IB Psychology

Ms. Matthews

CHAPTER 2: METHODS OF PSYCHOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
The scientific attitude reflects an eagerness to sceptically scrutinize competing ideas with an open-minded humility before nature. This attitude, coupled with scientific principles for sifting reality from illusion, prepares us to think critically. Two reliable phenomena hindsight bias and !udgmental o"erconfidence illustrate the limits of e"eryday intuition and our need for scientific in#uiry and critical thinking. Psychologists construct theories that organize obser"ations and imply testable hypotheses. In their research, they use case studies, sur"eys and naturalistic obser"ation to describe beha"iour$ correlation to assess the relationship between "ariables$ and e%perimentation to unco"er cause-effect relationships. &esearchers use statistics to describe their data, to assess relationships between "ariables, and to determine whether differences are significant.

CHAPTER GUIDE
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O#t)in th %i(( r n" & t$ n -#a)itati* an% -#antitati* r ! ar"h. 'ualitati"e research is guided by a research #uestion and researchers are interested in how people e%plain their e"eryday e%periences. (s a result, #ualitati"e research takes place in the natural setting. &esearch #uestions are open-ended and in"ite description and sometimes e%planation. )ariables are not defined in ad"ance as that would limit the knowledge gained from the participants. *ata is gathered and then interpreted to come up with research #uestions. The goal is not to label a cause-effect relationship$ there is a sub!ecti"e element to this research process as it in"ol"es interpretation and analysis of data to find meaning. 'uantitati"e research is focused on gathering data and can be done e%perimentally or non-e%perimentally. The goal in #uantitati"e research is the de"elop a hypothesis and test it, either in the lab or a more natural setting. It is deducti"e in nature as the results are referred back to the formulated hypothesis and compared for accuracy. The goal is to either determine cause-effect or, at the "ery least, describe a well-documented relationship with scientific certainty. +ometimes researchers combine different research methods in order to collect richer data a process called triangulation. ,hen using triangulation, researchers must carefully consider which methods are best suited to the topic that is being studied. D !"ri& th ) m nt! o( /p rim nta) r ! ar"h0 an% /p)ain ho$ /p rim nt! t !t "a#!a) h'poth ! !. The e%periment is a research method in which the in"estigator manipulates one or more "ariables to obser"e their effect on some beha"iour or mental process while controlling other

rele"ant factors. If a beha"iour changes when we "ary an e%perimental factor, then we know the factor is ha"ing a causal effect. Population +ample .perational definition Independent "ariable *ependent "ariable /%perimental group 0ontrol group Placebo Placebo effect &andom assignment /%perimenter bias 1awthorne effect *ouble blind research -

E/p)ain th !tr n1th! an% )imitation! o( "orr )ationa) r ! ar"h.

Di!"#!! th aim! o( % !"ripti* !t#%i !. *escripti"e studies simply describe a set of facts rather than looking for relationships between facts. *escripti"e studies cannot be used to predict future potential$ they simply describe a state as it e%ists at one point in time. Compar th a%*anta1 ! an% %i!a%*anta1 ! o( )a&orator' r ! ar"h an% (i )% !t#%i !. &esearch done in a laboratory has an ad"antage in that the setting is specifically designed for research to be carried out and "ariables can be controlled so as not to influence the manipulation of the independent "ariable 2eg. limits confounding "ariables3. This allows us to ha"e a high degree of confidence in drawing causal relationships between "ariables 2if all e%perimental safeguards are followed3. 4abs also allow for easy replication of an e%periment, which aids in the "alidity of our findings. 1owe"er, lab settings do not measure beha"iour as it actually occurs so there is a certain degree of artificiality to them. 5ield studies present beha"iour in its natural conte%t so they lack the artificial manipulation of labs and, as a result, may be more representati"e of reality. 1owe"er, field studies do not allow us to control for confounding "ariables or other conditions that may influence the results we see so we are not always confident in drawing causal relationships between "ariables. D !"ri& th p#rpo! ! o( ! )(2r port !trat 1i !0 o#t)inin1 &oth it! a%*anta1 ! an% )imitation!.

+elf-report strategies, or sur"eys, look at many cases in less depth and ask people to report their beha"iour and opinions. (sking #uestions is tricky because e"en subtle changes in the order or wording of #uestions can dramatically affect responses. In e"eryday e%perience, we are e%posed to a biased sample of people who mostly share out attitudes and habits. (s a result, we are "ulnerable to the false consensus effect, whereby we o"erestimate others6 agreement with us. The sur"ey ascertains the self-reported attitudes or beha"iours of a population, by #uestioning a representati"e, random sample. 1owe"er, the e%tent to which indi"iduals responses are honest and therefore accurate is #uestionable, thereby influencing the accuracy of the reported results. D !"ri& th p#rpo! o( o&! r*ationa) m tho%!0 o#t)inin1 &oth it! a%*anta1 ! an% )imitation!. .bser"ational research, also known as naturalistic obser"ation, consists of obser"ing and recording the beha"iour of organisms in their natural en"ironment. This allows the researcher to see genuine beha"iour, rather than beha"iour impacted by the "ery act of knowingly being obser"ed. It must be done co"ertly to ensure this genuine aspect. This research strategy describes beha"iour as it occurs$ howe"er, it does not e%plain beha"iour. Di!tin1#i!h & t$ n % !"ripti* an% in( r ntia) !tati!ti"!. *escripti"e statistics are used to describe or summarize data from studies to make them easier to understand. *escripti"e statistics can consist of measures of central tendency, measures of "ariability or simple correlational coefficients. Inferential statistics help us analyze data collected and make predictions about what is likely to happen in the future or what trends we are likely to see in the larger population. Inferential statistical tests can include those such as the 0hi +#uared Test, the Mann-,hitney 7 Test, or the T-Test. D !"ri& ho$ th "ommon m a!#r ! o( " ntra) t n% n"' an% *aria&i)it' h )p % !"ri& a ! t o( n#m& r! an% % mon!trat ho$ to "a)"#)at th ! *a)# !. Measures of central tendency: a3 Mean -

b3

Median -

c3 Mode -

Measures of variability: a3 +tandard de"iation -

b3 &ange-

c3 )ariance -

E/p)ain th "on" pt o( "orr )ation.

( correlation is simply a relationship between two "ariables or facts. 0orrelation cannot pro"e causation as there may be another factor 2or factors3 that the researcher is unaware of that is influencing the relationship that is being seen. D !"ri& ho$ a "orr )ation "o ((i"i nt r pr ! nt! th !tr n1th an% %ir "tion o( a r )ation!hip. ( correlation coefficient tells us the direction an strength of a relationship between two "ariables. The closer the number is to either positi"e or negati"e 8, the stronger the relationship between the two "ariables. 8------------------------------------------------------------9-------------------------------------------------------------------8

D !"ri& th *ario#! t'p ! o( "orr )ation ! n in a !"att rp)ot. ,hen sur"eys and naturalistic obser"ations re"eal that one trait or beha"iour accompanies another, we say the two correlate. ( correlation coefficient is a statistical measure of a relationship. ( positi"e correlation indicates a direct relationship, meaning two things increase together or decrease together. ( negati"e correlation indicates an in"erse relationship, meaning that as one thing increases the other decreases. &esearchers depict scores on graphs called scatterplots$ each point plots the "alue of two "ariables. The correlation coefficient helps us to see the world more clearly by re"ealing the e%tent to which two things relate. Positive correlation correlation Negative correlation Zero

D !"ri& ho$ p op) (orm i))#!or' "orr )ation!. Illusory correlation, the perception of a relationship where none e%ists, often occurs because our belief that a relationship e%ists leads us to notice and recall confirming instances of that belief. Because we are sensiti"e to unusual e"ents, we are especially likely to notice and remember the occurrence of two such e"ents in a se#uence$ for e%ample, a premonition of an unlikely phone call followed by that call. What %o ! it m an $h n $ !a' that 3r !#)t! ar !tati!ti"a))' !i1ni(i"ant at th 4 p r" nt ) * )5+ +ignificance le"els are e%pressed as a decimal in the form of P: 9.9; where P stands for the probability that chance factors are responsible for results. Psychologists ha"e concluded that for most purposes in psychology, the ;< le"el of significance is appropriate. ( result that is significant at this le"el can be said to be less than ;< likely to be due to chance factors.

D !"ri& $a'! in $hi"h &ia! "an nt r in to r ! ar"h. a3 Biased sample= when members of a sample differ in a systematic way from the larger population the researcher is interested in b3 .bser"er-e%pectancy effect= the researcher has e%pectations that influence the measurements they make or the data they collect 2e%perimenter bias3 c3 +ub!ect-e%pectancy effect= the sub!ect knows the design and tries to produce the e%pected result 2participant bias3 E/p)ain th importan" o( prop r !amp)in1 in r ! ar"h an% ho$ it r )at ! to th 1 n ra)i6a&i)it' o( r ! ar"h "on")#!ion!.

D !"ri& ho$ rror an% &ia! r )at to th r )ia&i)it' an% *a)i%it' o( m a!#r m nt pro" %#r !0 an% !#11 !t ho$ *a)i%it' "an & a!! !! %.

D !"ri& !om thi"a) i!!# ! in p!'"ho)o1i"a) r ! ar"h an% o#t)in th &a!i" APA 1#i% )in ! (or &oth h#man an% anima) r ! ar"h. Issues in research e%ist around consent of sub!ects to participate in research, deception, confidentiality, hidden obser"ations, the right to withdraw and debriefing of participants. ,hen dealing with people in research we ha"e to respect the following rights as outlined by the (P( 2(merican Psychological (ssociation3= 8. Informed consent the indi"idual has to be told, to the best ability of the researcher, the purpose of the study, including whether or not deception may be present in the study. >. *eception *eception can only be used when it is absolutely necessary$ the researcher must be con"inced it is the only way to achie"e the desired results. ?. 0onfidentiality participants are entitled to confidentiality, especially when we are dealing with case studies. @. ,ithdrawal at any time, participants must be free to withdraw from the study, if they desire, with no penalty. 0oercion cannot be used to keep participants in a study against their will. ;. *ebriefing once the study is completed, the researcher is to fully debrief participants on the results of the research, their beha"iour within the research and the nature of any deception used as well as why it was imperati"e to use it A. Protection of participants always, the researcher must refrain from causing undue harm 2physical, emotional3 to human participants.

Buidelines for animal research include the following= 8. ("oid or minimize stress and suffering for all li"ing animals

>. (lways consider the possibility of other options to animal research ?. Be as economical as possible in the numbers of animals tested. ,here research on animals cannot be a"oided, the following conditions are monitored= The conditions under which animals are kept cage sizes, food, lighting, temperature, care routine, etc. ha"e to be suitable for the species and its habits The researchers conducting the research all in"ol"ed ha"e to demonstrate they ha"e the necessary skills and e%perience to work with the particular species they wish to study The research pro!ects allowed applications must be submitted outlining pro!ect aims, and possible benefits, as well as the procedures in"ol"ed and number of animals and the degree of distress they might e%perience. The le"el of distress caused to the animals must be !ustified by the benefits of the research in order for appro"al to be gained

Di(( r ntiat & t$ n "ro!!2! "tiona) !t#%i !0 )on1it#%ina) !t#%i ! an% "ro!!2"#)t#ra) !t#%i !. Cro!!2! "tiona) !t#%i ! are those in which sub!ects of different ages are in"estigated at one particular point in time 2eg. (sch6s study of conformity3 (d"antages *isad"antages

Lon1it#%ina) !t#%i ! are those in which the same sub!ects are in"estigated o"er a long period of time at specific inter"als. (d"antages *isad"antages

Cro!!2"#)t#ra) !t#%i ! are those in which sub!ects from different cultures are gi"en the same test and their results are compared 2eg. Mead6s studies of gender role across tribes in Cew Buinea3 (d"antages *isad"antages

O#t)in th i!!# ! aro#n% thno" ntri!m in r ! ar"h:

Garlic Bread Spread

Servings: 1+ cup (4-5 loaves)

Ingredients 2 tablespoons minced or mashed garlic (approx. 1 garlic bulb) 1 2 cup butter! so"tened 1 2 cup olive oil 1 4 cup #armesan cheese 1 $ teaspoon crushed red pepper "la%es 1 2 teaspoon &talian herb seasoning 1 2 teaspoon blac% pepper ("reshl' ground recommended) 1 4 teaspoon dr' mustard Directions (ombine ingredients and mix )ell. Store in re"rigerator up to 1 )ee%. *a' be "ro+en "or "uture use. ,or garlic toast. Spread on sliced pieces o" bread! place on ba%ing sheet! and broil until lightl' bro)ned. ,or tin "oil bread. #reheat oven to -5. degrees. Slice a baguette (or other long loa") in hal"

length-)ise through the center o" the loa". Separate the t)o halves! spread each cut side generousl' )ith /arlic 0read Spread. 1e-stac% the t)o halves and cut into slices. #lace sliced loa" on large sheet o" "oil! "old over "oil along the center! and then "old in the ends.2 0a%e "or 2.-. minutes until center pieces o" loa" are )armed through and spread is completel' melted. 2*a' be "ro+en at this point "or heating at another time. 3o use! let rest on counter "or 1 hour to tha) completel' be"ore heating in oven. 4utritional 5ata ("or 1 tablespoon garlic bread spread): 1.1 calories! 11.1g "at! .4g carbs! 6g "iber! .7g protein8 9eight 9atchers #oints#lus: -