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“Doing” Psychology: Research strategies

“Doing” Psychology: Research strategies. Why is research important?. It gives reliable and systematic ways to answer psychological questions like: How do I analyze dreams? Why are boys so weird? Other sources of info like the media can be biased. What Is research?. Types of Research:

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“Doing” Psychology: Research strategies

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  1. “Doing” Psychology: Research strategies

  2. Why is research important? • It gives reliable and systematic ways to answer psychological questions like: • How do I analyze dreams? • Why are boys so weird? • Other sources of info like the media can be biased

  3. What Is research? • Types of Research: • -Observation • -Case Studies • -Correlational Study • -Survey • -Longitudinal Study • -Cross Sectional Study • -Experiments (MOST powerful research technique)

  4. Observation • Just look at what people do! • Problem: Sometimes you can’t see the whole picture.

  5. Case Studies • Studies single individuals in depth • Problem: doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone.

  6. Correlational study • 2 variables increase or decrease together. • Problem: Correlation DOESN’T = Causation!

  7. Survey Method

  8. Longitudinal Study • Follows same group of people over a long period of time. • Problems: Takes a long time, expensive and difficult to conduct.

  9. Cross-Sectional Study • Compares people of different ages at the same time.

  10. Experiments • Most powerful research method. • Researchers control certain variables to observe the effects of other variables. • They must isolate one variable to be sure that it is the cause of an event.

  11. How does an experiment work? • Develop A Hypothesis • Create and define the Independent Variable (IV) and the Dependent Variable (DV) • Randomly select participants • Randomly assign control group. • Expose experimental groupto IV(maybe use placebo on control group) • Control for confounding variables • Learn effect of IV by measuring DV for both groups • Use statistical analysis to determine whether differences in DV are a result of the IV

  12. Other things to keep in mind • Watch out for confounding variables • Double-Blind: subject and administrator don’t know what they are testing for • Placebo Effect: Any pill will effect me! • Replication: If I did the experiment again, would I get the same results?

  13. Research Ethics • Human: informed consent; no harm or discomfort caused; confidentiality; debriefing AFTER experiment is over • Animals: Don’t have to worry so much but you can’t hurt them

  14. Understanding research • As you watch Phil’s movie, answer the following questions to help you learn about how psychologists do research: • Why is sample size important to consider when conducting an experiment? • How many factors should be altered in a valid experiment? • What is the difference between correlation and causation? • In what circumstances could a polygraph test work? • List 7 things to look out for when evaluating the validity of an experiment.

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