Research methodology
Why do we need psychological sience?
Hindsight bias: we tend to believe after the outcome that we could have predicted it
Overconfidence: we think we kow more than we do
Finding Research participants:
define and refine target population
gather a group that accurately represents said population
-Random sampling
-Systematic sample
-stratified sample
-cluster sample
If participants are not representative of the larger population the results cannot be broadly applied
Types of descriptive research
Naturalistic observation:Attempt to see subjects’ natural and true behavior
no manipulation of the enviorment,
no interference from researcher
*hawthorne effect: people aact different when they know they are being observed
Disadvantages: can’t show cause/ effect. no control over enviormen. time consuming
Case Study:Obtaining detailed information about an individual/ group to develop general principles about behavior
useful in rare circumstances
generates new questions
Disadvantages: lots of time, effort, attention, results not easily applicapble to the larger population