Methods of Social Psychology Hindsight Bias- tendency to be overconfident about whether they could have predicted a given outcome; tendency to over
Methods of Social Psychology
Hindsight Bias- tendency to be overconfident about whether they could have predicted a given outcome; tendency to overestimate common sense
How social psychologists test ideas
4. Statistical methods are used to test whether the data are consistent with theory
Theory- Set of propositions intended to describe some phenomena or aspects of the world
Supported by empirical evidence, usually over years developed with multiple scientists
Cognitive Dissonance: they want their action to align with how things are viewed in the world
Hypothesis:
A prediction about what will happen under circumstances
Positive association between watching violent tv and aggression levels or watching violent tv is positively related to people’s level of aggression
Theory: Individuals with high self esteem are more successful.
Hypothesis: Individuals who receive high scores on a self esteem survey get better grades in college
We move from general theory to specific hypothesis.
Basic Research – concerned with trying to understand some phenomenon in its own right
Applied research- is concerned with solving real world problems
· Intervention- connection between the two; basic research facilitates theories that lead to interventions
Research Methods
Observational Research
Observing social situation in a semi formal way
· Social psychologists usually prefer to augment their observation studies with additional research
Archival research:
Analyzing social behaviors documented in past behaviors
· Newspapers, police reports, hospital records
Can be used to test theories about social behavior
· Used FBi records-homicides more common in the soiuth then north
Surveys
Interviews or written questionnaires
Consider number and tupe of people being surveyed
· Results may be limited if sample is biased
· Relatively small sample may be representative of population if sample is unbiased
Ex: 1936 presidential election
Literary digest predicted landslide win of alf landon over Roosevelt
Population of interest: specific group of people you are interested in studying
Sample: a subset of your population of interest
Typoe of Sampling
Random: everyone in the poipualtion has an equal chance to be selected to participate
Convenience: Participants are selected from an easily available subgroup
Creates biases
Correlational Research
Research that does not involve random assignment to different situations, or conditions, and that psychologiusts confuct just to see whether there is a relationship between the variables
Measuring the linear relationship between variables
Limits of Correlational research
Third variable problem: x doesn’t cause y, yo doesn’t x, some other unmeasured variable causes both
Self selection- a problem that arises when the participant, not the researcher selects their level on a variable introducing a confound into the experiments
No inference of causation
Reverse causation, x may cause y or y may cause x
Spurious Correlations – correlation between two things that mya not necessarily be related
Experimental research
Only the experimental method which systematically controls and manipulated events, can determine causality
Overview of basic ideas: conditions are controlled or manipulated by the researchers
Behaviors are systematically measured
Research involves randomly assigning participants to different situations of conditions
We can draw conclusions
Variables in research
IV: variable that is hypothesized to be the cause of a particular outcome
DV: variable that is hypothesized to be affected by the manipulation of IV
Control condition: Comparable to the experimental condition in very way except that it lacks the one ingredient hypothesized to product the expected effect on the DV
Random assignment: assigning participants to different groups randomly, such that they are as likely to be assigned to one condition as they are to another
Controlled environments
Limitations: true experiments are not always possible
Some variables cant be randomly assigned
Some variables would be unethical to randomly assign
There are often practical limitations
Criteria of Sound Research
Validity
Internal validity: In experimental research, this is the confidence that only the manipulated variable could have produced the results
External validity: an experimental setup that closely resembles real life solutions so that results can safely be generalized to such situations
Reliability and Validity
Reliability the degree to which measurements are consistence over time
If you took the midterm twice, would you get similar scores?
Measurement validity: the degree to which you are measuring what you want to measure
Does the midterm measure your knowledge of psych 201 material?
If an IQ rest is reliable, you should receive roughly same score
If test is valid, should receive strongly in the same range of scores
Ethical Concerns
Before conducting research, scientists go before an IRB
Informed consent: participants willingness to participate in a procedure or research study after learning all relevant aspects about the procedure or study
Informed consent: participants willingness to participate in a procedure or research study after leaning all relevant aspects about procedure
Deception research: research in which the participants are misled about the purpose or the research or in the meaning of something that is done to them
Stanford experiment
Scientists need to debrief participants after study is done
1997 field experiments examining the culture of honor the role of institutions in perpetuating norms
Study 1: employers across US were sent letters from job applicants who had alleged killed someone in an honor related conflict
sotuher n and western companies more likely to respond in understanding way
Study 2: newspapers were sent facts for a story concerning a stabbing in response to a family insult
Soutern and western papers creates stories that were more sympathetic toward the perpetrator and presented his actions as more justified than northern papers did.
The old south and west region glorified, accepted certain types of violence.
Subcutlrues within US can be characterized as possessing some version of a culture of honor, contributing to high rate of violent in the country
These examples show that collective norms exist that cannot be derived simply by aggregating individual attitudes
Behaviors performed can carry cultural consequences when they affect institutional policies or public representation, even if the aciton may be done by a nindoiviidual
Public representation can feed back and indluenbce what is defined as culturally acceptable
Two mechanisms:
Social stigma or lac of stigma for violent acts
Media represnetaitons of violent as heinous and unacceptable or as jstified and understadable
Persisence of Culture of Honor in the South and West
Evidence of homicide records, attitude surveys, labaortiy experimetns, behaviorla data, laws
Homicide rates in small towns of South and triple to those of small towns in North
Southern white homicide rates higher
Southerners mroe likely to kill someone over arguements of someone they know
After being insulted:
Sotuherners become More angry, convinced that masculine reputation has been damaged, cognitively primed for aggression, physicolocally stressed or aroused, etc.
Looser gun laws, violence allowed in self defense, etc
Results: prediction: souhtern and western companies more accepting than northern of the homicide letter applicant, but the regions would not differ in their treatment of the theft applicant.
What is the main idea the authors seek to communicate?
2.
What is the rationale leading to researchers’ specific expectations in the article?
Factors compliance, tone, like job availability contributed to the variable the researchers tried to measure, which was response rates to applicants who committed homicide and applicants who committed theft, comparing souther/western responses to those of northern people.
3.
What are the main takeaways the authors explain in the discussion section?
For measures of tone nad compliance, control letters were treated equally about everywhere
Honor letters were responded to more positively in the South and West than in the North
In response to the applicant who had killed the man who provoked him, one southern store owner wrote back that she didn't have jobs, but was still sympathetic towards his situation.
No letter from a northern employer was anywhere near as sympathetic toward this man who killed in defense of his honor.
Differences in the articles could be due to differences in objective facts or in subjective interpretations.
Conclude: violent related to honor is less stigmatized by institutions of the south and west than those of the North
Ethical concerns: organizations in study 1 should have known if they were involved in the study to be convincing.
Interpretation fo the present two studies. The macho culture is a version of a more general culture of honor. All cultures are rightfully considered variations of a general culture of honor.
Concern of whether this study 2 can be generalized to real behavior. Is it possible different results would be obtained if reporters were not aware they are participating in a study.
Study 1, low response rate maybe bc the applicant in both cases having a criminal record.
Media may produce public representations that perpetuate the culture and keep it strong even after the culture has outlived its original purpose.