WHAT DO THESE CHARACTERS ALL
HAVE IN COMMON?
Research Methods
The process by which we produce
new knowledge or deepen our
understanding of a topic or issue.
Hindsight Bias
• The tendency to
believe, after
learning the
outcome, that you
knew it all along.
Monday Morning
Quarterbacking!!!
Overconfidence
• We tend to think we
know more than we do.
• 82% of U.S. drivers consider
themselves to be in the top 30% of
their group in terms of safety.
• 81% of new business owners felt
they had an excellent chance of
their businesses succeeding. When
asked about the success of their
peers, the answer was only 39%.
(Now that's overconfidence!!!)
Scientific Method (SM)
• Need empirical ev b/c
we’re susceptible to
biases
• Evidence must come
from observation, not
from thoughts/guesses
• SM: “checklist” search
for knowledge in an
objective & unbiased
manner
The first step is….
To form an operational
definition.
• Explain what they are
measuring.
• Be specific.
Once we understand what
we are measuring we
have to make sure it is
both reliable and valid.
Lets say you think that giving
chocolate to a girl makes them
feel more romantic.
• What do you mean by chocolate?
• What do you mean by romantic?
Breakdown of SM
• Define question
• Observe: gather info &
resources
• Form hypothesis
• Test hypothesis through
experiment & data collection
• Analyze data
• Interpret data & draw
conclusions  new hypothesis
• Publish results
• Retest (frequently done by other
scientists)
Improved Hypotheses…
• Drinking 8 oz. of [type] coffee a day at 7 a.m.
will make someone [who?] alert & ready for
the day ahead [?]. Being alert = being
attentive to surroundings [what?] & getting
your work done [how much/what kind?].
• Drinking 8 oz. of Dunkin’ Donuts caffeinated
coffee every day at 7 a.m. increases high
school students’ heart rates.
Reliability
What kinds of thing are reliable in
your life?
Accuracy or consistency
If you use the method the same
way in the same situation, do
you get the same results?
• Test-retest
• To make it replicable
Did more than one person record
the data (do they agree)?
• Inter-rater reliability
Why do you want your research
to be reliable?
Internal Validity (V)
• Validity = Accuracy
• Asks whether the research
does what it claims to do
(a.k.a. Face Validity)
• Are you testing what you mean
to test?
• Internal = related to the study
itself
• Validity problems:
– In your notebook, define
“problem-focused coping.”
Does this prove what you’ve
learned so far?
Lacks face validity (doesn’t
test what you learned)
Activity A
• Version 1: Pick someone on the other side of
the room to draw. Your work is for your eyes
only. (2 min)
• Version 2: Fold the paper and draw a new
version, now observed by the person you
chose… (2 min)
Demand Characteristics
• Subjects in an experiment act
differently knowing they’re in an
experiment, which changes test
validity
– Hawthorne effect: when
subjects know the study’s goal
& act accordingly; ARTIFICIALLY
POSITIVE RESULTS
– Driver’s license test
– Started the field of
organizational psych (how
employees work better)
– Screw-you effect: subjects
know the goal & don’t care
Ecological Validity
Does the study represent
real life?
Can we apply the results to
the rest of the
population?
• If ppl know it’s fake, will
act differently
•  Masters & Johnson
(studying sex in
labs…who signs up for
that?)
• Most research = on
college students; not
externally valid
We produce new knowledge or
deepen our understanding of a topic
or issue all the time….
• Examples……
• So in a way we already are research scientists.
• The only real difference is that scientists must
show that their research is bases on empirical
evidence.