The Approaches and

Methods of Psychology
Part 2
Unit 1: Chapters 1 and 2
Can Human Behaviors be Explained through Scientific Study?
What Makes scientific research ethical or unethical?

Naturalistic Observation Method

The researcher observes the

subject in a natural setting

without interfering

Case-Study Method
Research method that involves an

intensive investigation of one or more

participants

Cross-sectional Studies
Research method in which data is collected

from groups of participants of different ages

and compared
This way, conclusions can be drawn regarding
differences due to age

Experiments in
Psychology
A test under controlled

conditions that is made to

examine the validity of a
hypothesis
A hypothesis: is an educated
guess about the relationship
between two variables, such as
study time and test scores

Descriptive Statistics
A collection of data used to organize and

summarize information. Charts, Tables,

Diagrams, etc.

Correlation
How much two variables are related to each

other.

**Correlation is
NOT Causation!!!

Confounding Variables
A 3rd Variable that

may be actually
causing a change in
the variable being
studied
Two variables that

are linked together

that make it difficult
to sort out their
effects.

Placebo Effect
A change in a participants behavior or

illness resulting from a belief that the

treatment will have an effect, rather than
the actual treatment given

Inferential Statistics
Numerical methods used to

determine whether research

data support a hypothesis or
whether the results were due to
chance

Correlation Coefficient
A number between

1.0 and -1.0 that

describes the
relationship
between two
variables.
r

Survey Method
A research method in which

information is obtained by asking

many individuals a fixed set of
questions

Experimenter Bias
When the researcher
impacts or effects the
outcome of the results of
the study.

RESEARCH METHODS in
PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology is an EMPIRICAL science
Psychology follows the SCIENTIFIC METHOD
A

General Approach to systematically and

scientifically discover new knowledge

Some of you Favorite Experiments????

Research Methods or
Designs
3 Broad Research Categories:
1) Descriptive Research
Naturalistic
Case

Observation

Study
Survey Method
2) Correlational Research
3) Experimental Research

CORRELATION

NATURALISTIC
OBSERVATION

researchers measure

the relationship
between two variables
or sets of data
psychologist studies the
What is the direction

and Strength of the

Relationship
Direct:
Indirect:

subject in a natural
setting without
interfering
EX: Jane Goodall;

or

Reality TV; etc.

or

CASE STUDY

SURVEY

A psychologist is

interested in an in-depth
study of behavior for one
or very few number of
cases
EX: Super Size Me

Morgan Spurlock

The use of questionnaires

or interviews to quickly
gain the answer to wide
range of questions

LONGITUDINAL STUDY

CROSS-SECTIONAL
STUDY

data is collected from

a group of participants

is studied over several

years to assess certain
characteristics or
changes during
development
**WHICH
WAY TO RESEARCH??

groups of participants of
different ages and
compared so that
conclusions can be
drawn about differences
due to age

Experimental Research: VARIABLES

Experiment = manipulation of one variable under

controlled conditions so that resulting changes in

another variable can be observed
Detection of cause-and-effect relationships
Independent

variable (IV) = variable

manipulated
Dependent variable (DV) = variable affected by
manipulation
COFOUNDING VARIABLES
A 3rd variable other than the independent
variable that may be influencing the dependent
variable

Experimental and Control Groups: DIVIDING PARTICIPANTS INTO

GROUPS

Experimental group

subjects who
receive some
special treatment
in regard to the
independent
variable

Treatment

Control group

similar subjects
who do not
receive the
special
treatment
Group that would

likely receive the

Group
*ID the
Parts of the Experiment Practice
PLACEBO
Problems!

Pitfalls in Experiments
Placebo effects
Believing you benefiting from a drug or treatment when no

actual drug or treatment is being administered

Sampling bias
The number of people participating in the experiment is not
sufficient to match results to the whole population
Self fulfilling Prophecy
Answering survey questions in a way that gives you the result
you desire
Social Desirable Responding
Answering in a way that does not make you sound bad to
others
Experimenter bias
The Experimentor indicates to the participants their desired
results and in turn receive those results from their
participants
Single Blind/Double Blind

Avoiding
EXPERIMENTER BIAS
Single-blind experiment
An experiment in which the participants
are unaware of which participants
received the experimental treatment is
known as a:

Double-blind experiment
An experiment in which the neither the
experimenter nor the participants known
which participants received the
experimental treatment is called a:

Ethics in Psychological Research: Do the Ends Justify the Means?

What is Ethically Acceptable and What is NOT???

What does it mean for something

to be unethical or ethical?
Who should decide this?

*Questionable Studies

Questionable
Experiments
Brown-Eyed, Blue-Eyed Experiment
Identical Twin Studies
Stanley Milgram Experiment on Obedience to

Authority
The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

Twin Studies Seperated at Birth

Milgram Study on Obedience to Authority

Tuskegee Experiment

ETHICS REQUIREMENTS IN PSYCHOLOGYSet by The

APA!
Welfare/dignity of participants: free from

psychological or physical harm

Legal: approval must be obtained by the institutional

review board (APA)

Anonymity: rights to privacy, confidentiality must be

observed for participants

Deception: must be necessary for the experiment

and misunderstandings must be cleared up in a

debriefing
Debriefing: following an experiment, participants

must be debriefed to rectify any misconceptions

STATISTICS
____________________
A branch of mathematics that
enables researchers to organize
and evaluate the data they collect
.
Why is EVALUATING your data so important?
Why should you know the statistical
procedures?

STATISTICS

Descriptive Statistics

The listing and

summarizing of
data in a practical,
efficient way.
EXAMPLES:

Frequency Distributions
Frequency Polygons
Histograms

Inferential Statistics

Numerical methods
used to determine
whether research
data support a
hypothesis or
whether results
were due to Chance

STATISTICSFrequency
Distributions
an arrangement of data that indicates
how often a particular score or
observation occurs

STATISTICS--Histograms
a good, old-fashioned bar graph, which in
statistics is called a HISTOGRAM
Category 4
Category 3

Series 1
Series 2
Series 3

Category 2
Category 1
0

STATISTICSFREQUENCY
POLYGONS
Or a frequency curve: graph comparing
the frequency of occurrences to each
score or observation
The dots on the graph are connected by a line

straight (polygon) or curved

6
5
4
3
2
1
0

Series 1
Series 2
Series 3

Measures of Central Tendency

CENTRAL TENDENCY
Definition: _________________A
number that describes
information about the average score of a
distribution of scores. Examples:
MODE
____________:
score that occurs the most frequent

MEDIAN
____________:
the middle score
MEAN
__________:
the arithmetic average score
These scores give us information about the average.

RANGEThe Spread of Scores from highest to lowest

CORRELATION:
POSITIVE VS. NEGATIVE
+

Statistical Significance
Scientists have concluded that if the

probability that their results were due to

0.05 (5%) is less than _______, then they are
chance
confident that their results did not happen
because of chance
SIGNIFICANT
This is
called being statistically
___________________
Some researchers demand that this
number be as low as 1% or .01