Research Methods and Introduction to Statistics
Course Logistics and Review of Research Methods
Learning Activities (LA) Document Clarification:
The document titled 'Assign Learning Activity Days' in the 'Important Documents' module indicates which learning activity it is (e.g., correspond to LA 1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
The first Learning Activity is scheduled for Wednesday as per the syllabus.
Only students with last names within a specified range are to attend in person for a given LA.
For those not in the assigned in-person group, participation involves watching a live stream via the normal link or watching the recording later (within 24 hours to complete associated tasks).
The purpose of LAs is to complete homework in class rather than outside.
Scientific Research Control: Finishing Part 1
Recap: Two Ways to Use Control in Scientific Research
Control Group: A group experiencing the same actions as the experimental group, where the difference between them defines the independent variable (e.g., small adult dog ownership vs. free ownership).
Random Assignment (Experimental Control): Randomly assigning participants to either receive the independent variable or not. This is a robust method to ensure groups are comparable.
Advantages of Experiments
Gold Standard: Claiming Causality: Experiments are the benchmark for establishing cause-and-effect relationships.
Disadvantages of Experiments
Decreased External Validity:
Definition: The degree to which research findings can be generalized to the outside world or real-life situations.
Reason: Laboratory settings are inherently artificial because they meticulously control all variables except one. This does not mimic the complexity of the real world where multiple factors interact.
Example: Stress Induction: A common operational definition of stress in a lab is making participants solve math problems (as many fear math). However, the stress induced by a math problem may not accurately predict responses to real-world stressors like death, job changes, or divorce, reducing the applicability of findings to actual life events.
Inability to Manipulate All Variables:
Some variables, by their nature, cannot be experimentally manipulated.
Example: Gender: It is ethically and practically impossible to manipulate someone's gender at birth and follow them through life to study its effects on various outcomes (e.g., math performance). This means experiments cannot be conducted for such variables.
Alternative Research Designs
Naturalistic Designs
Definition: Research that examines variables 'naturally in the wild' without any intervention from the experimenter. Researchers merely observe and record behavior as it occurs.
When to Use: Chosen when applicability to the outside world needs to be maximized, or when variables cannot be manipulated.
Example: Car Insurance and Driving Speed: Insurance companies charge more for certain demographics (e.g., young males, or drivers of specific car types/colors). To test their assumptions about car color and speed (without manipulating who buys what car):
Researchers could observe traffic on a highway (e.g., Highway ).
They would use a speed gun to measure the speed of all red vehicles and all white vehicles passing by.
Independent Variable: Car color (red vs. white).
Dependent Variable: Speed.
Advantages: Maximize applicability to the real world.
Disadvantages: The Hawthorne Effect:
Definition: The simple act of being observed changes a participant's behavior.
Examples: An individual might perform differently on an exam when nobody is watching versus when observed; drivers might adjust their speed if they notice police presence.
Mitigation (in Naturalistic Studies): The extent of the Hawthorne effect depends on the proximity and awareness of observation. Anonymous observation (e.g., hidden speed clocking on a roadside) minimizes the effect, allowing participants to act