Introduction to Behavioural Research Methods (6th edition)
Mark R. Leary
, 1. RESEARCH IN THE BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES
Goals of Behavioural Research
Two primary types of research:
• Basic research: research conducted to understand psychological processes without regard for
whether the knowledge is immediately applicable. The primary goal is to increase knowledge;
• Applied research: research conducted to find solutions for certain problems rather than to
enhance general knowledge about psychological processes. Applied researchers use scientific
approaches to understand and solve some problem of immediate concern.
o Evaluation research: conducted to assess the effects of social or institutional
programs on behaviour (using behavioural research methods).
The primary difference between them lies in the researcher’s purpose in conducting the research and
not in the nature of the research itself. Because applied research often requires an understanding of
what people do and why, basic research provides the foundation for much applied research. On the
other hand, applied research often provides important ideas and new questions for basic researchers.
Whether behavioural researchers are conducting basic or applied research, they generally do so with
one of these three goals in mind:
• Describing behaviour;
• Predicting behaviour;
• Explaining behaviour (often seen as the most important goal of scientific research).
Behavioural Science and Common Sense
Research in behavioural science often deals with topics that are familiar to most people. Because they
have personal experience with many of the topics of behavioural science, people sometimes maintain
that the findings of behavioural science are mostly common sense.
The Value of Research to the Student
A background in research has at least four important benefits:
• It helps to understand research that is relevant to our own professions (knowledge and skills
that may be useful in professional life);
• It makes us a more intelligent and effective “research consumers” in everyday life (we often
make decisions based on scientific research findings);
• It trains our critical thinking which is useful in everyday life;
• It helps us to become an authority on research methodology and on particular topics (become
more familiar with these topics).
The Scientific Approach
Three criteria must be met for an investigation to be considered scientific:
• Systematic empiricism: relying on observation to draw conclusions about the world. These
observations should be structured in a systematic way so that they can be used to draw valid
conclusions about the nature of the world;
• Public verification: the findings of one researcher can be observed, replicated, and verified by
others for two reasons:
o It ensures that studied phenomena are real and observable for others.
o It makes science self-correcting (errors can be discovered and corrected by other
researchers).
• Solvable problems: scientists can investigate only those questions that are answerable given
current knowledge and research techniques.
, The Scientist’s Two Jobs: Detecting and Explaining Phenomena
Scientists are in the business of doing two distinct things:
• Discovering and documenting new phenomena, patterns and relationships;
• Develop and evaluate explanations of the phenomena they see: they develop theories to
explain the patterns they observe and then conduct research to test those theories.
Theory: a set of propositions that attempts to explain (how and why) the relationships among a set of
concepts. A good theory must meet several criteria, it should:
• Propose causal relationships;
• Be coherent (clear, straightforward, logical and consistent);
• Be parsimonious (using as few concepts as possible to explain the phenomenon);
• Generate testable hypotheses that are able to be disconfirmed through research;
• Stimulate other researchers to conduct research to test the theory;
• Solve an existing theoretical question.
Model: describes how concepts are related (no theory that explains why the effects occur).
Research Hypotheses
Hypothesis: an if–then statement in the general form “If a, then b”. Based on theory or facts, the
researcher hypothesizes that if certain conditions occur, then certain consequences should follow.
To provide a convincing test of a theory, researchers make specific research hypotheses a priori (before
collecting data). Hypotheses must be stated very precisely in such a way that leaves them open to the
possibility of being falsified (falsification) by the data we collect. Two ways to come to a hypothesis:
• Deduction: reasoning from a general proposition (theory) to specific implications of that
proposition (hypotheses);
• Induction: abstracting a hypothesis from a collection of facts. Having seen that certain
variables repeatedly relate to certain other variables, we can hypothesize that such patterns
will occur in the future.
o Empirical generalizations: hypotheses that are based on previously observed patterns
of results (research findings).
Methodological pluralism: using many different methods and designs to test theories.
Conceptual and Operational Definitions
For a hypothesis to be falsifiable, the terms used in the hypothesis must be clearly defined (to be able
to determine whether the hypothesis is supported). Researchers use two definitions:
• Conceptual definition: more or less the definition we might find in a dictionary;
• Operational definition: precise specification of how the concept is measured in a study.
An operational definition converts an abstract conceptual definition into concrete, situation-specific
terms. Operational definitions are essential so that researchers can replicate one another’s studies.
Proof and Disproof
Scientists virtually never speak of proving a theory, but they often talk of theories being confirmed or
supported by their research findings.
• Proving a theory is logically impossible because obtaining empirical support for a hypothesis
does not necessarily mean that the theory from which the hypothesis was derived is true.
• Disproof a theory is practical impossible because failing to find empirical support for a
hypothesis can be due to a number of factors other than the fact that the theory is incorrect.
Mark R. Leary
, 1. RESEARCH IN THE BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES
Goals of Behavioural Research
Two primary types of research:
• Basic research: research conducted to understand psychological processes without regard for
whether the knowledge is immediately applicable. The primary goal is to increase knowledge;
• Applied research: research conducted to find solutions for certain problems rather than to
enhance general knowledge about psychological processes. Applied researchers use scientific
approaches to understand and solve some problem of immediate concern.
o Evaluation research: conducted to assess the effects of social or institutional
programs on behaviour (using behavioural research methods).
The primary difference between them lies in the researcher’s purpose in conducting the research and
not in the nature of the research itself. Because applied research often requires an understanding of
what people do and why, basic research provides the foundation for much applied research. On the
other hand, applied research often provides important ideas and new questions for basic researchers.
Whether behavioural researchers are conducting basic or applied research, they generally do so with
one of these three goals in mind:
• Describing behaviour;
• Predicting behaviour;
• Explaining behaviour (often seen as the most important goal of scientific research).
Behavioural Science and Common Sense
Research in behavioural science often deals with topics that are familiar to most people. Because they
have personal experience with many of the topics of behavioural science, people sometimes maintain
that the findings of behavioural science are mostly common sense.
The Value of Research to the Student
A background in research has at least four important benefits:
• It helps to understand research that is relevant to our own professions (knowledge and skills
that may be useful in professional life);
• It makes us a more intelligent and effective “research consumers” in everyday life (we often
make decisions based on scientific research findings);
• It trains our critical thinking which is useful in everyday life;
• It helps us to become an authority on research methodology and on particular topics (become
more familiar with these topics).
The Scientific Approach
Three criteria must be met for an investigation to be considered scientific:
• Systematic empiricism: relying on observation to draw conclusions about the world. These
observations should be structured in a systematic way so that they can be used to draw valid
conclusions about the nature of the world;
• Public verification: the findings of one researcher can be observed, replicated, and verified by
others for two reasons:
o It ensures that studied phenomena are real and observable for others.
o It makes science self-correcting (errors can be discovered and corrected by other
researchers).
• Solvable problems: scientists can investigate only those questions that are answerable given
current knowledge and research techniques.
, The Scientist’s Two Jobs: Detecting and Explaining Phenomena
Scientists are in the business of doing two distinct things:
• Discovering and documenting new phenomena, patterns and relationships;
• Develop and evaluate explanations of the phenomena they see: they develop theories to
explain the patterns they observe and then conduct research to test those theories.
Theory: a set of propositions that attempts to explain (how and why) the relationships among a set of
concepts. A good theory must meet several criteria, it should:
• Propose causal relationships;
• Be coherent (clear, straightforward, logical and consistent);
• Be parsimonious (using as few concepts as possible to explain the phenomenon);
• Generate testable hypotheses that are able to be disconfirmed through research;
• Stimulate other researchers to conduct research to test the theory;
• Solve an existing theoretical question.
Model: describes how concepts are related (no theory that explains why the effects occur).
Research Hypotheses
Hypothesis: an if–then statement in the general form “If a, then b”. Based on theory or facts, the
researcher hypothesizes that if certain conditions occur, then certain consequences should follow.
To provide a convincing test of a theory, researchers make specific research hypotheses a priori (before
collecting data). Hypotheses must be stated very precisely in such a way that leaves them open to the
possibility of being falsified (falsification) by the data we collect. Two ways to come to a hypothesis:
• Deduction: reasoning from a general proposition (theory) to specific implications of that
proposition (hypotheses);
• Induction: abstracting a hypothesis from a collection of facts. Having seen that certain
variables repeatedly relate to certain other variables, we can hypothesize that such patterns
will occur in the future.
o Empirical generalizations: hypotheses that are based on previously observed patterns
of results (research findings).
Methodological pluralism: using many different methods and designs to test theories.
Conceptual and Operational Definitions
For a hypothesis to be falsifiable, the terms used in the hypothesis must be clearly defined (to be able
to determine whether the hypothesis is supported). Researchers use two definitions:
• Conceptual definition: more or less the definition we might find in a dictionary;
• Operational definition: precise specification of how the concept is measured in a study.
An operational definition converts an abstract conceptual definition into concrete, situation-specific
terms. Operational definitions are essential so that researchers can replicate one another’s studies.
Proof and Disproof
Scientists virtually never speak of proving a theory, but they often talk of theories being confirmed or
supported by their research findings.
• Proving a theory is logically impossible because obtaining empirical support for a hypothesis
does not necessarily mean that the theory from which the hypothesis was derived is true.
• Disproof a theory is practical impossible because failing to find empirical support for a
hypothesis can be due to a number of factors other than the fact that the theory is incorrect.
