 How is the convergent validity different from concurrent validity? (criterion vs no criterion)
 Is it possible to say that one form of validity is better than others or does it depend on the kind of research that you are doing?
 How is it possible to do observational studies completely absent of subjective or experimenter/observer bias? Is it possible to be completely objective? Rating scales could be objective?

 Are constructs with less operational definitions looked at as less reliable?
 Is the bell picture supposed to signify something on your power points?
 Does divergent variability need the same chart as convergent variability?
 If your test has face validity should you not use it or trust the results because the results could not be accurate?
 Is it easier to work with direct or indirect variables? Is there one better than the other?

 How accurate are results when measuring constructs such as the example you used like comparing active and aggressive children when they might overlap or be defined differently?
 Are there constructs that are not measurable in any operational definitions? If so how would you go about the research in obtaining a solution?
 Do we need to use these terms in our research
(e.g. constructs, operational definition) and define our variables as direct or indirect measurements?

Chapter 4
Dusana Rybarova
Psyc 290B
May 18 2006

1.
Introduction to ethics in research
2.
Ethical issues and human participants in research
3.
Ethical issues and nonhuman subjects in research
4.
Ethical issues and scientific integrity
5.
Step 4 of your research outline

 you must accept the responsibility to behave ethically toward those who will be affected by your research
 ethics is the study of proper action
 research ethics concerns the responsibility of researchers to be honest and respectful to all individuals who may be affected by their research studies or their reports of the studies’ results

 ethical issues must be considered at each step in the research process
– what measurement techniques may be used for certain individuals
– how researchers select individuals to participate in studies
– which research strategies and designs may be used with certain populations and behaviors
– how studies may be carried out with individuals
– how results are reported
 The basic categories of ethical responsibility
– responsibility to the human and nonhuman individuals who participate in the research study
– responsibility to the discipline of science
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 Historical highlights of treatment of human participants
– World War II – brutal experiments performed on prisoners in Nazi concentration camps
– 1947 Nuremberg trial with experimenters who conducted those experiments
– as a result of that trial – Nuremberg Code has been established
 10 guidelines for the ethical treatment of human participants in research
 Nuremberg Code laid the groundwork for the ethical standards that are in place today for both psychological and medical research

2. Ethical issues and human participants in research
 Historical highlights of treatment of human participants (cont.)
– additional examples of maltreatment of human participants
 in 1963 unsuspecting patients have been injected with live cancer cells
 in 1972 400 men had been left to suffer with syphilis long after a cure was available

2. Ethical issues and human participants in research
 Historical highlights of treatment of human participants (cont.)
– Milgram obedience study (Milgram, 1963)
 subjects instructed to use electric shock to punish other individuals when they made errors in a learning task
 participants were administering what appeared to be dangerously strong and painful shocks
 no real shocks were used in the study
 although the participants in this study sustained no physical harm, they suffered shame and embarrassment for having behaved inhumanely toward their fellow human beings

2. Ethical issues and human participants in research
 American psychological association (APA)
Guidelines
– www.apa.org/ethics/code.html
– APA Ethics Code contains ten ethical standards, and you should be completely familiar with all of them before beginning any research with human participants

2. Ethical issues and human participants in research
 American psychological association (APA)
Guidelines (major ethical issues)
– No harm
 the researcher is obligated to protect participants from physical or psychological harm
– Psychological harm – participants may feel increased anxiety, anger, lower self-esteem especially in situations where they feel that they have been cheated or insulted
 any risk of harm must be justified
 participants must be informed of any potential risks

2. Ethical issues and human participants in research
 American psychological association (APA)
Guidelines (major ethical issues)
– Informed consent
 human participants should be given complete information about the research and their role in it
 they should understand the information and then voluntarily decide whether or not to participate
– information – if not possible to provide the subject with information about the purpose of the study we can explain to him at least exactly what will be done
– understanding – some participants may not be competent to understand the research (e.g. children), therefore, it is necessary to provide the information to a parent or a guardian
– voluntary participation – participants decide to participate of their own free will (no obligation because of a teacher or a professor asked them to do so)

2. Ethical issues and human participants in research
 American psychological association (APA)
Guidelines (major ethical issues)
– deception – informed consent can not be obtain before the study
 to obtain unbiased results researchers must sometimes use deception because participants may adjust their own levels of performance in an attempt to satisfy the experimenter
 Passive deception (or omission) is the withholding or omitting of information (researcher intentionally does not tell participants some information about the study)
 Active deception (or commission) is the presenting of misinformation about the study to participants (misleading participants about the specific purpose of the study)

2. Ethical issues and human participants in research
 American psychological association (APA)
Guidelines (major ethical issues)
– guidelines for a study involving deception:
 the deception must be justified in terms of some benefit that outweighs the risk to the participants
 the researcher can not conceal from the participants any significant aspects of the study that is expected to cause physical pain or severe emotional stress
 the researcher must provide the participant with debriefing that explains the true nature of the experiment, including the use and purpose of deception after the study is completed

2. Ethical issues and human participants in research
 American psychological association (APA)
Guidelines (major ethical issues)
– Confidentiality
 is the practice of keeping strictly secret and private the information or measurements obtained from an individual during a research study
– Anonymity
 is the practice of ensuring that an individual’s name is not directly associated with the information or measurements obtained from that individuals (e.g. using codes)

The Institutional Review board (IRB)
– most human-participant research must be reviewed and approved by a group of individuals (scientists and nonscientists) not directly affiliated with the specific research study
– the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) requires review of all human-participant research conducted by government agencies and institutions receiving government funds
– IRB typically requires that researchers submit a written research proposal that addresses each of the seven criteria of IRB (minimization of risk to participants, reasonable risk in relation to benefits, equitable selection, informed consent, documentation of informed consent, data monitoring, privacy and confidentiality)
 Category I (exempt review) – anonymous survey on innocuous topic
 Category II (expedited review) – minimal risk to participants
 Category III (full review) – special populations, deception, intervention, invasive measurement

 the first ethical question is whether nonhuman subjects should be used at all in behavioral research
 APA guidelines for the use and treatment of nonhuman subjects in research
– www.apa.org/science/anguide.html
– animals must be treated humanely, qualified individuals must conduct research, the research must be justified and the researcher has a responsibility to minimize discomfort or harm
 institutions that conduct research with animals have an animal research review board called the Institutional
Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
– Committee consists of a veterinarian, at least one scientist experience in animal research and a one member of public with no affiliation with the institution

 two ethical issues relevant to the written reports of the research study
– fraud
 is an explicit effort of a researcher to deceive and misrepresent the data
 fraud needs to be distinguished from an error
– error is an honest mistake that occurs in the research process
 safeguards against fraud
– replication of studies by different scientists
– peer review when a researcher submits a research article for publication (editor of the journal and a few experts in the field critically review the paper in extreme detail)

4. Ethical issues and scientific integrity
 two ethical issues relevant to the written reports of the research study (cont.)
– plagiarism
 is the representation of someone else’s ideas or words as one’s own, it is unethical!!!
 reference citations must be included in your paper whenever someone else’s ideas or work has influenced your thinking and writing
 whenever you use direct quotations or even paraphrase someone else’s work, you need to give them credit
 include a complete list of references at the end of the paper
 if in doubt about whether a citation is necessary, cite the source anyway

Chapter 16
Dusana Rybarova
Psyc 290B
May 18 2006

1.
The goal of a research report
2.
General APA guidelines for writing style and format
3.
The elements of an APA-style research report
4.
Submitting a manuscript for publication
5.
Writing a research proposal

 basic purpose of a good research report is to provide three kinds of information about the research study:
– what was done (detailed description of your research project)
– what was found (objective description of the outcome)
– how your research study is related to other knowledge in the area

1. The goal of a research report
 a research report is a very structured document subdivided into separate, welldefined segments, and each segment has a specified content
 formal style and structure is determined by the guidelines presented in the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological
Association (5 th edition, 2001)

 the goal is to provide simple, straightforward description and explanation of your research study
– impersonal style (don’t say ‘I believe..’, ‘I think’)
– verb tense (past for the description of the research and results, present tense in discussion section)
– avoid biased language (age, gender, ethnicity)
– citations (e.g. Jones, 1998)

2. General APA guidelines for writing style and format
 guidelines for typing and word-processing
– double spaced
– no more than 27 lines of text per page
– at least 1’’ margin on all sides
– typeface – 12-point Times Roman or 12-point
Courier
– each page of the manuscript, except for the figures, is numbered and identified with a page header

 title page
– title page is the first page of a research report manuscript and contains the title of the paper, the author names and affiliations, and the running head
– a running head is an abbreviated title for a research report, containing a maximum of 50 characters, it appears on the title page of the manuscript and at the top of the pages in a published article
 abstract
– abstract is a brief summary of the research study, totaling no more than 120 words, the abstract focuses on what was done and what was found in the study

3. The elements of an APA-style research report
 Introduction
– is the first major section of text in a research report, it presents a logical development of the research question, including a review of the relevant background literature, a statement of the research question and hypothesis, and a brief description of the methods used to answer the question or test the hypothesis
 method
– the method section of a research report describes how the study was conducted, including the subjects or participants, the apparatus or materials, and the procedures used

3. The elements of an APA-style research report
 results
– results section of a research report presents a summary of the data and the statistical analysis
 discussion
– restates the hypothesis, summarizes the results, and then presents a discussion of the interpretations, implications, and possible applications of the results
 references
– the reference section is a listing of complete references for all sources of information cited in the report, organized alphabetically by the last name of the first author

3. The elements of an APA-style research report
 appendix
– an appendix may be included as a means of presenting detailed information about the research (e.g. the questionnaire that you developed and used in the research or list of items used in the research)
 author note
– details about the author (university, grant support, acknowledgment, contact person)
 tables and figures
– tables and figures supplement the text, they should not duplicate information in the text

 three steps to follow:
– select a journal that is appropriate for the topic of your research report
– consult the journal’s instructions to authors for specific submission requirements
– enclose a cover letter along with the manuscript to the journal editor

 a research proposal is a written report presenting the plan and underlying rationale of a future research study
 a proposal includes a review of the relevant background literature, an explanation of how the proposed study is related to other knowledge in the area, a description of how the planned research will be conducted, and a description of the possible results
 writing a research proposal is very much like writing a research report (you have to follow the general APA style guidelines discussed earlier)