Lecture 3: Literature Searches and Research Designs

literature searches

one of the most important aspects of research; online and library

peer reviewed psychology journals

the gold standard; editor —> reviewers —> editor —> authors

journal costs

typically charge subscription fee; overhead costs for hard copy material processing

electronic publications

low to no cost, yet pricing is expensive

open access

authors must pay publication costs as a condition of acceptance

open access option

authors may choose to utilize this buy don’t have to pay an article processing charge to have their article published

solicitations from open access journals emphasize

fast turn around that saves researchers money and a distinguished editorial board

solicitations from open access journals don’t emphasize

public’s access to science and increased quality standards of research

open access journals with APCs

create a pay to publish system; ulterior motive to enable researchers to pad their CVs

quality of open access articles from students

lack scientific rigor, have weak approaches to data analyses, and authors infer well beyond data

APA style empirical article format

introduction, methods, results, discussion

introduction

relevant literature, hypotheses

methods

participants, procedures, materials, data analysis overview

results

statistical analysis

discussion

findings (results) in relation to hypotheses and relevant investigations, imitations, recommendations

research design

logical plan/approach for conducting a study; blueprint for conducting a study

how you design an investigation depends on

nature of inquiry/interest, access to materials and samples, and resources

3 approaches to research design

descriptive, analytic (correlational design), and experimental

descriptive research design

investigations that describe things (acausal)

descriptive research design characteristics

reports averages, frequencies of scores; no comparisons, no tests'/analyses; basic aim of qualitative studies; very few are publsihed

analytic (correlational) research design

investigations that explain things (implied causality); analyses data (tests of association and/or difference)

statistical significance

associations/differences aren’t due to change; we assume/attribute findings are a product of variables

experimental research design

investigations that explain things (implied causality); analytic design (highest level of constraint); permits greater confidence in assuming findings are a product of variables

what does an analytic design do?

randomization of participants, manipulation of variables, and control group

quasi-experimental design

same as experimental, except no randomization of participants

3 major designs of experimental designs

cross-sectional, longitudinal, meta-analytic

cross-sectional

examining data from one time point

longitudinal

examining data from 2 or more time points

meta-analytic

examining data across a number of studies

methodology

systematic procedures necessary for inquiry (specific tools a researcher uses to collect data)