

Tendency to impose order on random events where there isn't any

Scientific Attitude: Curiosity

Asks "How do things work?" and tests predictions

Scientific Attitude: Skepticism

Asks "What do you mean and how do you know?"

Scientific Attitude: Humility

"The rat is always right"; prepares us to think harder and smarter with critical thinking

Scientific Method

Predictions are made from theories; tested, then theories are supported, revised, or rejected

Theory

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors/events

Hypothesis

Testable prediction produced by a theory

Operational Definition

Carefully worded statement of procedures used in a research study so others can replicate it

Operational Example

Defining "poor sleep" by number of interruptions per night

Qualitative research

In-depth, narrative data

Quantitative research

Numerical, quantifiable data

Cross-sectional study

Data collected at one time point with different samples of a population

Longitudinal study

Data collected over time with the same sample to track trends or change

Descriptive methods

Describe behaviors or phenomena (WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, HOW)

Correlational methods

Associates different factors/variables; asks if there is a relationship

Experimental methods

Manipulates variables to discover effects; asks if there is a causal relationship

Case Study

In-depth analysis of individuals or groups; suggests ideas for research but not generalizable

Naturalistic Observation

Records behavior in natural environments without manipulation; describes behavior, not explain

Sampling

Collecting a subset of individuals from the population to study

Population

All those in a group being studied

Random Sampling

Every person in the population has an equal chance of participating

Convenience Sampling

Sample taken from what is easiest to access

Sampling Bias

Generalizing from unrepresentative cases; avoided by random sampling

Correlation

Measure of extent to which two factors vary together; reveals relationships but does not prove causation

Correlation Coefficient

Statistical index of the relationship between two variables (ranges -1.00 to 1.00)

Scatterplot

Graph showing relationship between two variables; scatter indicates strength of relationship

Illusory Correlation

Seeing a relationship that doesn't exist due to confirmation bias/order in randomness

Regression toward the mean

Tendency for extreme scores/behaviors to fall back toward the average

Experiment

A research method where variables are manipulated and controlled to determine cause/effect

Independent Variable (IV)

The factor manipulated; the variable being studied

Dependent Variable (DV)

The outcome measured; changes depending on the IV

Confounding Variables

Other factors that might influence the study's results

Experimental Group

Group that receives the treatment

Control Group

Group that does not receive the treatment

Random Assignment

Minimizes pre-existing differences between groups

Placebo Effect

Experimental results caused by expectations alone

Validity

Whether the experiment measured what it was supposed to measure