Running Head: RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY 1

MLO #2: Research Methods in Psychology

Kayleigh Yaxley

California State University, Monterey Bay

Research Methods in Psychology 2

MLO #2: Research methods in Psychology

The field of Psychology at California State University, Monterey Bay requires a student

to have knowledge of basic research skills that particularly pertain to human behavior. However

it is critical in this area that students actually learn how to apply the research skills they learn in

the classroom out into the field. In order to do so, undergraduate psychology majors are given an

outline on how to properly conduct research to receive healthy psychological results on matters

that will in some way positively contribute to society. When I declared my major as psychology

at my community college, Citrus College, I was given a set of classes I had to take and be

successful in to be able to transfer under this subject. When I saw that research methods was

required I was really nervous because I had no idea what to expect from a class that sounded so

strenuous.

The first class that helped me gain knowledge of research methods in psychology is my

lower division ​Introduction to Research Methods and Data Analysis​ class that I took while

attending Citrus Community College. I was able to get a taste of what the research aspect of

psychology was like which was useful to learn more about the different subject matters that I can

choose to focus on during my graduate studies. I had a wonderful professor that challenged me to

understand the fundamentals of creating a psychological experiment and how to appropriately

distribute it to a population sample. I was also introduced to the regulations of the American

Psychological Association, also known as APA, that are written to ensure the safety of any

person who chooses themselves to participate in the research. As psychologist’s, we want to

make certain that no negative effects will come out from the study. Taking this class without a
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doubt helped me learn the basics of research design. A focal point of this course was the

scientific method and how it can be applied to any type of experimental research. The essential

design used is to first observe a phenomenon in its natural environment. From this, a question

can be formulated and is turned into a hypothesis, which basically is a guess the psychologist

makes on what the possible conclusion will be from the research. Once the topic of the study is

officially determined, the experiment can be carried out. After this, the last step is to collect the

data and analyze the results to draw a conclusion. Although we learned these methods to a great

extent and how to use them, I believe I did not receive enough education on the interpretation of

data in research from this class.

Since I transferred to California State University, Monterey Bay, my skills for research

methods in psychology have immensely increased. My first semester I decided to enroll in the

class ​Advanced Psychological Statistics​. The class refreshed the basics of research methods and

aided in gaining a better understanding of how to analyze both quantitative and qualitative data.

Every two weeks we would partner up to conduct a small survey for the class and calculate the

results through the use of the new software SPSS, or the Statistical Package for the Social

Sciences. (Yockey) For example, a simple survey we conducted with a sample population from

the students in our class asked about the types of transportation used to get to and from class

every week. We left these as open ended questions and when we collected the results and ran

tests through SPSS, the majority of students within the sample walked to class, with the second

highest rating as students driving to class. Despite the fact that these outcomes may still be

calculated through regular hands-on statistics, the advancement and rise in technology has

advanced the field of psychology, with the intention to make it easier to get accurate data. I
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learned several strategies to assess different types of studies, such as using analyses like the ​t​-test

or regression models.

The class ​Research Methods and Data Analysis​ during my upper division credits at

California State University, Monterey Bay brought all the research skills together and taught me

the overall process of applying these research methods in a study of my own. Throughout the

semester of this course, I was placed into a group of other psychology major students at CSUMB

where we were assigned to come up with our own study. Instead of filling up with stress from

the freedom of conducting research on whatever I wanted, I went back to my basic education of

the scientific method. My group and I remembered the first step is to just observe and we came

up with the research question if regular consumption of cannabis has an impact on a student’s

academic performance. We even went further with the question asking that if there is a

relationship between those two variables, is that relationship a positive one or negative one. We

figured the best way to conduct this study is through the use of a survey with close-ended and

open-ended questions, distributed strictly to students who regularly consume cannabis. The

hypothesis was that regular marijuana usage did not influence academic performance. While

going through the data, we were able to reject the null hypothesis showing that there is in fact no

relationship between the two variables.

Through my education at both Citrus Community College and California State

University, Monterey Bay, I have been able to grasp research methods in psychology. I now

know how to properly manage psychological studies. These skills will definitely help me in the
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future when directing experiments and making sure all the requirements and regulations are

being met to get beneficial outcomes to apply to the bigger population.

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Works Cited

Yockey, R. D. (2017). ​Spss Demystified​. Place of publication not identified: ROUTLEDGE.