September 27, 2012
Do Now: Answer the following
question on a separate sheet of paper:
Do you consider psychology to be a
real science? Explain your answer in 35 sentences.
**If you are not in your seat working
on your Do Now when the bell rings,
you will be marked late**
Do Now
Do you consider psychology to be a
real science?
Question
Research
Gathering of
information
Hypothesis
Procedure
Data
Observation
Conclusion
Was the hypothesis
correct or incorrect?
Placebo
• A “medicine” that has
no active ingredients
and works by the power
of suggestion.
Double Blind Study
• A study during which neither participants nor
experimenters know to which groups the
subjects belong.
Subjects
• People or animals on
which a study is
conducted.
Variables are factors that change in an
experiment.
Independent Variable
-The factor in a study that
is controlled or
manipulated by the
experimenter
Dependent Variable
-The factor in a study that
changes or varies because
of changes in the
independent variable
Plants’ height growth
Hours spent studying
Amount of water given
Weight gain
Types of soda drank
# of home runs hit
Different weather conditions
Students’ grades
Research Methods
Types of Research
1. Descriptive Research
– characterizes the who, what, when, where, and how
about a certain population or phenomenon
2. Correlational Research
– measures the relationship between two variables
3. Experimental Research
– examines the causal relationship between two or
more variables
Naturalistic Observation
• Behavior is observed in the
environment in which it occurs
naturally.
• Watching and recording the
behavior of organisms in their
natural environment
– Unobtrusive measure, no
intervention by researcher
• Example: Jane Goodall’s studies
of chimpanzees in the wild use of
tools
• Example: Watching a student’s
behavior in the classroom
Naturalistic Observation
Pros:
– Allows understanding of behavior in a natural
setting (avoids artificiality of laboratories)
Cons:
– Like other descriptive research, observation
describes behavior rather than explaining it.
– Can be difficult to be unobtrusive in some cases
– Ethical concerns
Case Study
• Behavior of one person or a few people is
studied in depth.
• Examples:
– Person with TBI
– A puppy living with goats
– A child growing up with a pack of
wolves
Case Study
Pros:
– Allow for detailed understanding of an
individual’s psychology
– Can suggest ideas for future research
Cons:
– Any given individual may be atypical,
nonrepresentative of the general population
Surveys
• A large number of participants are asked a standard
set of questions (i.e. beliefs, attitudes, preferences,
behaviors)
• Intended to draw conclusions about the opinions or
behaviors of a certain population by surveying a
sample from that population
• Examples
– Voting habits
– When people do their shopping
– Course evaluations
Surveys
Pros:
– Inexpensive
– Easy to do quickly
– If the sample is truly random, surveys can provide
a representative depiction of the population as a
whole.
• Cons:
– Sources of bias
• How questions are phrased
• Only those who have a strong opinion may it mail back
Correlational Research
• Uses statistical methods to examine the
relationships between two or more variables.
• Examples:
– Media violence and violent behavior
– Hours studied and test scores
• Non examples:
– Shoe size and length of fingernails
– Water drank and number of countries visited
Correlational Research
Positive correlation: An increase in one variable
predicts an increase in the other
(i.e. height and weight)
Negative correlation: An increase in one
variable predicts a decrease in the other
(i.e. self-esteem and depression)
Correlation of 0: No relationship between
the variables
Correlational Research
Pros:
–Cheap and easy to do
?
Cons:
–Does not explain why something has a
positive/negative relationship
–One does not always cause the other
Summary
• Is psychology a real science?
• What are some of the research methods that
psychologists use in their work?
• How does a psychologist use the Scientific
Method to understand human behavior?
• What is an example of something a research
psychologist might study and how might an
applied psychologist use those findings?