2. Quick review Today: Chapter 3 Tuesday: Exam 1 Chapters 1, 2,
3 MC + short essay 3. Non-experimental Quantitative designs
Longitudinal vs. Cross-sectional Cohort-sequential design
Qualitative research Features and goals Data collection methods
Benefits/weaknesses of each **add physiological data to the list!
4. Consider the research problem: Does socialexclusion occur in
animals other than humans?This is considered a good research
problembecause it:a) Asks a questionb) Focuses on a relationship
between two variablesc) Can be empirically testedd) Is stated
specifically enough to specify the variables being tested and to
aid in the design of the studye) All of the above 5. Consider the
research problem: Does socialexclusion occur in animals other than
humans?This is considered a good research problembecause it:a) Asks
a questionb) Focuses on a relationship between two variablesc) Can
be empirically testedd) Is stated specifically enough to specify
the variables being tested and to aid in the design of the studye)
All of the above 6. How do we come up with research ideas and
questions? Howdo we turn the questions into something testable? Can
we always do this? 7. Everydaylife Practical Issues Past Research
Theoryservestwo functions Most important: way of thinking 8. Our
own characteristics influence what we think is important to study
Impactsif issues are studied and how the research is focused. 9. We
can investigate attitude formation, factors that influence
attitudes ,effects of certain attitudes, etc.Remember:a requirement
of science is that you can confirm or refute 10. Literature Review
Why do this? Maybe others have already done your project Helps to
refine your idea Helps to put your study in context 11. Shouldcover
in lab Helpful tips in text pp. 74-85 Bonus material slides at the
end of todays lecture slides 12. PsycINFO may show if UNT has print
copies of journals. Many journal articles are linked to full text
in PsycINFO. Alsocheck the authors personal (university) webpage
for papers 13. Ifyou have not read the article DO NOTcite it. Ask a
librarian if you cant find something. Interlibrary loan You may
actually have to go to the library! 14. Professional Conferences
American Psychological Association Association for Psychological
Science RegionalSouthwest Psychological Association Professional
org. websites www.apa.org www.psychologicalscience.org Very current
information* 15. Can I actually do the study I am proposing?
Somefactors to consider Time Access to participants Access to
resources 16. What is a Research Problem? An interrogative sentence
that states the relationship between two variables3 criteria set up
by Kerlinger (1973) 17. Variablesshould be expressed in a
relationship Theproblem should be stated as a question Should imply
possibility of empirical testing 18. Precisenesswith which the
research question is stated. Greater specificity is better Test:
can you answer these questions easily? Who should my participants
be? What measures should I use? 19. Hypothesis= predicted answer to
the research problem MUSTbe stated so that it is capable of being
either refuted or confirmed May test a specific piece of a research
problem and not the whole thing. 20. ResearchHypothesis The
predicted relationship among the variables being investigated Null
Hypothesis A statement of no relationship between the variables
being investigated 21. Helps us build and test theory. Provides a
direction to test. Provides a direction for future research. 22.
FormulateResearch idea Review literature Determine feasibility
Formulate research problem Formulate research hypothesis Collect
and analyze data 23. Exam1 on Tuesday Chapters 1, 2, and 3 Bring
scantron, #2 pencil 24. These slides were NOT discussed in depth in
class.I am providing this information (some of which is covered
indepth in the text) as a supplement to the instruction you
willreceive in labs regarding conducting a literature search
andreading empirical research articles.There *could* be some
questions on the exam onthese topics, as this material is discussed
in thecourse text! 25. Define your problem well Make sure that you
narrow your topic soyou get a manageable amount ofinformation Know
what you are looking for guideshow you conduct your search Overall
information Specific methodology Other variables that impact the
ones you are examining 26. If your topic is too broad you will get
far toomany sources Stress and Memory- 4,669 (1898-2009) Stress and
Implicit Memory-38 (1991-2009) Psychological Stress and Implicit
Memory- 1 (2005-2009) 27. How to get your information PsychINFO
Best place to start for all searches Whereyou should look JOURNAL
ARTICLES Books Book Chapters Web search (Google Scholar) Often will
link to article you have to pay for, but now that you have an
interesting article you can go back to PsychINFO and get free
access 28. Table3.5, pg. 84Guidelines for evaluation DO NOT trust
what you read online simplybecause it is on someones website. Need
to evaluate the: Authority- .gov, .edu- good and need to find out
whopublishes it Accuracy- credentials of author, purpose
ofinformation Do they acknowledge limitations of the study? 29.
Objectivity-do they express opinions? Anyway to identify bias?
Currency- is the information dated? Whenwas it done, published,
etc.? 30. A large number of full-text journal articles can be
retrieved electronically via PsycINFO. Also check the authors
personal (university) webpage for a PDF of the article. PsycINFOmay
show if UNT has print copies of journalsyou might need to go to the
library (gasp!) 31. Ifyou have not read the article DO NOTcite it.
Reading the abstract online is NOT goodenough. Ask a librarian if
you cant find something. Interlibrary loan You may actually have to
go to the library! 32. Firstof all relax and dont stress about it.
The title should give you a good idea aboutwhat it is about. The
abstract gives you a brief summaryabout what they investigated,
how, whatthey found, and maybe some interpretation But DO NOT stop
here. 33. Introduction gives you the appropriate background
information that the authors use to back up their argument.
Lastparagraph or two will set up the purpose and hypothesis for the
study. As well as how they will test this. Method section tells you
in great detail how they conducted the study. 34. Methodsection:
pay attention to the details b/c they may have done something that
you see as odd or different from other studies. Results section:
dont get bogged down in the statistical language. Read the plain-
language explanation of the stats and pay attention to the tables
and figures. 35. Discussion start by stating if hypotheseswere
supported or not. Then the authors will discuss how theirstudy fits
in to the existing knowledge. Limitations Future Studies
