Psychology Research Methods Flashcards

THE IMPORTANCE OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

  • Historical Context and Misconceptions: Throughout history, human belief systems have often lacked evidentiary support.
    • Trephination: Some ancestors practiced trephination, which involved making a hole in the skull. This was believed to allow evil spirits to leave the body and cure mental illness.
    • Flat Earth and Possession: At various points, humanity believed the earth was flat and that mental illness was a result of demonic possession.
  • The Role of Evidence: People can be significantly wrong about the world when claims are not supported by evidence. Research serves as a mandatory process for validating claims.
  • Empirical Research: Scientific research is empirical, meaning it is grounded in objective, tangible evidence that is observable repeatedly by different observers.
  • Intuition vs. Study: Without research, humans would rely solely on intuition and groundless assumptions. Through the systematic study and testing of research, ideas are proven or disproven.
  • Psychology as Science: Because psychology is a science, research is required to investigate phenomena and provide verification and support for findings.

CRITICAL THINKING AND RESEARCH IN ADVERTISING

  • Claims in Advertising: Many advertising campaigns claim to be based on "scientific evidence," which may actually be based on belief rather than empirical data.
  • Critical Thinking Checklist: To evaluate claims, one should ask:
    • What is the expertise of the person making the claim?
    • What might the person gain if the claim is valid?
    • Does the claim seem justified given the evidence provided?
    • What do other researchers think of the claim?

THE PROCESS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH: REASONING TYPES

  • Deductive Reasoning: Results are predicted based on a general premise.
    • Logical Flow: General Premise $\rightarrow$ Specific Conclusion.
    • Example: Premise: All living things require energy to survive. Specific observation: Ducks are living things. Conclusion: Ducks require energy to survive.
  • Inductive Reasoning: Conclusions are drawn from specific observations.
    • Logical Flow: Specific Observations $\rightarrow$ General Conclusion.
    • Example: You observe many fruits growing on trees and conclude that all fruit grows on trees.
  • The Scientific Cycle:
    1. Scientists form theories and hypotheses through deductive reasoning.
    2. Hypotheses are tested via empirical observations.
    3. Scientists form conclusions through inductive reasoning.
    4. These conclusions lead to new theories or broader generalizations.

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

  • Theory: A well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena.
  • Hypothesis: A tentative and testable statement (prediction) about the relationship between two or more variables.
    • It predicts how the world will behave if the theory is correct.
    • It is usually phrased as an "if-then" statement.
  • Falsifiability: A scientific hypothesis must be capable of being shown to be incorrect.
  • Example of Non-Falsifiability: Many of Sigmund Freud's theories (such as the division of the mind into id, ego, and superego) have fallen out of favor because they are not falsifiable. However, his broader idea regarding the unconscious nature of psychological processes still influences modern thinking.

APPROACHES TO RESEARCH

  • Clinical or Case Studies:
    • Focuses on one individual, typically in an extreme or unique psychological circumstance.
    • Strength: Allows for deep, detailed insight into a single case.
    • Weakness: Difficult to generalize results to the larger population.
    • Example: Genie, a girl found at age 13 who suffered severe abuse and social isolation. Psychologists studied her to understand the effects of isolation on development.
  • Naturalistic Observation:
    • Observing behavior in its natural setting.
    • Key Advantage: Eliminates the feeling of performance or anxiety in subjects, capturing genuine behavior.
    • Example: Seeing a police car behind you likely changes your driving behavior; naturalistic observation seeks to observe you when you don't know you are being watched.
    • Observer Bias: When observations are skewed to align with the observer's expectations. This is mitigated by establishing clear criteria for observation.
    • Famous Figure: Jane Goodall spent her career conducting naturalistic observations of chimpanzee behavior.
  • Surveys:
    • A list of questions delivered via paper, electronics, or verbally.
    • Used to gather large amounts of data from a sample (a subset of individuals) to represent a population.
  • Archival Research:
    • Uses past records or data sets to answer research questions or identify patterns/relationships.
  • Longitudinal vs. Cross-Sectional Research:
    • Cross-Sectional Research: Compares multiple segments of a population at a single time (e.g., comparing different age groups simultaneously).
    • Longitudinal Research: Studies the same group of individuals repeatedly over an extended period.
      • Attrition: The reduction in the number of research participants as some drop out over time. Researchers often recruit many participants initially to account for this.
      • Example: The CPS-3 study helps understand how smoking is associated with cancer over time.

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH

  • Definition: The relationship between two or more variables where one changes as the other does.
  • Correlation Coefficient (rr): A number from −1-1 to +1+1 indicating the strength and direction of the relationship.
    • The closer the data points are to a straight line on a scatterplot, the stronger the correlation.
  • Types of Correlation:
    • Positive Correlation: Variables change in the same direction (both increase or both decrease).
    • Negative Correlation: Variables change in different directions (one increases, the other decreases). Note: A negative correlation is not the same as "no correlation."
  • Correlation vs. Causation: Correlation does not indicate causation.
    • Confounding Variable: An unanticipated outside factor that affects both variables of interest, creates a false impression of cause-and-effect.
    • Example: Ice cream sales and crime rates are positively correlated. However, temperature is a confounding variable; as temperature increases, more people buy ice cream and more people are outside, leading to higher crime rates.
  • Illusory Correlations: Seeing a relationship between two things when none exists.
    • Confirmation Bias: The tendency to ignore evidence that disproves our beliefs while focusing on evidence that supports them.
    • Example: The belief that a full moon causes odd behavior is an illusory correlation; research proves no such relationship exists.

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

  • Purpose: The only way to establish a cause-and-effect relationship is through a scientific experiment.
  • Groups:
    • Experimental Group: Participants who experience the manipulated variable.
    • Control Group: Participants who do not experience the manipulated variable, serving as a basis for comparison and controlling for chance factors.
  • Operational Definition: A precise description of the actions and operations used to measure dependent variables and manipulate independent variables.
  • Variables:
    • Independent Variable (IV): The variable controlled or influenced by the experimenter (the "cause").
    • Dependent Variable (DV): The variable the researcher measures to see the effect of the IV (the "effect").

BIAS AND BLINDING IN EXPERIMENTS

  • Experimenter Bias: Researcher expectations skew results.
  • Participant Bias: Participant expectations skew results.
  • Single-Blind Study: The researcher knows the group assignments, but the participants do not (controls for participant expectations).
  • Double-Blind Study: Neither the researchers nor the participants know the group assignments (controls for both participant and experimenter expectations).
  • Placebo Effect: When people's expectations or beliefs influence their experience.
    • Control: In a double-blind drug study, the control group receives a placebo (e.g., a sugar pill) while the experimental group receives the actual medication.

SELECTION AND ASSIGNMENT OF PARTICIPANTS

  • Population: The overall group of interest (e.g., all college students).
  • Sample: A subset of the population used for the research.
  • Random Sample: Every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected. This ensures the sample is representative of the population (ethnicity, SES, gender, etc.).
  • Random Assignment: All participants have an equal chance of being assigned to either the experimental or control group.
    • Prevents systematic differences (like age or gender) between groups.
    • Critical Note: Without random assignment, an experiment cannot establish a true cause-and-effect relationship.
  • Quasi-Experimental Design: Used when the independent variable cannot be manipulated (e.g., sex or race). Because participants cannot be randomly assigned to these categories, cause-and-effect cannot be determined.

INTERPRETING AND REPORTING FINDINGS

  • Statistical Analysis: Determines how likely the difference between groups is due to chance.
    • Significance: Results are considered significant if the odds that they occurred by chance are 5%5\% or less.
  • Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles: Research is usually published in scientific journals after being read anonymously by experts in the field.
    • Purpose: Weeds out poor studies, suggests revisions, and ensures the research is clear enough for replication.
  • Replication: Repeating a study to determine the reliability of the original findings.
  • Retractions and Bad Science: Some research is retracted if found to be fraudulent or biased.
    • Example: The debunked link between vaccines and autism. The original lead researcher had a financial interest in the results, and large-scale subsequent research has proven no link exists.

RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY

  • Reliability: Consistency and reproducibility of a result.
    • Inter-rater Reliability: A measure of agreement among multiple observers on how they classify or record an event.
  • Validity: The accuracy of a result in measuring what it was designed to measure.
  • Relationship: A valid measure is always reliable, but a reliable measure is not always valid.

ETHICS IN RESEARCH

  • Institutional Review Board (IRB): A committee of administrators, scientists, and community members that reviews research proposals involving human participants.
  • Informed Consent: The process of informing participants about:
    • Potential risks involved.
    • Implications of the research.
    • The voluntary nature of participation.
    • Confidentiality of data.
  • Deception: Purposefully misleading participants to maintain experiment integrity.
    • Debriefing: Participants must be told the truth about the experiment upon its conclusion if deception was used.
  • Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932–1947): An unethical study where Black men were not told they had syphilis and were denied the cure (penicillin) after it was discovered in 19471947, leading to many deaths.
  • Animal Research:
    • IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee): Reviews proposals for research involving non-human animals.
    • Statistics: Approximately 90%90\% of psychological research using animals involves rodents or birds.
    • Rationale: Animals are used when human testing is unethical, but researchers must still minimize pain and distress.