Summary
Research Methods in Psychology
Qualitative & Quantitative
Main Components
Theory
Hypothesis
Operational Definition
Types of Measures
Self-Reports
Behavioural Observations
Archival Records
Research Settings & Observational
Studies
Laboratory Research
Controlled
Observation
(Experimental
Studies)
Field Research
Naturalistic
Observation
Participant
Observation
Descriptive Studies
Case Studies
Quantitative Studies
Surveys
Tests & their characteristics
Correlational Studies
Experimental
Studies
Independent Variable
Dependent Variable
Experimenter Effects
Statistics
Descriptive
Inferential
Ethics
Theory - an organised system of ideas that is used to explain a phenomenon
Hypothesis - a specific statement that describes or explains a phenomenon, Usually derived from a theory and used to test the theory.
Operational Definition - a statement of how the phenomenon is to be observed and recorded. Provides a standardised way of measuring it.
Types
of Measures
Self-Reports
-
These include interviews, questionnaires & diaries. The people being
studied provide their own answers to research questions.
-may be quick and easy, revealing 'inner states or feelings' but not always accurate, may fake good. Can be quantified through scaling and averaging.
Behavioural Observations - Counting and coding behaviour in specific settings. May be "objective" (less biased) but trivial - what does it mean? People may behave differently in such settings, what do they really think?
Archival
Records - Medical, school, or government records, newspapers, etc.
May be "unbiased" but not always the specific information that is desired,
incomplete or missing important or crucial elements.
Research Settings & Observational Studies
Laboratory Research - done in the confines of the laboratory, offering a controlled situation for observation of specific behaviours or conversations.
- Provides precision and standard setting for all participants but they may not act in a natural fashion.
Field
Research
Naturalistic
Observation - research done in an everyday setting where people
are in their own normal environments. Does not offer the control of the
lab, but may expect more natural behaviour.
-As in laboratory may have Observer Bias.
Participant Observation - the personal making the observations is also a participant in the setting. May have an impact on the results (behaviour of people), but also has the advantage of providing and "insider's" perspective on the situation.
Participatory Action Research - Researchers form a partnership with community or organisational members and design the research in collaboration with those people. Research is directed to the needs of the community and is checked against their experience and validated by them.
Qualitative (Descriptive) Studies
Case Studies - Careful and detailed (in depth) analysis of specific people or groups. Offers a rich account of the lives or conditions that are under investigation.
-May not be generalisable to all persons, however, may still reveal general patterns or qualities that people share.
See Tonks (2006) on the acculturative
experiences of Canadian
Sojourners in Cuba.
Quantitative (numerical) Studies
Surveys- Telephone, internet, or paper and pencil collections of questions. May be open ended, providing qualitative results or may be coded where responses are tallied up and statistics are used to provide information about general trends.
Important
considerations are the populations and samples used in the surveys.
Population-
a very large number of individuals, usually not homogenous (is not the
same everywhere, but diverse and clustered)
Sample
- a very small number of individuals taken non-randomly from the much larger
population. Problems arise as to whether or not the sample is representative
of the population.
Tests- Instruments for assessment that are used to measure or evaluate psychological abilities, traits, interests, values, abilities, etc.
Objective tests - Inventories that have a single (numerical) score or several sub-scores and one or more composite scores. (E.g. IQ tests)
Projective tests - those designed to assess unconscious feelings or motives. (E.g., TAT, TAT2, inkblots 2)
Qualities
of Tests
Standardised:
Those with a uniform procedure for giving and scoring, often with reference
norms. (IQ)
Reliability - The amount of agreement between the scores that one person has on the same test taken twice.
Validity - the degree to which a test represents the categories that it intends to measure. Does it measure what it intends to measure?
Correlational Studies - examine how two or more variables or characteristics are regularly associated.
A Correlation - Indicates the degree of agreement or disagreement of two (or more) variables.
This variable "r" ranges from negative 1 to positive 1. Correlations of zero indicate no relationship.
Positive correlation occurs when both variables tend to go together (as one is high so is the other)
Negative correlation occurs
when they go against each other. One goes up as the other goes down.
Experimental
Studies
Experiments are done make inferences about the cause of various phenomena,
offering an explanation of what made it happen.
Random Assignment is done to control for extraneous variables (influences) that might have an impact on the results. Having a sample that is both representative and evenly distributed into the treatment (experimental) and control groups is important.
Population sample - are these
people like everyone?
Independent Variable - the experimental conditions that are manipulated or "varied" to produce an effect (teaching style, drug, exposure to X)
Dependent Variable - the various resultant behaviours or conditions that are produced in the experimental situation. E.g. test scores, GPA, IQ, violence...
Experimenter Effects
Experimenter bias - usually unconscious influence on the outcome of a study due to the experimenter's actions. Eg, smile, knowing who got the treatment...
Single-blind study - is where the subject or participant does not if he or she is getting the treatment or not.
Double-blind studies are when the experimenter and the participants do not know who is getting the treatment.
Statistics
Descriptive - general summary numbers that represent the pooled response of many people on the same variable, or the same person on various scores.
Mean - arithmetic average found by adding all scores and dividing by the number of scores.
Mode - is the most common (frequent) score in a data set. On a distribution (graph) it is the highest peak, sometimes there are two + modes (bi-modal).
Range - is the total distance
on a scale that is covered by the scores. Found by subtracting the lowest
score from the highest.
Standard Deviation - is a measure
of dispersion that indicates how closely grouped the scores are, the average
difference between any score and the mean.
Inferential
Statistics - are used to make "educated guesses" about the results
from experiments. Usually pertain to the probability that the results
could have occurred by "chance". Give some estimate of the amount of confidence
that
an experimenter can have.
t-tests - are used to estimate the confidence of any observed difference between the means of 2 groups.
Statistical significance - is generally at the level of a 5% that the observed differences occurred by chance.
ANOVA (Analysis of Variance) - a complex t-test that considers many possible influences IV &/or DV
Ethics
is the consideration of issues of value or right and wrong. In psychology ethics has become a central feature of research, particularly since certain studies appear to have been "unethical". The question remains: are we being sensitive enough or too sensitive? Are we ethical or Politically Correct?
CPA Guidelines for ethics in psychology are used to help people avoid compromising situations in therapy, research & teaching of psychology.