Methodology in
Social Psychology
Logics of inquiry
How to carry out scientific research given our understanding of
the nature of knowledge.
Philosophy of Science clarifies why experimental, scientific
psychology adopts the practices that it does, but also that
there are other models which can be adopted.
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Experimental Social psychology informed by positivism
Critical social psychology informed by social constructionism
Social psychology is an empirical
endeavour that
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seeks to answer research questions
(framed in a variety of ways)
is empirical (collects data based on
observations of what people do/say)
is analytic (data gathered are analysed and
interpreted to answer these questions)
is directed (methods chosen as
appropriate)
Reality, Knowledge & Science
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Ontology
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Epistemology
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(the study of what actually exists)
(the study of what knowledge is, what we can know &
what the limits of knowledge are)
Methodology
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(the study of the ways in which the world can be studied).
ontological assumptions - affect epistemological
assumptions - affect methodological assumptions.
Example in social psychology
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Ontological question:
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Epistemological question:
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Is the social world external to, and separate from,
human action?
What kind of knowledge can we gain about the
universal laws of human social behaviour?
Methodological question:
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How should we study the effects of
stereotypical attitudes on our behaviour?
How is philosophy of science relevant to
psychology?
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Addressing the question of ‘is psychology a
science?’
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We need a flexible idea of what science
might entail.
Comte, Ayer and logical positivism
Positivism ‘unity of science project’
Vienna Circle 1920s - ‘logical positivism’
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emphasis on theories & logical deduction
of hypotheses
Statements had to be verifiable to be
meaningful.
 Commitment to empiricism, checking
ideas against the world.
 Assumption of realism
 Using these criteria - Psychology
borderline.
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Popper and disconfirmation
Karl Popper (1902-1994) first major attack on
logical positivism.
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verifiability encouraged confirmation of theories
rather than genuine discovery.
consistent evidence is merely corroboration.
a good theory make predictions that could in
principle be found to be false: falsifiability the
hallmark of good science.
Problems:
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theories and observations are neither
independent nor neutral
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science is a practical business - find best
answer rather than the application of logic
Kuhn and revolution
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Thomas Kuhn (1922-96) - scientific
progress not a purely rational process.
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peaceful interludes - normal science
where scientists share a paradigm punctuated by violent intellectual
revolutions.
Implications of Kuhn's ideas for how we
think about psychological research?
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Relationship between evidence & theory
framed by paradigm in which research is
carried out.
Paul Feyerabend (1924-94)
rejected realism for a form of relativism
=in principle all forms of theories are
worthwhile.
 argued for theoretical pluralism
 argued theories could not be compared concept of incommensurabilty
 theories give meaning to facts, not vice
versa
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A form of social constructionism emphasizing that the
‘world’ is not singular but plural.
Scientific inquiry constructs the objects it inquires into,
scientific objects are created by the very practice of
investigation itself.
Implications of Feyerabend’s ideas for how we think about
psychological research?
 demystifies logical positivism. If no single correct method for
doing science for all problems at all time in all places, then
every research project has to find its own method.
Evidence: Methods of enquiry
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Questions about the nature of research
How we justify using methods
How they are warranted
Research, not a technical exercise as an
aid to argument, but central to argument
itself
Research report starts with
problem/question, ends with
solution/answer via relevant evidence
 Research methods make evidence
plausible
 Report = nested series of arguments
 Overall argument = conclusion correct,
given evidence
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Research depends on worldview
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The academic discipline of social psychology is
first and foremost a way of looking at the world.
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All evidence gathered from theoretical position
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Theorising and research are not separate
activities
Social Psychology uses wide range
of different research methods, e.g.,
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Descriptive research
Specially constructed situations/experiments
Participant or naturalistic observation
Set-up conversations
Interviews
Tests
Questionnaires
Surveys
Text analysis (content – discourse)
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Settings: lab, field, survey face-to-face, phone, email…
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Quantitative - Qualitative
(organising principle)
Numbers/measurement –
description/interpretation, narrative
Continuum, 3 dimensions:
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Naturalistic/ Controlled
Unstructured/ Structured
Specific/ Generalizable
3 main Data collection techniques
(ESP)
Measures
Definition
Example
Observational
Recording actions
directly relevant to the
research question
Length of direct eye
gaze between people
when they are
interacting
Self-report
Subjects’ responses to
questions
Questionnaire
responses, responses in
interviews
Implicit
Recording actions that
imply an underlying
effect
Response times to
classifying items (e.g.,
not/belonging to category
‘attractive’)
Research strategies
Lab expt.
Field expt.
Surveys
Control
High
Medium
Low
Realism
Low
High
Irrelevant
Representativeness
Varies
Low
High
Validity
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Internal: confounding
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Construct: social desirability effects,
demand characteristics, experimenter
effects
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External: volunteer/non-volunteer effects
Social Psychology as science
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Assumes nature of social world no more
problematic than nature of natural world.
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In principle open to discovery by clear
measurement and logical design.
Reliability, precision, validity…
Social psychology from a
Constructionist standpoint
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No certainty
Not separate from what we research
Research not neutral
Experiment = social situation therefore
shapes behaviour
Participant Observation
 Negative virtues – avoid demand, volunteer &
experimenter effects
Open/in-depth interviewing
 Meaning within relationships as personally
and interpersonally constructed
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Reflexivity – examining research process itself
Discourse analysis:
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How people use discursive resources in
order to achieve interpersonal objectives in
social interaction.
specific instances of language in use,
naturally occurring talk
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Language is the main symbolic system through
which people construct their social realities
People deploy language purposefully and
strategically to achieve particular goals
Different levels of discursive practices
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Individual level – e.g., when people have
arguments
Level of social groups – e.g., when they
develop their own slang
Level of culture & society – e.g., a
particular worldview is so embedded into
the language that taken for granted
The map is not the territory
What we say about the world is an
abstraction from it, a conceptual
construction.
Other positions are possible.
Tension:
Capturing the complex nature of reality on
the one hand
while on the other
producing a theoretical account which allows
one to comprehend it.
Sylvie & Bruno Concluded
(Lewis Carroll 1939)
‘What a useful thing a pocket-map is’ I remarked.
‘That’s another thing we’ve learned from your nation’ said Mein Herr,
‘map-making. But we’ve carried it much further than you. What do
you consider the largest map that would be really useful?’
‘About 6 inches to the mile’.
‘Only six inches’ exclaimed Mein Herr, ‘we very soon got to 6 yards to
the mile. Then we tried 100 yards to the mile. And then came the
grandest idea of all! We actually made a map of the country, on the
scale of a mile to a mile!
‘Have you used it much?’ I enquired.
‘It has never been spread out, yet’ said Mein Herr, ‘the farmers
objected, they said it would cover the whole country and shut out
the sunlight! So we now use the country itself, as its own map, and I
assure you it does nearly as well’.
Reading
[Hogg & Vaughan Ch 1, pp.6-16.]
[also 3 page handout from Theory & Social Psychology, Sapsford et al.].

Manstead, A.S.R. & Semin, G.R. (2001) (3rd ed.). Methodology in social
psychology: Tools to test theories. In Hewstone & Stroebe. London:
Blackwell.
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Stainton Rogers, W. (2003) Social Psychology: Experimental & Critical
Approaches. OUP. Chapter 2. (Lecky 301.15p34 multiple copies).
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Tuffin, K. (2005) Understanding Critical Social Psychology. London:
Sage. Chapters 1, 2,3.
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Wilson, T.D. (2005) The message is the method: Celebrating & exporting
the experimental approach. Psychological Inquiry, 4, 185-193.