Psychology as a Science: The Scientific Method

Psychology as a Science: The Scientific Method

• The scientific method involves identifying a problem, gathering information, developing a hypothesis, designing and conducting experiments, analyzing data, formulating conclusions, and replicating the process.
• Identifying the problem involves defining the area of interest.
• Gathering information necessitates reviewing existing literature and theories of behavior related to the problem.
• Developing a hypothesis means creating a tentative statement about the relationship between variables, which must be falsifiable (testable).
• Designing and conducting experiments involves developing a method to test the hypothesis and collecting data.
• Analyzing data and formulating conclusions involves examining the results to determine if they support or refute the hypothesis.
• Replication involves repeating the experiment with different subjects to increase confidence in the results.
• Science evolves continuously and self-corrects.

Naturalistic Observation

• This research method involves observing behavior in the natural environment.
• The researcher does not interfere in any way.
• Operational definition describes how the variable is measured.
• Reactivity (Hawthorne effect) occurs when participants' behavior changes due to the awareness of being observed.
• Advantages include being a real-world study, providing insights that cannot be gathered in a lab, and the possibility of discovering new phenomena.

Disadvantages of Naturalistic Observation

• Researchers lack control over the environment and the many factors that influence behavior.
• Researchers can be biased by their theories, beliefs, and expectations.
• The presence of a researcher can influence the behaviors observed.
• This bias can be lessened by researchers blending in.

Surveys

• A survey is a method of gathering information from a large sample of people.
• It is not possible to survey every single person within a population.
• Data is collected through a sample.
• A representative sample is essential to generalize results to the entire population.
• Random sampling ensures every member of a population has an equal probability of being chosen.
• Simple random sampling involves selecting individuals from a population without consideration of group membership.
• Stratified random sampling involves selecting individuals from specific subgroups within a population.
• Advantages involve being cheap, easy to administer, and able to include people who are typically not included in research (e.g., illiterate individuals, people in remote locations).
• Disadvantages include the possibility of not obtaining truthful answers: words of a question can affect results; characteristics of the person asking the question can affect results; response bias, the tendency to answer in a particular way; acquiescent response bias, the tendency to agree with questions; socially desirable bias, the tendency to respond in a way seen as acceptable; and illusory superiority, the tendency to think our behavior is better than average.

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study

• This unethical study involved observing the natural progression of syphilis in African American men without treatment.
• This resulted in the preventable deaths of many participants and spread of the disease.

Ethical Principles in Research

• Researchers must strive to do good (beneficence) and avoid creating experiments that can harm (maleficence) participants.
• Psychologists must carefully weigh the potential benefits of the research against the costs to participants, and take measures to protect their mental and physical well-being.
• Psychologists should engage in accurate, honest, and unbiased practices in all aspects of their work.
• The Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews research proposals to ensure ethical practices.
• The IRB assesses research designs, informed consent procedures, risks, and benefits.

Correlational Research

• Correlational research attempts to determine if a relationship exists between two or more variables.
• Correlation measures the direction and strength of a relationship between two variables.
• Scatterplot graphs visual representation of correlation between two variables.
• Positive correlation: points tend to cluster in a direct line.
• Negative correlation: points cluster in an inverse direction.
• Strong correlation: data points cluster tightly together, close to the line.

Strength of Correlation

• Correlation coefficients range from -1 to +1.
• The numerical value represents the strength of the relationship between variables.
• The absolute value represents the magnitude of the correlation strength.
• The sign (+ or -) indicates the direction of the correlation.

Experimental Variables

• Experimental research allows observation, description, prediction, and explanation of cause-and-effect relationships.
• Independent variable is manipulated.
• Dependent variable is the variable affected by the independent variable.
• Extraneous variables are uncontrolled factors that may influence the outcome.
• Researchers manipulate and control variables.
• Research is conducted in the lab and/or in real-world setting (field experiments).

Experimental and Control Groups

• Experimental group receives the treatment.
• Control group does not receive the treatment to serve as a comparison.
• Placebo effect is a phenomenon where participants' response is affected by their belief about the treatment, rather than the treatment itself.

Describing Data: Central Tendency

• Descriptive statistics summarize data.
• Mean: average score.
• Median: middle score.
• Mode: most frequent score.

Explore the essential steps of the scientific method in psychology, including problem identification, hypothesis development, and data analysis. This quiz will test your understanding of how scientific inquiry informs psychological research and its self-correcting nature.