RESEARCH

METHODS IN
SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY
THE BASICS

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD: FIRST STEPS

Theory: An integrated set of principles that explain and
predict observed events.

Hypothesis: A testable proposition that describes a

relationship that may exist between events.

STEP 3: SELECT A
RESEARCH METHOD

CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

VARIABLES

EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES

CONTROL

RANDOM ASSIGNMENT
Who gets to be in the control group?
Who gets to be in the experimental group?
Nobody knows!

MAIN METHODS
Observations
Experiments
Surveys

OBSERVATION

EXPERIMENTS

SURVEYS

Group 1
Research topic: the
amount of time couples
spend together and their
relationship satisfaction
Develop a hypothesis
Design a experimental
study to investigate
these two variables
What is your
independent variable?
What is your dependent
variable?

Group 2
Research topic: the
relationship between
alcohol consumption and
academic performance
Develop a hypothesis
Design a correlational study
Group 3
to investigate these two
Research topic: the
variables.
relationship between time
listening to rap music and
Which research method did aggression
you choose? Why?
Develop a hypothesis
Design a correlational study
to investigate these two
variables.

HOMEWORK
Think about the 3 main research methods (experiment,
observation, survey)
Write down what you think are the 2 biggest pros and 2
biggest cons of each method
Consider: cost $, time, space, bias, random assignment,
need for control, correlation vs. causality, etc.