Getting to know you…
Specialization?
? Background?
? Research & Statistics experience?
? Research interest?
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HD FS 503
Research Methods in Human
Development & Family Studies
January 14, 2002
Susan Hegland & K.A.S. Wickrama
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HD FS 503 Outcomes
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HD FS 503L Outcomes:
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Apply chain of reasoning to plan, analyze, and critique research
methods
Identify basic principles of sampling
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Link variables, operational definitions, measures, metrics
Evaluate evidence supporting causal inferences
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Describe essential characteristics of qualitative, survey, and
experimental methods
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Describe requirements for longitudinal and single subject studies
Identify professional resolutions to ethical dilemmas in research
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enter, clean, describe, and summarize data using
descriptive statistics and graphical displays
select an appropriate statistic, test a given hypothesis,
report results appropriately
describe an association using correlation and regression
techniques
reduce data using reliability programs
produce output related to normality and
multicollinearity of data
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Additional 503L Outcomes
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Run appropriate statistical tests in SPSS for
Windows:
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Overview
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t-test
ANOVA
repeated measures ANOVA
MANOVA
Chi-square
Principles common to all research: 8 weeks
Specific research methods
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Report results appropriately
Discuss results appropriately
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Survey research
Qualitative research
Experimental research
Evaluation Studies
Longitudinal Studies & Action Research
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Mechanics
Course Questions?
Syllabus?
? Assignments?
? Tests?
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Texts
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– Krathwohl
– Hegland (Handbook): Copyworks
– Bring to class and lab each week
Web resources: find CFCS Class Web; Web CT
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– 10 terms from Krathwohl chapters
– Define and give example from HD FS research
– 1-2 essays: application/integration skills
– http://www.public.iastate.edu/~shegland/homepage.html
– Syllabus, Handbook, Adobe Acrobat lectures
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 3-5
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– Form a learning team (2 members) or I will assign you
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First Learning Team Assignment:
Choosing an empirical, quantitative article
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Necessary Background
From the best research journal you know--check
with a grad faculty member for ideas
About a topic that you’re excited about and
familiar with
A study that COULD be your dissertation
Using statistics and methods you’re comfortable
with
Make one copy for you and one for me
Learning Team Assignment 2: Design, run,
interpret analyses to write an article for the
Journal of Research in HD FS
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Good written communication skills
Good understanding of mathematics
Good understanding of statistics
Familiarity with research articles in human
development and family studies
Professional experiences in human development
and family studies
Basic logical analysis skills
Familiarity with the APA Publication Manual
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Knowledge of Research Methods
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Conceptual Knowledge
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Knowing “That”
Understanding
Networks of concepts
Links between old and new
information
– Links to concepts at same
level of abstractness
– Links to more and less
abstract concepts
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Building Knowledge
Procedural Knowledge
– Knowing “How”
– Skill
Concept 1
Procedure 1
– Action sequences: steps
– Symbols for representing
statistics
– Rules for completing tasks
Concept 2
Procedure 2
Concept 3
Procedure 3
– Problem solving sequences
of actions
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Building Knowledge
in Research Methods
Mean
= (sum of y)/n
Dispersion
calculate S.D.
Skewed
Distribution
calculate kurtosis
Example
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Remember what SD means (+/- 1, 2, 3 SD).
Draw the following distributions with
minimum score = 1 & maximum score =10
? M = 5, SD = 1.6
? M = 1, SD = 3
? M = 9, SD = 3
Any ceiling effects? floor effects?
What are the implications of each of these
distributions?
BEWARE OF
MURPHY’S LAW!
Aids to building knowledge
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Link concepts
? Link abstract concepts to familiar experiences
? Link concepts to each other
Automatize skills (procedures)
Reflect on outcomes of procedures
Look for patterns
Revise concepts based on observed patterns
Avoid the “plug and chug” error
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Computers Crash!
Printers Fail!
Networks Fail!
Disks get Viruses!
Therefore, start assignments early
Work with Friends!
E-mail me with problems!
See me at office hours!
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Introduction to
Social Science Research
Goals: To
? describe behavior
? explain behavior
? predict behavior
Why do empirical research?
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Exploration:
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Describing Behavior
Discovers new situations
Answers “what” and “how”
? Under what circumstances?
? Labeling important phenomenon
? Perceives aspects of situations missed by
others
? Identifies patterns
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Explaining Behavior
Validating or predicting
Follows good descriptions
? Identifying necessary and sufficient
conditions
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Predicting behavior
Testing our explanations
Identifies
– incorrect explanations
– oversights
– one-time occurrences
– limitations or restrictions
See Zimbardo et al/ (1981)
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Which is the independent variable?
Which is the dependent variable?
The purpose of this article is...
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Independent (predictor) variables
Girls are less aggressive than are boys
Math achievement is higher in boys than in girls
? Low income parents are more authoritarian than
middle income parents
? Children in day care are less securely attached
than home-reared children
? Couples who cohabit before marriage are more
likely to get divorced
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– possible cause
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Dependent (outcome) variables
– effect
The independent (predictor) variable
causes (??) the change in
the dependent (outcome) variable
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Two ends of the continuum
A continuum of research methods
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Description
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Description
Validation
Validation
– Experiments
– Validation of explanation
– Case studies
– Exploration for
explanation
– Typically close to natural
situation
– Verbal description
– Often a laboratory
situation
– Measurement and
statistics
– Structured, carefully
planned data collection
– Unstructured,
spontaneous data
collection
– Rarely any treatment
– Treatment administered
to participants
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Survey research: the swing point
Description
Survey
Validation
Case studies
Surveys
Experiments
Exploration
Either; both
Validation
Natural
Rarely lab
Special emphases of methods
Description Explanation
Laboratory
Verbal
Either; both
Statistics
Unstructured
collection
Planned or
unstructured
Planned &
structured
Qualitative
XXXXX
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Survey
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Single Subject
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Longitudinal
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Validation
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Experimental
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XXXXX
Model building
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XXXXX
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Starting social science research:
Ideas from
Research is related to Theory
Theory
Research Literature
? Observations
? Serendipity
? Personal Experience
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Deductive research:
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Inductive research
– start with the theory
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– Theory grows out of findings
– “Grounded theory”
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Theory
Functions of a Theory
Systematic explanation of
observed facts and laws
? Relating to a particular aspect of life
Describe
? Explain
? Predict
? Intervene
If theory explains, it can predict and intervene
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Characteristics of a theory
Offers an explanation of some phenomenon
Ties into the larger world
? Identifies critical and irrelevant factors
(variables)
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Research Questions and
Hypotheses
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Values can be nominal,
ordinal, interval, or ratio
Basic vocabulary:
Think of variables for each measurement level:
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Attribute or value
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– characteristic or quality that describes
something
– people or groups of people
– e.g., male, female; mother, father
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Nominal values
– Names, categories
– No “more than, less than” meaning
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Ordinal values
– More than, less than relationship
– No equal distance between values
Variable
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Interval
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Ratio
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Need more practice? See HD FS 503 Handbook
– equal intervals between data points
– logical grouping of attributes
– MUST vary!!
– True zero point
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Research questions
Find the variables and the attributes (values):
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The heart of description and explanation
is the relationships between
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? attributes (values)
Girls are less aggressive than are boys
Math achievement is higher in boys than in girls
Low income parents are more authoritarian than
middle income parents
Children in day care are less securely attached
than home-reared children
Couples who cohabit before marriage are more
likely to get divorced
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Hypotheses
Research questions
Specific expectations about empirical reality
that are derived from theory
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Alternates to formal hypotheses
– X causes?? (is associated with) Y
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More complex:
– X causes U, which causes Z
– Under condition W, X causes Y
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Hypotheses dictate methods!
Causal Modeling
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Methods do not dictate hypotheses!
? Tension exists between
quantitative and qualitative researchers
? Guiding principle:
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Traditional model in social science research
– searching for factors that explain the occcurrence of
other factors
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Probabilistic
– what is the probability that A causes B
– Idiographic:
» enumerates all causes
– Nomothetic:
» enumerates the most important causes:
» probabilistic
– Is it worth knowing?
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Criteria for causality
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Necessary and sufficient causes
Time order:
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Necessary:
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Sufficient:
– dependent cannot occur without independent
– cause must precede effect
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Susceptibility of influence
– Dependent variable almost always occurs when the
independent variable is present
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Goal in causal modeling:
to identify
necessary
and sufficient causes
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Design places boundaries
around the research question
Research Design
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Designation of important variables,
Derived from hypothesis or research
question
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Limits the population studied
Statistical Controls
– Gather data about relevant variables to control
for alternate explanations
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Sample study
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Unit of analysis
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Time frame
Individuals?
Families?
Groups?
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– Therapy groups
– Classrooms of children
– Clients of a home visitor
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Cross-sectional
Longitudinal
– Cohort
– Panel
– Retrospective
Critical issue BEFORE
– selection of participants
– entry of data
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Before Tuesday Lab
To study causes,
you need comparisons!
VARIABLES MUST VARY!
? At least 20% of participants must be in each
attribute group
? If you’re studying the impact of therapy, you need
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Lab is in 108 Mackay
? Do NOT buy SPSS until you talk with me
or Wick!
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– Grad pack only (~ $200),
– Do NOT buy the student pack (no syntax
mode)
– Make sure your system has sufficient memory
– one therapy and a control group
– two therapies (i.e., demonstration and comparison)
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Consider the ethical issues here!
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Review APA Style
Next Monday Class
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Authors’ names: First name or first initial?
? First line: Indented or straight?
? Article: Capitalized?
? Journal name: Underlined or Italics?
? Volume number: issue number?
? Pages: pp.?
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January 28 (Enjoy MLK holiday!)
E-mail me your learning team
Check syllabus for assignments:
– E-mail me your individual reviews of articles in Chapter 1
» Zimbardo, Andersen, & Kabut (1981)
» Hoffman-Reim (1986)
– 1.1 (use APA style for references) due Jan. 22 (hard copy)
– 1.2 (use APA style for references) due Jan. 28
– Responses to questions in chapters 1, 2, 3, 4
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Bring/e-mail any questions about course organization,
assessments, grading, etc.
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January 28: 1.2 due
Review assignment
Check APA manual for references!!
? Self-assess using criteria sheet in Handbook
? Attach criteria sheet from Handbook
? Turn in one assignment for the two of you,
after collaborating on the article
? Office Hours: Tuesday, 3 – 5 PM
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