Psychological

Research Strategies
Module 2
 Why is Research Important?

 Gives us a reliable, systematic way to consider

our questions

 Helps us to draw logical, supported conclusions

“Not all will conduct research, but all have to

evaluate its relevance”
 Research Methods

Example research topic: Does listening

to music through headphones affect
studying?

What does common sense say?

Observation

 Benefit: simplest scientific technique

 Problem: bias
 Two Types of bias:
 Researcher bias – observation may be
influenced by what they want/expect to
discover
 Participant bias – may respond a
certain way because:
 know they’re being observed

 believe they know what the

researcher wants
What do you see?
Ways to reduce bias:
 Researcher – finding ways to rely less on
observers’ opinion (example: checklists)

 Participant – using naturalistic observation –

naturally occurring settings
Case Studies
 one person is studied in depth in the hope of
revealing universal principles

 Problems:
 bias
 can’t always apply results of one study to other
situations

 Sometimes necessary for ethical reasons

 Example: Genie
 Surveys

 Goal: discover the self-reported attitudes or

behaviors of a sample of people using
questionnaires or interviews

 Benefits: efficient, can reach large crowds

 Problems: bias in wording, social desirability

Surveys

 For results to be relevant to the population:

 Random sample – every member of the
population has an equal chance of being
selected

 Adequate number of participants –

determined by mathematical formulas;
larger samples = more relevant results
Correlational Study
 Reveals the extent to which two variables are
related to each other

 Examples: Is there a relationship between…

 diet and health?
 training techniques and success in sports?
 studying and better grades?
Uses of Correlational Studies

 does not prove that a cause-and-effect

relationship exists

 tell you only that variables are related, not

why they are related

 So why use them?

 Useful for making predictions – the stronger
the correlation, the more accurate your prediction
Correlation
 Positive Correlation – both variables
increase or decrease together
 Examples: height & weight, studying effectiveness
& frequency of wearing headphones

Perfect Positive Correlation Moderate Positive Correlation

Correlation
 Negative Correlation – one variable
increases while the other decreases
 Example: hours spent watching TV & GPA, studying
effectiveness & frequency of wearing headphones

Perfect Negative Correlation Moderate Negative Correlation

Correlation
 Zero Correlation – no relationship between
the variables
 Example: the number of carrots you eat
per day and your shoe size
Experiments
 Purpose: only method that allows you to
establish a cause-and-effect relationship
 Hypotheses and
Operational Definitions
 1st step: form a hypothesis – testable
prediction of the experiment’s outcome
Independent and
Dependent Variables
Two variables of a hypothesis:
1. Independent variable (IV): the variable that should
cause something to happen

2. Dependent variable (DV): the variable that should

show the effect (or outcome) of the IV
IV & DV Example
 “Students who listen to music during class will
have higher average grades at the end of the
quarter.”

 What are the independent and dependent

variables?

IV = listening to music during class

DV = participants' average end-of-quarter grades

Groups & Random Assignment
 Most experiments have two groups:
 Experimental group – exposed to the IV (music)

 Control group – not exposed to the IV (no music)

 Critical feature: people placed in groups by

random assignment – assigning by chance
Controlling Your Experiment
(Testing only what you want to test)

 Control for experiments by:

 Blind procedure - participants don’t know
hypothesis until after data is collected

 Double-blind procedure – the people collecting

the data & participants don’t know the expected
outcome

 Placebo – nonactive substance or condition that

is given instead of a drug or active agent (all drug
studies)
Ethics: Human Research
4 Ethical Principles Guiding Human Research:
1. Informed consent – about nature of research & risks

2. Right to be protected from harm and discomfort

3. Right to confidentiality – can’t release data about

individual participants

4. Right to debriefing – full explanation of research

when involvement is done
Ethics: Animal Research

 Must have:
1. clean housing
2. adequate ventilation
3. appropriate food
4. be well-cared for