The Scientific Method

&
Conducting Psychological Research
Basics
• Theory: A broad explanation concerning a phenomena of interest

• Hypothesis: Theory driven testable prediction

• Operational Definition: The translation of a H into specific, testable

procedures that can be measured
Descriptive Research
• Archival research: With the use of existing data such as records,
documents, online databases, newspaper articles (- - -)

• Naturalistic observation: The researcher observes passively (- - -)

• Survey research: A sample of people from a population is asked a

series of questions about their behavior, thoughts, attitudes (- - -)

• Case study: An in-depth intensive investigation of a single individual

or a small group (- - -)
Correlational Research
• Variables: Behaviors, events, other characteristics that can vary (the
bits of Hs)

• The correlational research two variables are examined to determine

whether they are corelated/associated

• The strength and direction of the relationship between the two

variables are represented by a mathematical statistic (correlation
coefficient), which can range from -1 to +1
Correlation
• A positive correlation indicates that as the value of V1 increases, the
value of the V2 also increases
• A negative correlation indicates that as the value of V1 increases, the
value of the V2 also decreases

• No relationship would be indicated by an r close to 0

• R provide a measure of the strength of a relationship between the
two Vs, not about cause and effect
Experimental Research
• The only way to establish causal relationships
• In a standard experiment, a researcher investigates the relationship
between two (and more) Vs by delibaretly changing V1 and observing
the effects on V2 (namely experimental manipulation)
• The effects of manipulation must be compared
• Experimental Group + Control Group
• To rule out the possibility that something other than the experimental
manipulation produced the results
• In order to isolate specific causal relationships
• Independent variable: The condition that is manipulated by the
researcher
• Dependent variable: The variable expected to change as a result of
the experimental manipulation of independent variable
• Random assignment: Participants are assigned to different
experimental groups or control group on the basis of chance only
• To ensure that there is equal chance that participant characteristics
will be distributed across the groups
• Significant findings: Statistically meaningful results showing that the
differences between conditions are large enough to confirm the H
• Replication: One finding doesn’t resolve the question forever. The
findings must be replicated in order to have greater confidence
• Also to pinpoint limitations
Critical Research Issues
Ethics
• To protect the rights of the participants
• There are strict set of ethical guidelines
• Physical or mental harm
• Privacy
• Voluntary participation
• Informed consent
• Ethics committee approval
• Debriefing
Nonhuman animal subjects
• Again a set of strict ethical guidelines apply
• Pain and suffering should avoided
• Any discomfort, illness, pain should be minimized
• Physical and psychological well-being of the subject animals should be
promoted
• Procedures that subject animals to distress are permitted only when
an alternative is unavailable and the research is justified by its
prospective value
Representative sample
• The sample should represent the general population
• Age
• Gender
• Ethnicity
• Race
• Education level
• Socioeconomic status
• Education level and more….
Experimental validity
• Experimenter’s expectations
• Participants’ expectations

• Disguising the true purpose of the experiment

• Placebo group
• Blind design
• Double-blind design