Unit 2: Research Methods: Thinking Critically with Psychological Science

1
Unit 2Research Methods Thinking Critically
with Psychological Science
2
Unit Overview

• The Need for Psychological Science
• How Do Psychologists Ask
  and Answer Questions?
• Statistical Reasoning in
  Everyday Life
• Frequently Asked Questions
  about Psychology

Click on the any of the above hyperlinks to go to
that section in the presentation.
3
Seniors vs. Freshmen reaction time activity
quiz
4
The Need for Psychology Science
5
Assign LOs
6
Did We Know It All Along? Hindsight Bias
LO 1

• Hindsight Bias
• I knew it all along

Ex. 1 Iraq war Everyone knew there were no
WMDs.
Ex. 2 Favres exit was good for GB.
7
Overconfidence

• Overconfidence, p. 21
• Together with hindsight bias, can lead to
  overestimate our intuition

8
Handout 2-2

1. Read the statement.
2. Mark your choice.

9
The Scientific Attitude
LO 2

• Three main components, p. 22
• Curiosity (why . . . ?)
• Skepticism (but . . .)
• Open-minded humility (okay then)

10
Critical Thinking

• Critical Thinking, p. 24
• Smart thinking
• Four elements
• Examines assumptions
• Discerns hidden values
• Evaluates evidence
• Assesses conclusions

11
How Do Psychologists Ask and Answer Questions?
12
The Scientific Method, p. 25
LO 3

• Theory
• mere hunch
• Hypothesis
• Can be confirmed or refuted
• Paper ball experiment
• Operational Definition (be clear!)
• Replication (repeat)

13
(No Transcript)
14
(No Transcript)
15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
The Scientific Method

• A good theory is useful if it . . .
• effectively organizes a range of self-reports and
  observations
• implies clear predictions that anyone can use to
  check the theory

18
Three Means to Test a Hypothesis
LO 4

• Descriptive methods (three), p. 26
• case studies
• surveys
• naturalistic observations
• Correlational methods
• Experimental methods

19
DescriptionThe Case Study

• Case Study
• Suggest directions for further study
• Cannot discern general truths
• Genie video

20
DescriptionThe Survey

• Survey, p. 27
• Looks at many cases at once
• Effect of wording
• Random sampling
• Representative sample

Exercise Survey Wording (Handout 2-5, p. 13)
21
DescriptionThe Survey

• Sampling
• Population
• Random Sample

22
DescriptionNaturalistic Observation

• Naturalistic Observation, p. 28
• Describes behavior
• Does not explain behavior

23
Correlation, p. 31
LO 5

• Correlation (correlation coefficient)
• How well does A predict B
• Positive versus negative correlation
• Strength of the correlation
• -1.0 to 1.0
• Scatterplot

24
Positive, Negative or Neutral Correlation?
Smoking and health problems
Smoking and money
25
Correlation
26
Correlation
27
Correlation
28
CorrelationCorrelation and Causation

• Correlation helps predict
• Does NOT imply cause and effect

29
(No Transcript)
30
(No Transcript)
31
(No Transcript)
32
(No Transcript)
33
CorrelationIllusory Correlations
LO 6

• Illusory Correlation, p. 32
• Perceived non-existent correlation
• A random coincidence

Figure 2.5, p. 25
34
Experimentation , p. 34
LO 7

• Experiment
• Can isolate cause and effect
• Control of factors
• Manipulation of the factor(s) of interest
• Hold constant (controlling) factors

35
ExperimentationRandom Assignment

• Random assignment
• Eliminates alternative explanations
• Different from random sample

36
ExperimentationRandom Assignment

• Blind (uninformed)
• Single-Blind Procedure
• Double-Blind Procedure
• Placebo Effect

37
ExperimentationRandom Assignment

• Groups
• Experimental Group
• Receives the treatment (independent variable)
• Control Group
• Does not receive the treatment

38
ExperimentationIndependent and Dependent
Variables

• Independent Variable (IV)
• What is being controlled
• Confounding variable
• Note the effect of random assignment on
  confounding variables
• Dependent Variable (DV)
• What is being measured
• (paper ball)

39
Video Does Self-Confidence Intimidate Others?
Vol. 2, DVD1 (Clip 101, 325)
40
Experiments
For each hypothesis, consider how you could
design a study that would test it, then in the
experiment thats given, identify the independent
and dependent variables.
41
Experiments

• Hypothesis Taking tests in hot rooms
  decreases test scores.
• Students are randomly assigned to take a
  test in either a hot room or a comfortable room.
  Test scores will be compared to see if hot rooms
  negatively affect test-taking.
• What is the independent variable?
• Students
• Room temperature
• Test scores
• Tests

• What is the dependent variable?
• Students
• Hot room
• Comfortable room
• Test scores

42
Experiments
Hypothesis Newborns gaze longer at a drawing of
a face-like image than at a bulls-eye
pattern. Newborns are shown, in random order, the
stimuli A face-like image, a bulls-eye pattern,
and a blank screen. Each newborn is timed to see
how long they look at each.

• What is the dependent variable?
• Newborns
• Length of gaze
• Facelike image and bulls-eye pattern
• All of the stimuli

• What is the independent variable?
• Random order
• Length of gaze
• The stimuli
• Newborns

43
Experimental Design
Figure 2.7, p. 36
44
Experimental Design
Figure 2.7, p. 36
45
Experimental Design
Figure 2.7, p. 36
46
Experimental Design
Figure 2.7, p. 36
47
Comparing Research Methods
Table 2.3, p. 36
48
Comparing Research Methods
Table 2.3, p. 36
49
Comparing Research Methods
Table 2.3, p. 36
50
Comparing Research Methods
Table 2.3, p. 36
51
Statistical Reasoning in Everyday Life
52
Describing DataMeasures of Central Tendency
LO 8

• Mode (occurs the most)
• Mean (arithmetic average)
• Median (middle score)

53
Describing DataMeasures of Variability

• Range
• Standard Deviation

54
Describing DataMeasures of Variability

• Normal Curve (bell shaped)

55
Making InferencesWhen Is a Difference
Significant?
LO 9

• Statistical significance
• The averages are reliable
• The differences between averages are relatively
  large
• Does imply the importance of the results

56
Frequently Asked Questions about Psychology
57
Psychology Applied
LO 10

• Can laboratory experiments illuminate everyday
  life?
• The principles - not the research findings - help
  explain behavior

58
Psychology Applied
LO 11

• Does behavior depend on ones culture and gender?
• Culture
• Influence of culture on behavior
• Gender
• More similarities than differences

59
Ethics in Research
LO 12

• Ethics in animal research
• Reasons for using animals in research
• Safeguards for animal use

60
Video Ethics in Animal Research The Sad Case
of Booee the Chimp Vol. 2, DVD1 (Clip 102, 500
min.)
61
Ethics in Research
LO 13

• Ethics in human research
• Informed consent
• Protect from harm and discomfort
• Maintain confidentiality
• Debriefing

62
Video The Standard Prison Study The Power of
the Situation Vol. 1, DVD2, Social Psychology
(Clip 1, 1400 min.)
63
Research Ethics
The following are descriptions of actual studies.
Do you think they were ethical? Why or why
not?
64
Research Ethics
Men using a public restroom are observed
surreptitiously by a researcher hidden in a
toilet stall, who records the time they take to
urinate.
Middlemist, R.D. , Knowles, E. S. Matter, C. F.
1976.  Personal space invasions in the lavatory
 Suggestive evidence for arousal.  Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 33,541-546.
65
Research Ethics
A researcher pretends to be a lookout for gay men
having sex in a public restroom. On the basis of
the mens car license plates, the researcher
tracks down the participants through the
Department of Motor Vehicles. Then, under the
guise of another study, he interviews them in
their homes.
Humphreys, L. (1975). Tearoom trade Impersonal
sex in public places. New York Aldine.
66
Research Ethics
Researchers covertly film people who strip the
parts from seemingly abandoned cars.
Zimbardo, P. G. (1970). The human choice
Individuation, reason, and order versus
deindividuation, impulse, and chaos. In W. J.
Arnold D. Levine (Eds.), 1969 Nebraska
Symposium on Motivation (pp. 237-307). Lincoln,
NE University of Nebraska Press.
67
Research Ethics
Participants waiting for an experiment are
videotaped without their prior knowledge or
consent. However, they are given the option of
erasing the tapes if they do not want their tapes
to be used for research purposes.
Ickes, W. (1982). A basic paradigm for the study
of personality, roles, and social behavior. In W.
Ickes and E.S. Knowles (Eds.), Personality,
roles, and social behavior (pp. 305-341). New
York Springer-Verlag.
68
Research Ethics
Researchers stage a shoplifting episode in a
drugstore, and shoppers reactions are observed.
Gelfand, D. M., Hartmann, D. P., Walder, P.,
Page, B. (1973). Who reports shoplifters? A
field-experimental study. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 25, 276-285.
69
Research Ethics
Researchers hide under dormitory beds and
eavesdrop on students conversations.
Henle. M., Hubbell, MR (1938)." Egocentricity
in adult conversation. Journal of Social
Psychology, 9, 227-234.
70
Research Ethics
Researchers embarrass participants by asking them
to sing Feelings.
Leary, M. R., Landel, J. L., Patton, K. M.
(1996). The motivated expression of embarrassment
following a self-presentational predicament.
Journal of Personality, 64, 619-636.
71
Research Ethics
Researchers approach members of the opposite sex
on a university campus and ask them to have sex.
 Clark, R. D., III Hatfield, E. (1989).  Gender
differences in receptivity to sexual offers. 
Journal of Psychology and Human Sexuality, 2,
39-55.
72
LO 14
73
Teacher Information

• Types of Files
• This presentation has been saved as a basic
  Powerpoint file. While this file format placed a
  few limitations on the presentation, it insured
  the file would be compatible with the many
  versions of Powerpoint teachers use. To add
  functionality to the presentation, teachers may
  want to save the file for their specific version
  of Powerpoint.
• Animation
• Once again, to insure compatibility with all
  versions of Powerpoint, none of the slides are
  animated. To increase student interest, it is
  suggested teachers animate the slides wherever
  possible.
• Adding slides to this presentation
• Teachers are encouraged to adapt this
  presentation to their personal teaching style.
  To help keep a sense of continuity, blank slides
  which can be copied and pasted to a specific
  location in the presentation follow this Teacher
  Information section.

74
Teacher Information

• Hyperlink Slides - This presentation contain two
  types of hyperlinks. Hyperlinks can be
  identified by the text being underlined and a
  different color (usually purple).
• Unit subsections hyperlinks Immediately after
  the unit title slide, a page (slide 3) can be
  found listing all of the units subsections.
  While in slide show mode, clicking on any of
  these hyperlinks will take the user directly to
  the beginning of that subsection. This allows
  teachers quick access to each subsection.
• Bold print term hyperlinks Every bold print
  term from the unit is included in this
  presentation as a hyperlink. While in slide show
  mode, clicking on any of the hyperlinks will take
  the user to a slide containing the formal
  definition of the term. Clicking on the arrow
  in the bottom left corner of the definition slide
  will take the user back to the original point in
  the presentation.
• These hyperlinks were included for teachers who
  want students to see or copy down the exact
  definition as stated in the text. Most teachers
  prefer the definitions not be included to prevent
  students from only copying down what is on the
  screen and not actively listening to the
  presentation.
• For teachers who continually use the Bold Print
  Term Hyperlinks option, please contact the author
  using the email address on the next slide to
  learn a technique to expedite the returning to
  the original point in the presentation.

75
Teacher Information

• Continuity slides
• Throughout this presentation there are slides,
  usually of graphics or tables, that build on one
  another. These are included for three purposes.
  
• By presenting information in small chunks,
  students will find it easier to process and
  remember the concepts.
• By continually changing slides, students will
  stay interested in the presentation.
• To facilitate class discussion and critical
  thinking. Students should be encouraged to think
  about what might come next in the series of
  slides.
• Please feel free to contact me at
  kkorek_at_germantown.k12.wi.us with any questions,
  concerns, suggestions, etc. regarding these
  presentations.
• Kent Korek
• Germantown High School
• Germantown, WI 53022
• 262-253-3400
• kkorek_at_germantown.k12.wi.us

76
Division title (green print)subdivision title
(blue print)

• xxx
• xxx
• xxx

77
Division title (green print)subdivision title
(blue print)
Use this slide to add a table, chart, clip art,
picture, diagram, or video clip. Delete this box
when finished
78
Definition Slide

• add definition here

79
Definition Slides
80
Hindsight Bias

• the tendency to believe, after learning an
  outcome, that one would have foreseen it.
• Also known as the I knew it all along
  phenomenon.

81
Critical Thinking

• thinking that does not blindly accept arguments
  and conclusions. Rather, it examines
  assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates
  evidence, and assesses conclusions.

82
Theory

• an explanation using an integrated set of
  principles that organizes observations and
  predicts behaviors or events.

83
Hypothesis

• a testable prediction, often implied by a
  theory.

84
Operational Definition

• a statement of the procedures (operations) used
  to define research variables.
• i.e. Human intelligence may be operationally
  defined as what an intelligence test measures.

85
Replication

• repeating the essence of a research study,
  usually with different participants in different
  situations, to see whether the basic finding
  extends to other participants and circumstances.

86
Case Study

• an observation technique in which one person is
  studied in depth in the hope of revealing
  universal principles.

87
Survey

• a technique for ascertaining the self-reported
  attitudes or behaviors of a particular group,
  usually by questioning a representative, random
  sample of the group.

88
Population

• all the cases in a group being studied, from
  which samples may be drawn.
• Note Except for national studies, this does NOT
  refer to a countrys whole population.

89
Random Sample

• a sample that fairly represents a population
  because each member has an equal chance of
  inclusion.

90
Naturalistic Observation

• observing and recording behavior in naturally
  occurring situations without trying to manipulate
  and control the situation.

91
Correlation

• a measure of the extent to which two factors
  vary together, and thus of how well either factor
  predicts the other.

92
Correlation Coefficient

• a statistical index of the relationship between
  two things (from -1 to 1).

93
Scatterplot

• a graphed cluster of dots, each of which
  represents the values of two variables. The
  slope of the points suggests the direction of the
  relationship between the two variables. The
  amount of scatter suggests the strength of the
  correlation (little scatter indicates high
  correlation).

94
Illusory Correlation

• the perception of a relationship where none
  exists.

95
Experiment

• a research method in which an investigator
  manipulates one or more factors (independent
  variables) to observe the effect on some behavior
  or mental process (the dependent variable). By
  random assignment of participants, the
  experimenter aims to control other relevant
  factors.

96
Random Assigment

• assigning participants to experimental and
  control groups by chance, thus minimizing
  preexisting differences between those assigned to
  the different groups.

97
Double-Blind Procedure

• an experimental procedure in which both the
  research participants and the research staff are
  ignorant (blind) about whether the research
  participants have received the treatment or the
  placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation
  studies.

98
Placebo Effect

• experimental results caused by expectation
  alone any effect on behavior caused by the
  administration of an inert substance or
  condition, which the recipient assumes is an
  active agent.

99
Experimental Group

• in an experiment, the group that is exposed to
  the treatment, that is, to one version of the
  independent variable.

100
Control Group

• in an experiment, the group that is NOT exposed
  to the treatment contrasts with the experimental
  group and serves as a comparison for evaluating
  the effect of treatment.

101
Independent Variable

• the experimental factor that is manipulated
  the variable whose effect is being studied.
• what is controlled

102
Confounding Variable

• a factor other than the independent variable
  that might produce an effect in an experiment.

103
Dependent Variable

• the outcome factor the variable that may
  change in response to manipulations of the
  independent variable.
• what is measured

104
Mode

• the most frequently occurring score(s) in a
  distribution.

105
Mean

• the arithmetic average of a distribution,
  obtained by adding the scores and then dividing
  by the number of scores.

106
Median

• the middle score in a distribution, half the
  scores are above it and half are below it.

107
Range

• the difference between the highest and lowest
  score in a distribution.

108
Standard Deviation

• a computed measure of how much scores vary
  around the mean score.

109
Normal Curve

• a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes
  the distribution of many types of data most
  scored fall near the mean (68 percent fall within
  one standard deviation of it) and fewer and fewer
  near the extremes.

110
Statistical Significance

• a statistical statement of how likely it is
  that an obtained result occurred by chance.

111
Culture

• the enduring behavior, ideas, attitudes, and
  traditions shared by a group of people and
  transmitted from one generation to the next.

112
Informed Consent

• an ethical principle that research participants
  be told enough to enable them to choose whether
  they wish to participate.

113
Debriefing

• the postexperimental explanation of a study,
  including its purpose and any deceptions, to its
  participants.