C2 PSYCH

STUDY NOTES ON RESEARCH PRINCIPLES AND METHODOLOGY

OPENING QUESTION ON RESEARCH

• Definition and understanding of the term "Research".
• Discussion prompts: What are some reasons for conducting research?

RESEARCH AND SCIENCE AS AN APPROACH

• Personal beliefs, values, and politics may not be based on research or scientific principles.
• Importance of evaluating methods when research or science is used to justify claims.
• Reference to the Declaration of Independence:
  • "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
• Research is one of many approaches to understanding truth.

GOAL SETTING AND RESEARCH

• The assertion: "Goal setting improves performance."
• Discussion prompt: Agreement or disagreement with the statement?
• Steps to design a study to test this idea:
  • Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. on the importance of goal setting in performance improvement.
  • Reference to documents: https://med.stanford.edu/content/dam/sm/s-spire/documents/PD.locke-and-latham-retrospective_Paper.pdf and https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2013-00428-001.

OVERVIEW OF DISCUSSION

1. Why Is Research Important?
2. Approaches to Research.
3. Analyzing Findings.
4. Ethics.

WHY IS RESEARCH IMPORTANT?

• Importance of evidence in claims:
  • People can hold incorrect views if they do not rely on evidence.
  • Research is essential to evaluate claims made in various contexts.
• Characteristics of scientific research:
  • Empirical: Based on observable data.
  • Objective: Independent of who is observing.
  • Tangible: Concrete evidence that can be measured.
  • Repeatable: Findings that can be observed consistently by different observers.
• Without conducting research, people depend on intuition and assumptions.

USE OF RESEARCH INFORMATION

• Critique of advertising claims based on "scientific evidence":
  • Critical questioning involves:
  • Expertise of the claim maker.
  • Potential gains from the claim.
  • Justification by evidence.
  • Peer perspectives on the claim.
• The phrase: "The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth" in relation to research claims.

REASONING IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

INDUCTIVE VS DEDUCTIVE REASONING

• Deductive reasoning:
  • Predicts results based on a general premise.
  • Example: Premise: All living things require energy to survive; Conclusion: Ducks require energy to survive because they are living things.
• Inductive reasoning:
  • Draws conclusions from specific observations.
  • Example: Observing many fruits on trees leads to the conclusion that all fruits grow on trees.
• Scientific Research Process:
  1. Formation of theories/hypotheses (deductive).
  2. Testing hypotheses through empirical observations (inductive).
  3. Formation of new theories and hypotheses based on conclusions from observations.

SCIENTIFIC METHOD

DEFINITION OF TERMS

• Theory: A well-developed set of ideas proposing explanations for observed phenomena.
• Hypothesis: A tentative and testable statement regarding the relationship between two or more variables:
  • Predictive nature: Formulated as "if-then" statements.
  • Must be falsifiable: Capable of being proven wrong.
• Law: A principle that universally applies across all situations within a certain domain.

PRINCIPLES OF A GOOD THEORY

• Characteristics:
  • Must be general: Able to summarize diverse outcomes.
  • Must be parsimonious: Simplest explanation of those outcomes.
  • Offers directions for future research.
  • Must be falsifiable: Theories can be proven wrong by research.

PROVING VS SUPPORTING

• Research findings can be supported but never definitively "proven".
• Theories need to be falsifiable (e.g., Freud's theories are considered unproven due to lack of falsifiability).

APPROACHES TO RESEARCH

TYPES OF RESEARCH METHODS USED BY PSYCHOLOGISTS

1. Clinical or Case Studies:

   • Focus on one individual, often in unique psychological situations.
   • Insightful but challenging to generalize results.

2. Naturalistic Observation:

   • Observes behavior in natural settings to obtain genuine behavior without scrutiny effects.
   • Observer bias due to expectations must be minimized with clear criteria.

3. Reliability and Validity:

   • Reliability: Consistency of results across tests.
     • Inter-rater reliability and Intra-rater reliability.
   • Validity: Accuracy in measuring intended variables.
     • A valid measure is always reliable, but not all reliable measures are valid.

4. Surveys:

   • Collect data via structured questions delivered in various formats.
     • Distinction between confidential (identities protected) and anonymous (no possible identification).

5. Archival Research:

   • Analyzes past records or datasets to answer research questions or identify patterns.

6. Longitudinal vs. Cross-Sectional Research:

   • Longitudinal: Studies same group over an extended time; participants may drop out (attrition).
   • Cross-Sectional: Compares different population segments at a single time.

BASIC STATISTICS

• Importance of understanding correlation and causation:
  • Correlation does not imply a causal relationship.
  • Identifying independent (manipulated) and dependent (measured) variables is essential.
• Correlation Coefficient: Ranges from -1 to +1, indicating relationship strength and direction.
  • Positive correlation: Variables increase or decrease together.
  • Negative correlation: One variable increases while the other decreases.
  • Example: Ice cream sales and crime rates, influenced by temperature (a confounding variable).

ERROR IN RESEARCH AND COMMON MISINTERPRETATIONS

• Illusory Correlations: Miscrediting relationships that do not exist, leading to confirmation bias and prejudiced attitudes.
• Example of sports statistics misconceptions based on short-term performance.

ESTABLISHING CAUSALITY

CONDUCTING EXPERIMENTS

• Key principles of experimental design to determine cause-and-effect relationships.
  • Experimental hypothesis generation based on observation and previous research.
  • Distinction between experimental group (receives manipulation) and control group (does not).

AVOIDING BIAS

• Experimenter bias: Researcher expectations affecting results.
• Participant bias: Participants’ expectations skewing outcomes.
  • Use of double-blind studies to control biases.
• Placebo effect: Effect produced merely by belief in the treatment rather than actual treatment.

VARIABLE MANIPULATION

• Independent Variable: Controlled/complemented by researchers.
• Dependent Variable: Measured to assess the effect of the independent variable.

SAMPLING METHODS

• Participants: Subjects within psychological research, typically sampled from a larger population.
  • Employ random sampling to ensure representative subsets.
• Importance of random assignment to prevent systematic bias.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN RESEARCH

HUMAN PARTICIPANTS

• Institutional Review Board (IRB) oversees ethical compliance in research proposals.
  • Informed consent: Participants informed about study expectations, risks, and their rights.

DECEPTION IN RESEARCH

• In non-harmful cases, deception may be necessary to maintain experimental integrity.
• Debriefing: Informing participants of the true nature of the research after it concludes.

RESEARCH INVOLVING ANIMAL SUBJECTS

• Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) governs animal research ethics ensuring minimal distress.
• Rodents and birds are common subjects due to similar biological processes with humans.

MULTIPLE REGRESSION IN STATISTICS

• Use of multiple regression to analyze and predict based on several independent variables:
  • Equation form: $Prediction = (a * x) + (b * y) + c$

CLOSING QUESTIONS

• Reflection on suitable research areas for contemporary psychology.
• Discussion on how understanding the research approach influences perspectives on outcomes presented in studies.