A group presentation on

psychological research
By: BBA-3

Group members:

Shahab Arshad
Tania Shaheen
Shahab-ud-din
Shoaib Jahangir
Salman Haider

Psychological Research

The Scientific Method

The scientific method is the process created in the

seventeenth century.

The approach used by psychologists to

systematically acquire knowledge and understanding
about behavior and other phenomena of interest

Scientific Method: The Process

Identify a Question
of Interest

Develop an
explanation

Conduct
Research

Scientific Method:
Developing Explanations

Hypothesis:
A prediction stated in a way that allows it to be
tested

Example:

Why my friend is always late for class?

How your dog understand your commands?

Scientific Method:
Developing Explanations

Theories:
Broad explanations and predictions concerning
phenomena of interest.
Or
A supposition or a system of ideas intended to
explain something, especially one based on general
principles independent of the thing to be
explained.

Example of theory
A theory might attempt to explain why people display
the emotion of fear after receiving a threat?

Difference between hypothesis and

theory
Hypothesis

A hypothesis is an
attempt
to
explain
phenomena. It is a
proposal -a guess used
to understand and/or
predict something.

Theory

A theory is the result of

testing a hypothesis and
developing
an
explanation
that
is
assumed to be true
about a phenomena.

Operational definition

Operational definition:
Translation of hypothesis into specific, testable
procedures that can be observed and measured.

Example:
Operational definition of fear can be an increase in
heart beat.

Over to Tania Shaheen

Scientific Method:
Conducting Research

Research :
Systematic inquiry aimed at the discovery
of new knowledge
It provides the key to understand the degree to which
hypothesis are accurate.

Example of research

Supervisor might evaluate an employee performance,

to test the effects of different doses of drug on a
patient or a sales person might compare the
persuasive strategies.

Steps for Conducting Psychological Research

2008 The McGraw-Hill

Companies, Inc.

Research Methods

Archival research
Naturalistic research
Survey research
Case study
Co-relational research
Experimental research

Research Methods

Archival research:
Use of existing data in order to test a hypothesis
like college records and newspaper clippings.
This type of research is inexpensive because
someone else had already collected the data.

Drawbacks of Archival research

It may have several drawbacks:

The information could be incomplete.
Data may not be in the form that allows to test a
hypothesis fully.

Research Methods
Naturalistic research:
Observation of naturally occurring behavior without
intervention(not changing the situation)
Advantage:
Advantage of this method is that we get a sample of
what people do in their natural habit.

Research Methods
Survey research

A sample of people is asked a series of questions

about their behavior, thoughts, and attitudes in
order to represent a larger population
In this we use questionnaires to know the view
points of the people.

Research Methods
Case study

An in-depth, intensive investigation of an individual or

small group of people
Drawback:
It is impossible to make valid generalizations to a larger
population
Examples:
It can be of the suicide bombers mean what is their
background?

Research Methods
Co-relational research:

The relationship between two sets of variables is

examined to determine whether they are associated
or correlated
Correlation does not mean causation
Ranges from +1 to -1

Example of co-relational research

The two variables are:
Study time
Test score
When two variables are strongly related then we are
tempted to assume that one variable causes the other.

Research Methods

Co-relational research:

Co-relational Research

2008 The McGraw-Hill

Companies, Inc.

Over to Shahab-ud-din

Research Methods
Experiment:
The relationship between two (or more) variables is
investigated by deliberately producing a change in
one variable in a situation and observing the
effects of that change on other aspects of the
situation.

Experimental Research
Control Group:
A group that receives
no treatment

Experimental
group:
Any group receiving
a treatment

Treatment:
The manipulation
implemented
by the experimenter

Experimental
manipulation:
The change that an
experimenter
deliberately produces
in a situation

Experimental Research

Independent Variable:
The variable that is manipulated by an
experimenter

Dependent Variable:
The variable that is measured and is expected to
change as a result of changes caused by the
experimenters manipulation of the independent
variable

Experimental Research:
Final Step
Random assignment to condition

Participants are assigned to different experimental

groups or conditions on the basis of chance and
chance alone.
Participants were monkeys of same gender
because participants of same gender have same
characteristics and it is easy to examine their
behavior.

2008 The McGraw-Hill

Companies, Inc.

Experimental Research:
Final Step

Significant outcome:
Meaningful results that make it possible for
researchers to feel confident that they have
confirmed their hypothesis.

Replication:
Repetition of findings using other procedures in
other setting.

Moving Beyond the Study

Latane and Darleys experiment:

Group size can cause changes in the degree of helping
behavior

Over to Shoaib Jahangir

Critical Research Issues

Ethics
Protection of participants from physical and mental
harm
The right of participants to privacy regarding their
behavior
The assurance that participation in research is
completely voluntary
The necessity of informing participants about the
nature of procedures before their participation in the
experiment
Informed consent

Critical Research Issues

Choosing participants who represent the scope of

human behavior
Should animals be used in research?

Threats to Experiment Validity

Experimental bias:
Factors that distort how the independent variable
affects the dependent variable in an experiment
Experimenter expectations
Participant expectations

Over to Salman Haider

Threats to Experiment Validity

Placebo:
A false treatment, such as a pill, drug, or other
substance, without any significant chemical
properties or active ingredient.

Becoming an Informed Consumer of

Psychology

What was the purpose

of the research?
How well was the
study conducted?
Are the results
presented fairly?