Research Enterprise in Psychology

The Scientific Approach
1. Steps
  1. 1) Formulate a hypothesis
    1. 2) Choose a practical method to study
      1. 3) Collect data to make observations
        4) Analyze data and come up with conclusions
        5) Report and share findings of study
2. Advantages
  1. Clarity and precision which enhances communication
  2. Intolerance of error, objective data
Ethical Issues
1. Animal testing
  1. Should animals be subject to painful and unnecessary procedures? I believe they should be treated with the same respect as humans
2. All test subjects are to be treated fairly and equally
3. Psychologists have the responsibility to protect the rights, privacy, liberty, and self- determination of others
Two Methods of Psychology Research
1. Descriptive/Correlation Research- natural observations to discover links between variables
  1. Naturalistic Observation
    1. Observes behaviour without intervening with the test subjects
      1. Study animals and human
      2. Data can be difficult to quantify for statistical research
  2. Case Study
    1. In-depth investigation of a subject
      1. Well suited for studying psychological disorders
  3. Survey
    1. Quesitons/interviews to gather data about a person's behvaiour
      1. Well suited for gathering data on attitudes, values and beliefs
        Cost and time efficient
  4. Give researchers a way to explore questions that could not be examined by experiments
2. Experimental Research- Carefully controlled conditions to observe changes in a second variable
  1. Independent and Dependant Variables
    1. Independent
      1. Condition the experimenter varies to impact the other variable
    2. Dependant
      1. Thought to be affected by changing of the indedependent variable
  2. Experimental (receive special treatment) and control groups (do not receive anything)
  3. Extraneous variables- variables that seem to influence the dependant varibale in a study
  4. Draws conclusions about cause-&-effect relationships between variables
Statistics- use of mathematics to organize, and interpret data
1. Descriptive statistics- used to organize and summarize data
  1. Key areas: measures of central tendency, variability, and the coefficient of correlation
    1. Looking for Medians, means, and modes to compare data
      1. Correlations use + and - signs to compare data and show associations between two variables
2. Inferential Statistics- use laws of probability to interpret data and draw conclusions
  1. Statistical significance exists when the probability that the observed findings are due to chance is low
  2. Use a hypothesis to determine if research results are significant
3. Meta-Analysis- combining statistical results to from many studies, to see if results are valid
Research Flaws
1. Sampling Bias-exist if a sample is not representative of the population
  1. Generalizations about the population may be inaccurate
2. Placebo Effect- when participants expectations lead them to believe they have changed even though it was a fake treatment
  1. Expectations can be powerful on the human brain
3. Distortions in Self-Report Data- is the tendency to give socially approved answers about personal selves
  1. Work too hard to create an untruthful favourable impression
4. Experimenter Bias- when a researcher's expectations of a study influence the results
  1. Sometimes people see what they want to see and can influence the behaviour of test subjects

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	Creado por Kristen Thorpe hace casi 8 años