Learning Objective:
Students will understand how research works within the
field of Psychology.
Vocabulary:
Copy these words down. Define each word in your own
terms with seven words or less and then create a symbol
next to the word to help you remember.






Research
informed
consent
Deception
Quantitative
Sampling
Variables

Reliability
Random
 Statistics
 Validity
 Placebo
 experimental
design
 representative

sampling
debriefing
 bias
 confidentiality
 replication
 Ethics


integrity
Why should we study research?

To develop appropriate and practical research skills
Evaluate research encountered in other components of the
course (and in life!)

Read the studies:

 Environmental Fragrancing
 Facilitated Communication
Ethics in Psychology
Get into 5 groups (within the group,
number yourselves 1-5– some groups will
have multiple 1s or 2s)
 Read page 1. Answer questions 11-15.
 Regroup, all 1’s together, etc.
 Each group will be responsible for a set of
principles. As a group, study the principles
and become “experts”
 Return to your home group and report out
to the group what you learned.

What are ethical considerations?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Responsibility to the profession of psychology
Acknowledgement of others’ work and publication
Honesty in reporting results
Competence of the investigator
Personal conduct of the investigator
Informed consent
Respect for participant integrity
Justification for using deception
Participant’s right of withdrawal
Confidentiality of findings
Debriefing
Use of non-human animals in research
What makes Psychology
Research “scientific”?

Precision
 Theory = Hypothesis = Define Terms
(clarify what you are researching)


Skepticism: Motto: Show me!!
Reliance on empirical evidence
 what does the data say

Risky predictions:
 Reliance on the Principal of Falsifiability
○ A theory “could be false”
○ A theory can be tested

Openness:
 Secrecy is a big NO NO! All research, including
methodology is available.
 All research is validated through reproduction.
Statement: Misery Loves Company
What’s the theory?
 Develop a hypothesis
 Define your terms
 How are you going to design a study?
 What evidence will you gather?
 What is the principal of falsifiability?
 Share your responses?

TYPES OF EXPERIMENTS
Quantitative Research Methods
Experimental Design

Your Internal Assessment requires that
you replicate a simple experiment and
write up your research.

In order to do so, you must know these
basic research elements:
Methods of Psychological Research
Method
Features
Naturalistic Observation
observations of human or
animal
behavior in
the
environment
where it
typically
occurs
Strengths
Weaknesses
Provide
descriptive data
about behavior
presumably
uncontaminated
by outside
influences
May be slow
and
inconvenient to
gather data.
Must be covert
when gathering
data
Observer bias
and participant
selfconsciousness
can distort
results
Methods of Psychological Research
Method
Features
Laboratory
Observation
observations of human or
animal
behavior in
the
controlled
environment
Strengths
Weaknesses
Have more
control of
environment and
access to
equipment
during
observations
“Lab”
environment
may make
subjects alter
behavior
Methods of Psychological Research
Method
Features
Strengths
Pitfalls
Surveys
Standard
sets of
questions
asked of a
large
number of
participants
Gather large
amounts of
descriptive
data
relatively
quickly and
inexpensively
Sampling
errors, poorly
phrased
questions, and
response
biases can
distort results
MTV, Cosmo
Methods of Psychological Research
Cont’d
Method
Experiments
Features
Manipulation
of an
independent
variable and
measurement
of its effects
on a
dependent
variable
Strengths
Can
establish a
cause-effect
relationship
between
independent
and
dependent
variables
Pitfalls
Confounding
variables
may prevent
valid
conclusions
Methods of Psychological Research
Cont’d
Method
Features
Strengths
QuasiMeasurement Can provide
experiments of dependent strong
variables
evidence
when random suggesting
assignment to cause-effect
groups is
relationships
impossible or
unethical
Pitfalls
Lack of
random
assignment
may weaken
conclusions
Methods of Psychological Research
Cont’d
Method
Features
Strengths
Pitfalls
All of the
above
Choosing
among
alternative
hypotheses;
sometimes
generating
theories
Can expand
our
understanding
of behavior
and mental
processes
Errors,
limitations
and biases in
research
evidence can
lead to
incorrect or
incomplete
explanations
Methods of Psychological Research
Method
Features
Case studies Intensive
examination
of the
behavior and
mental
processes
associated
with a
specific
person or
situation
Strengths
Pitfalls
Provide
detailed
descriptive
analyses of
new,
complex or
rare
phenomena
May not
provide
representative
picture of
phenomena
(cannot apply
to everyone)
Variables:
Independent, Dependent, Confounding Variables

Independent Variables:
 A variable that an experimenter manipulates- What you are
testing

Dependent Variables:
 A variable that measures the change in the independent
variable. What changes.

Confounding Variables:
 A variable that causes a “problem” because it is part of the
IV or DV or both. Something that changes your results
that you weren’t expecting.
Population/participants:
Participant Groups

Experimental Group
 Group that receives “experimental treatment”

Control Group
 Group that does not receive experimental treatment–
used to measure difference in EG.

Placebo Group
 Group receives “fake” treatment to see if results are
legitimate in EG.
Research Biases and Expectancy



Human values:
 political ideologies, religious doctrines or moral concerns
○ (ie. Human intelligence studies were influence by racial &
ethnic biases or women’s health research was shaped by
sexist biases)
Psychological prejudices:
 self-deception (want to believe research is true or accurate),
 “observer effect” (see what they want to see)
Psychological biases:
 anchoring bias (one estimates a new probability based on a
familiar one)
 availability bias (one overestimates a probability that receives a
great deal of attention; ie. plane crashes)
Hypothesis:
“Citrus scent increases productivity”
Experimental group:
Breathes scented air
Independent Variable:
Use of citrus scent
Use of computer
input activities
Control group:
Breathes plain air
Use of computer
input activities
Dependent Variable:
Productivity
Number of jobs
completed
Number of jobs
completed
Difference statistically significant?
Type of Experimental Design
Most common:

Independent Measures (Between Subject)
 The results of two or more groups are compared against each other.
Participants only participate in one group.

Demand Characteristics:
 A concern is that participants may figure out the “objective” and change their
behaviors to anticipate the results of the experiment.
 Another concern is that there are confounding variables that must be
considered when analyzing the data.

Authentication Techniques
 Single Blind: the research participants or subjects do not know the details of the
investigation and do not know whether they are being given the experimental
drug or the placebo.
 Double Blind: neither the doctor nor the patient knows whether the given
medication is the experimental drug or the placebo.
Next most common Experimental Design.

Repeated measures (within subject)
 A group of subjects are tested repeatedly in all
testing conditions.
 Removes confounding variables. However, the
subjects may “learn” the sequencing or objective
of the experiment and perform better on the test.
 Counterbalancing: flip-flop participants so that
they are in each group, but not in the same
order.
Other possible designs:

Matched Pairs Design: Subjects are
matched on a variable that is highly
correlated to the dependent variable.

Computer skills, athletic ability, etc.

Cannot use “quasi-characteristics”
 Gender, age, or other things that are
uncontrollable.
Sampling Procedures
How are you going to organize your participants?

Random Sampling:
 Random selection of people in experiment.
 Random assignment of participants to a group.
 Each participant must have an equal chance of selection.

Representative Sampling:
 Population is divided into subgroups and random samples are taken from each
subgroup.
○

Stratified Sampling:
 The population is divided into mutually exclusive subgroups and random samples
are taken from each subgroup.
○
○

Students at Franklin versus students at Edison
Socio-economic status
Sophomores vs. Juniors
Systematic Sampling:
 Also known as the Nth name selection. Once a sample population is selected,
the the “nth” participant is recorded.
 Used for very large populations.
 Of the people who come to the mall, I’m going to record every 19th person I see.
Evaluating Research:

Reliability:
 The accuracy of the scores of measure

Validity
 Results measure what is supposed to be
measured.
Note: Be careful!! A valid measure must be
reliable, but a reliable measure is not always
valid.
Replication:

Repeating research to authenticate the
research results.
 Determining if results are reliable.
**Your IA will be a replication of a simple
experiment. Your goal is to determine if your
results authenticate the results of the
researcher and determine the research is
reliable.
Results: Results of experiments or studies
are presented with simple statistics.
Measure of Central Tendency
 Mean: average.
 All numbers are added together and divided by total number of entries.
 2+3+7+6= 18/4 = 4.5

Median: the middle
 entries are put into order, half the results are above the median and half
are below the median
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
The median is 11.5

Mode: the most frequently occurring result.
 111122222334444444444444444555555
○ The mode is 4
 YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYNNNNN
○ The mode is Yes

Measure of Dispersion: Determines the
variance of data for accuracy and
reliability.
 Range: Determine the difference between
the minimum and maximum set of values in
the data set.
Statistic reporting techniques:

Graphs:
 Bar Graph
 Line Graph
 Pie Chart
Research Methods: PRACTICE

What research method would you use to
research the following questions?
Using your notes – you and a partner are to discover the research
method to answer these questions.
Note the independent and dependent variables, if applicable, as well.
1. Why do people stereotype particular ethnic groups?
2. Are men or women more social at work?
3. How do children learn to talk?
4. What causes schizophrenia?
5. Is intelligence related to socioeconomic class?
6. Why do people cooperate with authority figures?
7. Why are some people better at remembering their childhood than others?
Dr. Wadsworth’s Rock Music Experiment
1. A factor is being manipulated; an independent & dependent variable;
2. Duration & intensity of workouts (workout performance)
3. Listening to Rock music
4. Work out every day for 2 weeks, 45 minutes each workout. Being monitored
as to number of sets & reps they complete and heart rate was monitored.
5. Same as control condition, but add listening to rock music
6. Group A – they received the experimental condition (rock music)
7. Random assignment
8. It reduces preexisting differences between participants
9. Exercise room at fitness center
10. Replication of the experiment
11. Participants in both groups would be balanced or matched based on
characteristics related to the experiment such as strength, age or level of fitness
12. Between subject
13. No
14. It would be impossible – can only be used when a placebo is used
“Whiff of Things to Come”
1. Studies are being done to explore the use of scents to help people. Everything from
worker productivity to relaxation is explored along with the possible explanations.
2. This refers to a European practice in which essential oils are massaged into
the skin, absorbed in the bath or diffused through the air
3. Floral: relaxation
Spiced apple: reduction of stress
Apricot: relaxation
Citrus: alertness
Vanilla: lowered anxiety
Peppermint: alert & productive
4. We do not know “how” it works – are our reactions to particular scents
genetically programmed or learned through association
5. Experts here in the U.S. doubt that this system would work here because
people resent being manipulated and they may feel that way which can be
counterproductive.