Research Methods

Chapter 2

The Milgram Studies

How would you have felt if you had been a “teacher” in the Milgram study?

What would you have done? Would you have delivered a shock, or would you have refused? Are you

sure?

Scientific Method

The Testing Method

•Reliability: a measure of consistency; must yield similar results on different testing occasions

•Validity: the degree to which a test measures what it is suppose to measure

Scientific Method

• Formulating a research question-Hypothesis:

Hypothesis Examples

•School children who watch more violent TV shows tend to behave more aggressively.

• Verbal expression of feelings of anger will decrease feelings of depression

Samples and Populations

• Example: Alf Landon defeated Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 poll (Roosevelt won by landslide)- surveyed voters by phone-during Great Depression

Wealthy->phones>Republican

Samples• Must accurately represent:

• Only representative samples allow us to ______________ from research samples to populations.

Sample/Population

• Sample:

• Population:

• Infer:

Problems in Generalizing

• Research sample (consider gender, age, ethnicity)

• Volunteer Bias

Volunteer Bias

A source of ______ or _______ in research that reflects the prospect

that people who offer to participate in research

studies ________ systematically from people who don’t.

Volunteer Bias

• More willing to ___________ intimate information

• Volunteers have more spare _______ than nonvolunteers

• How do they differ from the population at large?

Problems with Generalization

• Demographic variables:_____

Random Sampling

QuestionIf scientists conducted research with a “random sample” of students from Valencia, would their sample represent the

general U.S. population? Why or why not?

Survey/Naturalistic Observation

Day 2

Research Methods• Descriptive ___________

• Correlation ____________

• Experimental explains (__________)

Case Studies• In depth observation of a small number of cases

• Obtained through interviews, questionaires, and psychological tests

• Freud-studied his patients in great depth

• Genie

Key Virtues• Can exhibit __________________ and suggest hypotheses

•Can study phenomena you cannot manipulate

•Can generate hypotheses to be tested

Limitations•Can’t generalize nor replicate

•Observer bias could be present

•Cannot show causality•Psychologists can guide patients into saying what they want hear

Example Case Study

Phineus Gage• Change in personality-began to use profanity-rude and irritable-drank excessively-could not keep a job

Phineas Gage• Loss of sequencing ability:-would decide to do something-could not plan the steps-shift to something else

•Frontal lobe syndrome: •“Gage was not longer Gage”

Survey• Reveals _____________ and _________________ of large sample of people

• Learn about behavior and mental processes that _______________ be observed in the natural setting or studied experimentally

Limitations

• Limited generalization• Replication sensitive to sample selected

• Give socially desirable answers• Exaggerated answers to foul up results

• Different interviewers for different samples (gender, SES, ethnicity)

Limitations (cont.)

•Easy to bias by _______________

-“Given the number of shootings in schools, should we regulate handguns? True or False

-Cannot establish causal relationships

The Testing Method

•______________: a measure of consistency; must yield similar results on different testing occasions

•______________: the degree to which a test measures what it is suppose to measure

Naturalistic Observation

•In depth observation of a phenomena as it occurs in the world

•Examples:-Goodall’s chimp studies-Piaget’s study of children

Key Virtues

•Unobtrusive measures•Demonstrates phenomena in __________________________

•Permits study of complex phenomena

•Can generate testable hypotheses

Limitations•Generalization and replication cannot be assumed

•No control over ____________ ____________

•Cannot establish causality

Correlational MethodDay 3

Correlational Method

Examines the extent to which two or more variables are related and can ___________

one another.

Correlational Method

• Virtues:-reveals relations of variables outside the lab-replication possible

• Limitations:________________________________ relationships because you do not manipulate the variables

Correlation Coefficient

•A number that varies between ____________________________

•Expresses the strength and direction (+/-) of the relationship between two variables

•Review page 58 (table 2.3)

Positve Correlation

•A relationship between variables in which __________________________

_____________________________

• Example: Hours of study and GPA

Positive Correlation

•A positive relationship means:

As (A) increases, so does (B)

Hours of study (A) is positively correlated with GPA (B)

Negative Correlation

A relationship between two variables in which

__________________________________________________•Example: Hours of TV and GPA

Negative Correlation

• A negative relationship means:As (A) __________, (B) ____________

Number of hours of TV (A) has a negative relationship with GPA (B)

Correlation Research

• Correlational research may suggest but ____________________ cause and effect

• Often seems clear cut:Increase in Hours of study-> increase in GPA • But could go other way:Students doing well in school are motivated to study more

GPA-> Hours of study

Correlation Research

• Or some third factor: Achievement Motivation could cause both

-> Hours of study-> GPATest: length of marriage is correlated with male baldness.

Does marriage cause baldness?

Experimental Method

A scientific method that seeks to confirm _______ and

___________relationships by introducing independent

variables and observing their effects on dependent

variables.

Experimental Method

•Treatment: in experiments, a condition ________________________ so that its effects may be observed.

Independent Variable

A condition in a scientific study that is _____________ so that its effects may

be observed.

Dependent Variable

•A measure of an assumed effect of an independent variable.

• The measured results, or ________________ in an experiment

Experimental Research

Manipulate the Independent Variable (IV)

Holding all other variables constant

Observe the impact on the Dependent Variable (DV)

Experimental Research

Example: Aggression & Alcohol

(IV): Alcohol-administered at different levels, doses

(DV):Aggressive behavior

Experimental Research

• ___________________ Participants:Partake of the treatment (example: members would ingest alcohol)

• _____________________: do not take the treatment

(example: do not ingest alcohol)*** all other conditions are held constant

(helps determine cause and effect)

Blinds and Double Blinds

Expectations:-Aggression may not have resulted from alcohol because individuals may have expectations of the effects of alcohol.

-People act in stereotypical ways when they believe they have been drinking alcohol.

(people may become less anxious in social situations, more aggressive, or more sexually aroused)

Placebo

“___________________” often results in the behavior that people expect.

•Physicians now and then give sugar pills to demanding, but healthy people. They often report they feel better.

Placebo

Example: Tonic water & alcohol• Giving participants placebo (tonic water) but they think they are drinking alcohol

• We can conclude that changes in behavior stem from their beliefs about alcohol, not the alcohol itself.

BlindWell-designed experiments control for the effects

of expectations by creating conditions under which participants are

___________________________

Double-Blind Studies

A study in which neither the participants nor the persons measuring results know who has

received the treatment.

The Brain

Day 4

The Brain

The ___________, or consciousness, dwells essentially

within the ____________.

Accidents• Brain damage can impair consciousness and awareness

• Brain damage can result in loss of vision, hearing, confusion, and memory

• Sensitively located smaller portions can result in language problems, memory loss, or death

Electrical Stimulation

• Electrical Stimulation of the Brain (ESB)-______________ of the brain are associated with specific types of ____________ or _________________-Ex: center of the brain (hypothalamus) linked to sexual and aggressive behavior

Lesions•An injury that results in __________________ or __________________________

• Specific knowledge: damage to different parts of limbic system can effect behavior (gentleness, rage, new memories)

Electroencephalograph

EEG:• An instrument that measures _____________________ of the brain

• Detects minute amounts of electrical activity (brain waves) that pass between the electrodes.

Electroencephalograph

EEG:•Brain waves associated with feelings of relaxation and various _____________________

• Use EEG to diagnose abnormal behavior

•EEG helps locate ___________

The CAT scanComputerized axial tomography

• ________________ passed through the head

• Amount of radiation measured• Three-dimensional view of the brain (detect brain damage, abnormalities)

• Option that replaces surgery

The PET scanPositron Emission Tomography

• Formation of a computer-generated image of the neural activity of parts of the brain by tracing the amount of ___________________used by the various parts.

The PET scan• Harmless radioactive compound (tracer) is mixed with glucose and injected into bloodstream

• Glucose reaches the brain• Patterns of brain activity are revealed (how active when listening to music, using languages, playing chess)

MRIMagnetic Resonance Imaging

•Formation of a computer-generated image of the anatomy of the brain by measuring the signals emitted when the head is placed in a strong magnetic field.

MRIMagnetic Resonance Imaging

• Relies on shifts in blood flow• Fast MRI has sharper images than PET scan

• Pinpoint parts of the brain that are active when subjects engage in activities (viewing shapes, reporting first verb that comes to mind when researchers say a noun)

The Brain

• ___________________________________

• Within the brain lies the potential for self-awareness and purposeful activity

• For every mental event such as a thought or feeling there are underlying biological events

Ethical Issues

Were the Milgram studies ethical? Why or why

not?

Research with People

Ethics review committees:A group found in an

institutional setting that helps researchers consider the potential harm of their methods and reviews proposed studies according to ethical

guidelines.

Research with People

__________________:The term used by psychologists

to indicate that a person has agreed to participate in

research after receiving information about the

purpose of the study and the nature of the treatments.

Research with People

___________________:Secret, not to be disclosed• Conflict-client threatens third party then psychologists obligated to warn the third party

Use of Deception

May use when:• _____________ outweigh the ________________

• Individuals would have participated if they understood the benefits of the research

• Participants receive explanation afterward

The Use of Deception

Arguments against deception:

•Can harm the research participant

•Ruin the reputation of a psychologist (less trustworthy)

Debriefed

•To elicit information about a just-completed procedure

•Helps to eliminate misconceptions and anxieties about the research

•Leave participants with their dignity intact

Research with Animals

• Still faced with ethical dilemma of harming animals

• Animals should be harmed only when there is no alternative and they believe that the benefits will justify the harm