Module 2: Psychological Research
Wednesday, January 12, 2022 7:30 PM
Why It Matters: Psychological Research
The Scientific Method
- Scientific knowledge is empirical
- The Process of Scientific Research
○ Observe a natural phenomenon and define a question about it
○ Make a hypothesis, or potential solution to the question
○ Test the hypothesis
○ If the hypothesis is true, find more evidence or find counter-evidence
○ If the hypothesis is false, create a new hypothesis or try again
○ Draw conclusions and repeat the scientific method is never ending, and
no result is ever considered perfect
- The Basic Principles of the Scientific Method
○ Theory and hypothesis
○ Theory- well developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for
observed phenomenon that can be used to make predictions about future
observations
○ Hypothesis- testable prediction that is arrived at logically from a theory,
if-then statement
○ Verifiability- must be replicable by another researcher
○ Predictability- enable us to make predictions about future events
○ Falsifiability- whether a hypothesis can be disproved
○ Fairness- all data must be considered when evaluating a hypothesis
- Applying the scientific method
○ A good scientific hypothesis is falsifiable
- Why the Scientific Method is Important for Psychology
○ Allows psychological data to be replicated and confirmed in many
instances
○ Research involving human participants
§ Institutional review board (IRB)
§ Informed consent form
§ Deception
§ Debriefing
○ Research involving Animal Subjects
§ Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
Descriptive Research
, § Institutional review board (IRB)
§ Informed consent form
§ Deception
§ Debriefing
○ Research involving Animal Subjects
§ Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
Descriptive Research
- Studies that do not test specific relationships between variables (descriptive or
qualitative studies)
- Used to describe general or specific behaviors and attributes that are observed
and measured
- Correlation research- test whether a relationship exists between two or more
variables
- Experimental research- randomly assigns people to different conditions, uses
hypothesis testing
- Descriptive studies: case studies, naturalistic observation, and surveys
- Case studies
○ Focus on one or few individuals
- Naturalistic observation
○ Observing behavior in natural setting
○ Generalizable
○ Difficult to set up and control
○ Observer bias
○ Inter-rater-reliability- measure of reliability that assesses the consistency
of observations by different observers
- Surveys
○ Sample- subset of individuals selected from a population
○ Population- overall group of individuals
○ Able to collect data from a large group, but unable to be as in-depth as a
case study
- Archival research
○ Relies on looking at past records or data sets for interesting patterns or
relationships
- Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Research
○ Longitudinal research- data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an
extended period of time
○ Cross-sectional research- compares multiple segments of the population
at the same time
○ Attrition rates- reduction in the number of research participants due to
dropouts
- Correlational Research
○ Correlation- relationship between two or more variables
○ Correlation coefficient- number -1 to +1 indicates the strength and
direction of the relationship
○ Positive correlation- variables move in the same direction
Wednesday, January 12, 2022 7:30 PM
Why It Matters: Psychological Research
The Scientific Method
- Scientific knowledge is empirical
- The Process of Scientific Research
○ Observe a natural phenomenon and define a question about it
○ Make a hypothesis, or potential solution to the question
○ Test the hypothesis
○ If the hypothesis is true, find more evidence or find counter-evidence
○ If the hypothesis is false, create a new hypothesis or try again
○ Draw conclusions and repeat the scientific method is never ending, and
no result is ever considered perfect
- The Basic Principles of the Scientific Method
○ Theory and hypothesis
○ Theory- well developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for
observed phenomenon that can be used to make predictions about future
observations
○ Hypothesis- testable prediction that is arrived at logically from a theory,
if-then statement
○ Verifiability- must be replicable by another researcher
○ Predictability- enable us to make predictions about future events
○ Falsifiability- whether a hypothesis can be disproved
○ Fairness- all data must be considered when evaluating a hypothesis
- Applying the scientific method
○ A good scientific hypothesis is falsifiable
- Why the Scientific Method is Important for Psychology
○ Allows psychological data to be replicated and confirmed in many
instances
○ Research involving human participants
§ Institutional review board (IRB)
§ Informed consent form
§ Deception
§ Debriefing
○ Research involving Animal Subjects
§ Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
Descriptive Research
, § Institutional review board (IRB)
§ Informed consent form
§ Deception
§ Debriefing
○ Research involving Animal Subjects
§ Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
Descriptive Research
- Studies that do not test specific relationships between variables (descriptive or
qualitative studies)
- Used to describe general or specific behaviors and attributes that are observed
and measured
- Correlation research- test whether a relationship exists between two or more
variables
- Experimental research- randomly assigns people to different conditions, uses
hypothesis testing
- Descriptive studies: case studies, naturalistic observation, and surveys
- Case studies
○ Focus on one or few individuals
- Naturalistic observation
○ Observing behavior in natural setting
○ Generalizable
○ Difficult to set up and control
○ Observer bias
○ Inter-rater-reliability- measure of reliability that assesses the consistency
of observations by different observers
- Surveys
○ Sample- subset of individuals selected from a population
○ Population- overall group of individuals
○ Able to collect data from a large group, but unable to be as in-depth as a
case study
- Archival research
○ Relies on looking at past records or data sets for interesting patterns or
relationships
- Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Research
○ Longitudinal research- data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an
extended period of time
○ Cross-sectional research- compares multiple segments of the population
at the same time
○ Attrition rates- reduction in the number of research participants due to
dropouts
- Correlational Research
○ Correlation- relationship between two or more variables
○ Correlation coefficient- number -1 to +1 indicates the strength and
direction of the relationship
○ Positive correlation- variables move in the same direction
