Research Strategies: How
Psychologists Ask and Answer
Questions
Module 2
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How Do Psychologists Ask
and Answer Questions?
 The Scientific Method
 Goals and Tools of Psychology
 Description
 Correlation
 Experimentation
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Why Do Psychology?
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
How can we differentiate between
uniformed opinions and examined
conclusions?

The science of psychology helps make
these examined conclusions, which leads
to our understanding of how people feel,
think, and act as they do!
What About Intuition & Common
Sense?
Taxi/ Getty Images
Many people believe that
intuition and common sense
are enough to bring forth
answers regarding human
nature.
Intuition and common
sense may aid queries, but
they are not free of error.
Personal interviewers may rely too
much on their “gut feelings” when
meeting with job applicants.
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Hindsight Bias and Overconfidence
Hindsight Bias is the “I-knew-it-all-along”
phenomenon.
After learning the outcome of an event, many
people believe they could have predicted that
very outcome.
Anything seems commonplace once explained.
Overconfidence: Sometimes we think we know
more than we actually know.
Both hindsight bias and overconfidence lead us to
overestimate our intuition.
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The Scientific Attitude
The scientific attitude is composed of
curiosity (passion for exploration),
skepticism (doubting and questioning) and
humility (ability to accept responsibility when
wrong).
Critical thinking does not accept arguments and
conclusions blindly. It examines assumptions,
evaluates evidence and assesses conclusions.
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The Scientific Approach
• Most people have greater difficulty thinking of
psychology and other behavioral sciences as
science. In part this is because many people
misunderstand what science is. Research
involving molecules and chromosomes seems
more scientific than research involving emotions,
memories, or social interactions, for example.
• Whether an area of study is scientific has little to
do with the topics it studies. Rather science is
defined in terms of the approaches used to study
the topic.
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Can we study EVERYTHING
scientifically?
• Is there life after death?
• Are there angels?
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Solvable Problems
•
Science only deals with solvable problems.
Researchers can investigate only those questions
that are answerable, given current knowledge and
research techniques.
•
In sum, to be considered scientific:
1. the questions addressed must be potentially
solvable
2. observations must be systematic and empirical
3. research must be conducted in a manner that is
publicly verifiable
•
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Pseudoscience involves evidence that masquerades
as science but that fails to meet one or more of the
three criteria used to define science.
How Do Psychologists Ask &
Answer Questions?
Psychologists, like all scientists, use the
scientific method to construct theories that
organize, summarize and simplify
observations.
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Theory
A theory is an explanation that integrates principles
and organizes and predicts behavior or events.
For example:
Social Learning Theory
People learn through observing others' behavior.
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Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a testable prediction, often prompted
by a theory, to enable us to accept, reject or revise the
theory.
For example:
One hypothesis from the Social Learning Theory:
People who watch violent films display more
aggressive behavior.
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Research
Research would require us to administer surveys or
experiments.
For example:
Conduct a research study to examine if there is
a relationship between frequency of watching
violent films and aggressive behaviors.
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The Scientific Method
 Operational Definition
 a statement of procedures (operations)
used to define research variables
 How you are going to measure aggression is
your operational definition for aggression.
 Operational definition for violent films.
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Example
• violent movies and aggression
• Hypothesis?
– There is a relationship between frequency of watching
violent films and aggressive behaviors
• Operational definition of variables?
– Exposure to violent movies: number of times a person
watches violent movies in a week in the last 3 months
– Aggression: Frequency of behavior that aims to harm
other people.
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Research Process
(1) Theory: Social learning theory
People learn through observing others'
behavior.
(3) Research and observations:
Is there a relation between
frequency of watching violent
films and aggressive behaviors
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(2) Hypothesis:
People who watch violent
films display more
aggressive behavior.
The Scientific Method
 Replication
 repeating the essence of a research study
to see whether the basic finding extends to
other participants and circumstances
 usually with different participants in
different situations
 Example
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Goals of Psychology
1. To describe behavior and mental
processes
2. To predict behavior and mental
processes
3. To explain and understand behavior
and mental processes
4. To influence/control behavior and
mental processes
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Goals and Tools of Psychology
Descriptive Methods
1.To describe human and animal
behavior and mental processes
• Case study
• Surveys
• Observations (naturalistic or lab)
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Descriptive Methods
Case Study
A technique in which one person is studied in
depth to reveal underlying behavioral principles.
Susan Kuklin/ Photo
Researchers
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Example: Is language uniquely human?
Descriptive Methods
Case Study
Researchers make case studies to examine rare
cases:
Example: school shooting
 Case studies can suggest hypotheses for
further studies.
 Problems: Cannot make generalizations.
Conclusions can be misleading.
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Descriptive Methods
Survey
A technique for ascertaining the self-reported
attitudes, opinions or behaviors of people
(usually done by questioning a representative,
random sample of people)
Examples:
 Media surveys
 Koç University student satisfaction survey
http://www.lynnefeatherstone.o
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Survey
Wording Effects
Wording can change the results of a survey.
Q: Should cigarette ads be allowed on television?
Q: Should cigarette ads be forbidden on television?
(allowed vs. forbid)
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Survey
Random Sampling
If each member of a population has an equal chance
of inclusion into a sample, it is called a random
sample (unbiased).
If the survey sample is not random, the results may
not be representative.
Examples:
 Media surveys
 Koç University student satisfaction survey
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Random Sampling
 Population
 all the cases in a group, from which
samples may be drawn for a study
 Random Sample
 a sample that (fairly) represents a
population because each member has an
equal chance of inclusion
 Randomly pick from the student list
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Descriptive Methods
Naturalistic Observation
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Descriptive Methods
Naturalistic Observation
 observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring
situations (or in more controlled environments) without
trying to manipulate and control the situation
Examples:
 Observing and recording the behavior of animals in the
wild
 Observing preschool children’s social behaviors
 Recording self-seating patterns in a multi-racial school
lunch room.
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Descriptive Methods
Summary
1. To describe human and animal behavior and
mental processes
• Case study
• Surveys
• Observations (naturalistic/lab)
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Goals of Psychology
2. To predict behaviors, thoughts, feelings,
change and so on…
Mainly by way of assessing the relationship
between two or more variables
- Correlational studies
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Definition of Variable
Variable
Any characteristic or attribute that varies
in amount and kind
Examples:
•Age
•Weight
•Height
•Self-esteem
•Reaction time in a learning experiment
•Stress level
•Achievement motivation
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Prediction
Correlation
When one trait or behavior accompanies another,
we say the two correlate.
Indicates strength
of relationship
(0.00 to 1.00)
Correlation
coefficient
Correlation Coefficient is a
statistical measure of the
relationship between two variables.
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r = + 0.37
Indicates direction
of relationship
(positive or negative)
Prediction
Correlation
• Positive correlation: one variable incerases, the
other one also increases, or vice versa.
Example: r = +.22 (age and intelligence)
• Negative correlation: one variable decreases, the
other one increases.
Example: r = -.85 (self-esteem and depression)
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Q: Which of the following correlation
coefficients reflects the strongest correlation?
•
•
•
•
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A) +.10
B) -.64
C) +.35
D) -.10
Correlations do not permit inferring causality
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Inferring Causality
If we know that two variables are highly
correlated, can we determine the causal
relationship between them?
Violence
viewing
Actualized
violence
OR
Violence
viewing
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Actualized
violence
Correlation does not mean causation!
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
A third variable could cause A and B:
Instability at
home
Violence
viewing
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Actualized
violence
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
Another Example
or
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CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY
CAUSATION
In order to determine causality we must
turn to experimental methods.
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Goals of Psychology
3. To explain and understand behavior
and mental processes
• Experimentation
 Like other sciences, experimentation is the
backbone of psychological research.
 Experiments isolate causes and their effects.
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Experimentation
 Experiment
 an investigator manipulates one or more
factors (independent variables) to observe
their effect on some behavior or mental
process (the dependent variable).
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Experimentation
 Independent Variable (IV)
 the experimental factor that is manipulated
 the variable whose effect is being studied
 Dependent Variable (DV)
 the experimental factor that may change in
response to manipulations of the
independent variable
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Experimentation
Wacth violent
films
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Aggressive
behavior
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Experimentation
 Experimental Condition
 the condition of an experiment that exposes
participants to the treatment (to one version
of the independent variable)
 Control Condition
 the condition of an experiment that does not
expose participants to the treatment
 serves as a comparison for evaluating the
effect of the treatment
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Example:
The Bobo Doll Experiment
Participants: 72 3- and 6-yearold children.
The total of 72 children were split
in to 2 groups.
One group was put into an
aggressive model scenario: the
adult attacked the Bobo doll by
hitting it.
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Another group was used as a
control group and not exposed to
any adult model at all.
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Example:
The Bobo Doll Experiment
Measure: The final stage of the
experiment took place in a room
in which the child was left alone
for 20 min. with a series of
aggressive and non-aggressive
toys to play with.
Results: Children exposed to the
aggressive model were more
likely to act in physically
aggressive ways than those who
were not exposed to the
aggressive model.
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Experimental
Condition
Control
Condition
Watch violent model/movie
Watch nothing
Measure
aggressive
behaviors
Figure 7.1
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Exploring Cause & Effect
Many factors influence our behavior. Experiments
(1) manipulate factors that interest us, while other
factors are kept under (2) control. Effects generated
by manipulated factors isolate cause and effect
relationships.
 by random assignment of participants the
experiment controls other relevant factors
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Experimental
Condition
Control Condition
Watch nothing
Watch violent movie
Measure
aggressive
behaviors
Figure 7.1
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Other variables here can be:
socioeconomic background (income)
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Experimentation
 Random Assignment
 assigning participants to experimental and
control conditions by chance
 minimizes pre-existing differences between
those assigned to the different groups
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Experimentation
 Single-Blind Procedure
 the research participants are uninformed
(blind) about what treatment, if any, they are
receiving.
 Do antidepressant drugs really work?
 Placebos can have significant antidepressant
effects
 To show superior efficacy to placebo
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Experimentation
 Placebo
 an inert substance or condition that may
be administered instead of a presumed
active agent, to see if it triggers the effects
believed to characterize the active agent.
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Experimentation
 Double-Blind Procedure
 both the research participants and the
research staff are ignorant (blind) about
whether the research participants have
received the treatment or a placebo
 commonly used in drug-evaluation studies
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Another Example
• Study: One of the factors for prejudice is lack of
knowledge about members of the other group
Hypothesis: Watching a documentary film
about the history of the outgroup will result
in change in prejudice (reduce prejudice)
• IV
• DV
• Manipulation (Experimental stimulus)
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