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Chapter Two: The Research Enterprise in Psychology

Goals of the Scientific Enterprise. Measurement and Description. The goal of psychology is to develop measurement techniques that make it possible to describe behavior clearly and precisely.Theory. An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations. Hypothesis. A testable prediction relationship between two or more variables. A variable are any measurable thing that can be observed or measured.Operational definitions. A statement of the proce30550

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Chapter Two: The Research Enterprise in Psychology

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    1. Chapter Two: The Research Enterprise in Psychology Goals of the Scientific Enterprise Skepticism (testing claims before accepting them as fact) and humility (the willingness to reject you ideas when confronted with contradictory facts is the foundation in which the scientific method is founded. Critical thinking. Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions. Hindsight Bias.  The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. Overconfidence. The tendency to be more confident than correct - to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgments.

    2. Goals of the Scientific Enterprise Measurement and Description. The goal of psychology is to develop measurement techniques that make it possible to describe behavior clearly and precisely. Theory. An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations. Hypothesis. A testable prediction relationship between two or more variables. A variable are any measurable thing that can be observed or measured. Operational definitions. A statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables. Selecting a Research Method and Research Design. The researcher must select a strategy that appears to be the most practical and appropriate.

    3. Goals of the Scientific Enterprise - con’t Steps in a Scientific Investigation Data Collection. Data collection strategies for making empirical observations and measurements. Data Analysis and Conclusions. Replication. Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different subjects in different situations, to see whether the basic finding generalizes to other subjects and circumstances. Advantages of the Scientific Approach 1. Clarity and precision 2. Intolerance of error. Research methods consists of different approaches to the observations, measurement, manipulation, and control of variables in empirical studies.

    4. The Scientific Method Experimental and control conditions 1. Experimental condition - the condition or group in which subjects receive some amount of the independent variable. 2. Control condition - the condition or group in which subjects do not receive any amount of the independent variable. a.    Subjects are treated the same in all other respect and are similar to experimental condition subjects. b.    Random assignment balances individual differences among subjects between the two groups.          c.    A fake treatment or placebo controls for the expectation of control condition subjects.          d.    Independent variable. The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studies.        

    5. Experimental and control conditions - con’t e. Dependent variable. The behavior or mental process that is being measured; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable. 3. Experimenter effects. 1.    To control the effects of the expectations of subjects and experimenters.       a.    Single-blind studies - subjects don't know whether they are in the experimental or control group.        b.    Double-blind studies - neither experimenter nor subjects know which subjects are in which group. 2. Limitations of experimental research       1.    The setting is artificial and subject's behavior may differ from real life.       2.    Subject's behavior may be a reaction to the experimenter.

    6. Case Study 1.    General characteristics    a.  Detailed descriptions of particular individuals.     b.  Based on careful observations or psychological tests.        2.    Advantages    a.    Produce detailed pictures of individuals.    b.    Can illustrate psychological principles well.    c.    Help avoid practical or ethical difficulties. 3.    Disadvantages    a.    Rely on memories, that can be inaccurate    b.    Difficult to interpret.    c.    Cannot use to generalize about human behavior.    d.    They are not tests of hypotheses.

    7. Surveys 1.    Gather information by asking people directly. 2.    Potential problems with surveys.        a. Random sampling. Subjects should, but do not always, represent the larger population being described.                b. Volunteer bias - volunteers differs from non-volunteers. c.  Subjects may lie, forget or remember incorrectly. d.  Potential biases or ambiguities in wording of questions.                e. False consensus effect. The tendency to overestimate the extent to which other share our beliefs and behaviors.

    8. Correlation Studies Correlation is a way of measuring the strength of linear relationship between two variables. A.    Purpose and Definitions. 1. The purpose - to determine whether two or more phenomena are related, and if so, how strongly. 2.    Definition - numerical measure of the strength of the relationship.            3.    Variable - anything that can be measured, rated, or scored. B.    Characteristics of correlation          1.    Direction of a relationship between variables.                 a.  Positive correlation - high values of one variable are associated with high values of the other; low values of one variable are associated with low values of the other.                 b.  Negative correlation - high values of one variable are associated with low values of the other.                 c.   Uncorrelated - no relationship between two variables.        

    9. Correlation Studies - con’t 2. Strength of relationship between the two variables expressed as correlation. a.  Correlation coefficient - statistic used to express a relationship.   b.    Possible range of correlation coefficient is -1 to +1.        (1)   -1 indicates a strong negative relationship.        (2)   +1 indicates a strong positive relationship.        (3)    Zero indicates no relationship.        (4)    The closer to either +1 or -1, the stronger the relationship.        (5)    The closer to 0, the weaker the relationship.   Benefits and limitations of correlations.           1.    Benefit - allows one to predict from one variable to another.           2.    Limitation - cannot show causation.

    10. Correlation Studies - con’t Example 1: Correlation coefficient Scatterplot and the correlation coefficient Example 2: Correlation coefficients explanation Correlation coefficients measure the degrees of association between two sets of data and have values which range between -1.0 and +1.0. A correlation coefficient of -1.0 indicates a perfectly negative relationship between two sets of data; a zero correlation coefficient indicates purely random behavior (i.e., no association at all); and a +1.0 correlation coefficient indicates a perfectly positive relationship between the two sets of data. The higher the correlation coefficient (i.e., closer to +1.0), the more closely one data set mirrors another.

    11. Correlation Studies - con’t Positive correlation. If the correlation coefficient is positive, then there is a positive linear relationship between the two variables. The larger the value, the stronger the relationship. The range that the correlation coefficient can have is between 0 and 1, where 1 implies perfect positive linear association, and close to zero implies very poor or no linear relationship. Negative correlation. If the correlation coefficient is negative, then there is a negative linear relationship between the two variables. The larger the absolute value, the stronger the relationship. The range that the correlation coefficient can have is between 0 and -1, where -1 implies perfect negative linear association, and close to zero implies very poor or no linear relationship.

    12. Correlation Studies - con’t Zero correlation. A correlation coefficient of zero, or very close to zero implies no or very little linear association. Observational Studies 1.    General characteristics a.    Researchers observe behavior without interfering. b.    Involve many subjects. c.    Involve counting, rating or measuring specific behaviors.              (1) Systematic measuring reduces errors and biases.                   (2) Cross-checking by more than one rater occurs.            d.    Cannot explain behavior.  

    13. Observational Studies. 2.    Types of observational studies.     a.    Naturalistic observation.           (1)  Describes behavior in the natural environment.           (2)  Can be used to describe animals or humans.     b.    Laboratory observation              (1) Subjects observed in the laboratory.              (2)  Observation might cause subjects to alter behavior.

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    15. Statistical Reasoning Measures of Central Tendency Mode. The most frequently occurring score in a distribution Mean. The arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores. Median. The middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it. Range. The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution. Standard deviation. A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score. Statistical significance. A statistical criterion for rejecting the assumption of no difference in a particular study.

    16. ETHICAL ISSUES A.    American Psychological Association's ethical guidelines        1.    Dignity and welfare of subjects must be respected.        2.    Human subjects must voluntarily consent to participate.        3.    Subjects must know enough to make intelligent decision or informed consent.        4.    Subjects must be free to withdraw from a study at any time.        5.    Methods must follow governmental or institutional regulations.                See: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study B.    Two controversial issues         1.    Use of deception.                a.    Misleading subjects so the results are not affected.                b.    New guidelines govern use of deception.        2.    Use of animals               a.    Many purposes for conducting research using animals.               b.    Opposition has resulted in improved treatment and                      regulations.           

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