Research

Types of Scientific Questions (for stronger claims)

  • describe (what happens, how often, for who?)

  • predict (what is likely?)

  • explain (what ___ accounts for ___?)

  • influence (can evidence improve outcomes/environments?)


Methods

  • naturalistic observation (researchers have little control + observer bias?)

  • correlation (measurement of relationship between variables; NOT causation)

    • explanation variety = A → B; B → A; C → A & B (where X may affect X)

  • case study (study of one person; not generalized for others)

  • experiment (manipulation of independent variable + random participants + control group; strongest causal test)

    • isolates a proposed cause (independent variable)

      • developmental limitations = can’t manipulate harm, can’t assign age, quasi-experiments

    • measured outcome (dependent variable)


Developmental Designs

  • cross-sectional (diff. age groups tested at once at the same time)

  • longitudinal (same people tested repeatedly across time)

  • sequential (2 or more age cohorts repeatedly across time)


Design Challenges

  • cohort effects (experiences make age groups differ not due to age)

  • practice effects (repetition improves performance not due to development)

  • attrition (those who stay in the study may be more advantaged than those who leave)

  • time & cost


Context → Findings Interpretation

  • ethnography - researcher immersion of culture + context (leads to better understanding of study)

  • cross-cultural research - comparison of cultures (are patterns universal or do they depend on type of culture?)

  • participatory action research - community members collaborate with researchers


Ethics

  • protection from harm

  • confidentiality

  • consent & assent

  • integrity


Sampling (where generalizability depends on)

  • population (full group) or sample (smaller group of population)

  • context & representativeness matters !!


Conclusions

  • evidence → descriptive (supports observed characteristics etc.) & correlational (supports association of variables & predictability)

  • experiment (supports causal inference when indep. + dep. + randomness are present)

converging methods producing compatible findings = GOOD!