Week 2 - Research Methods Notes PDF

2023-09-14 PSYC 1400 WEEK 2: RESEARCH METHODS PART 2 1 Class Outline  Scientific Method  Research Methods   Descriptive (Observational) methods  Correlational methods  Experimental methods  Class Discussion: Design an Experiment  Assignment 2: Name that Method Research Ethic...

2023-09-14 PSYC 1400 WEEK 2: RESEARCH METHODS PART 2 1 Class Outline  Scientific Method  Research Methods   Descriptive (Observational) methods  Correlational methods  Experimental methods  Class Discussion: Design an Experiment  Assignment 2: Name that Method Research Ethics  Core principles  Assignment 2: Ethical Dilemmas 2 Social Psychology: An Empirical Science Can properly answer questions about behaviour by conducting scientific research:  Folk wisdom & personal hunches often too contradictory  Social science findings often seem obvious  Hindsight is 20/20 (remember hindsight bias) is making predictions before you know the outcome of the research  Key 3 1 2023-09-14 The Scientific Method  The scientific method is the best way yet discovered for separating the truth from delusion  Ultimately, the scientific method is a method for generating accurate knowledge 4 Formulating Hypotheses and Theories Theory: Organized set of principles used to explain observed phenomena  Hypothesis: Hunch, educated guess, something to test empirically  Research process: Scan existing research, develop hypotheses, test hypotheses, develop/refine theory, formulate new hypotheses…  5 Psychological Research: Three Main Types Descriptive Correlational Experimental • Description of variables • Non-causative • Observation/recording of variables • Non-causative • Manipulation of variables • Experimental control • Causative 6 2 2023-09-14 Descriptive Methods DESCRIBING WHAT YOU’VE OBSERVED 7 Descriptive Methods  Involves observing phenomena  Often in naturalistic environments   Examples:  Interview research  Case studies Allows researchers to gather very detailed information  Often about a small number of individuals 8 Observational Methods (Descriptive)  Researcher observes people and systematically records measurements of their behaviour  Variation in the degree to which the researcher becomes involved in the situation:  Naturalistic  Participatory  No involvement, just watching situation  Active involvement in situation 9 3 2023-09-14 Correlational Methods UNDERSTANDING RELATIONSHIPS 10 Correlations: Goal is Prediction Correlational Methods:  Typically: Surveys/Questionnaires  Correlational findings are reported as correlation coefficients  What is a correlation coefficient?  A numerical calculation of the strength and direction of the relationship between 2 (or more) variables 11 The Correlational Method  Goal: To understand the relationships between variables  Correlation: Two variables systematically measured  Correlations can be positive or negative 12 4 2023-09-14 Correlation Direction and Strength Correlation coefficients range from -1 to +1 Positive correlation  As one variable increases, the other variable also increases  Negative correlation  As one variable increases, the other variable decreases  No correlation  Correlation coefficient is close to zero   ___________________________________________________ -1 0 Negative No Correlation Correlation +1 Positive Correlation 13 Understanding Correlations  Newspaper headline:  “Video games increase violent behaviour”  Is this an accurate statement?  Does playing video games actually cause a violent and aggressive behaviour?  If so, how, specifically?  We need to read the full article, to understand what kind of study was done… 14 Answer: NO (if the study is correlational)  What this headline is most likely referring to is a correlational relationship some kinds of video games are related to some measures of violent behaviour, according to some research  i.e.,  Most common way of studying this: survey people about how much time they spend playing video games and how aggressive they are  Observational/descriptive and correlational methods CANNOT tell us about causation 15 5 2023-09-14 Correlation Does not Equal Causation!!  Possible Relationships:  Video games  Aggression (causal explanation)  Aggression  Video games (not as likely, but still plausible)  Something else is at play…i.e., some third variable may be responsible for the relationship between these 2 variables  What might that third variable be??? 16 What Else Could be Behind this Relationship?  Alternative Explanations  Aggressive personality  Aggressive  Aggressive personality  Enjoy violent media behaviour (e.g., video games)  So maybe people who are already predisposed to violence are also attracted to playing violent video games  Maybe it’s not the video games themselves that causes anything 17 Confounds: Alternate Explanations  A confound is any extraneous variable that can influence the relationship between 2 other variables  Example: There is a positive correlation between ice cream eating and shark attacks (seriously, there is)  Does this mean that consuming ice cream makes us tastier to sharks?  i.e.,  does eating ice cream cause sharks to attack us? What is a possible confound in this relationship? 18 6 2023-09-14 Summary: Correlations  Correlations describe the relationships between variables  They are either positive or negative, and vary in strength  They do NOT describe cause and effect  They are often the only way we can describe how things are related  i.e., some variables can’t be manipulated to examine causal relationships 19 Experimental Methods ESTABLISHING CAUSE & EFFECT 20 Experimental Method  Goal: To assess cause and effect relationships  Randomly assign people to conditions  Ensure conditions are identical except for experimental manipulation (independent variable)  Measure the outcome of interest (dependent variable) 21 7 2023-09-14 Random Assignment  Experimental participants are always randomly assigned to experimental conditions  This means that everyone has an equal chance of winding up in any of the conditions  The result is that each experimental group has a random mix of people  Failure to randomly assign can lead to the influence of confounds 22 Independent Variable(s)  The variable(s) experimenters manipulate  The purpose of manipulating the IV is to assess the influence of a particular variable on some outcome (e.g., behaviours, thoughts, etc.)  Must be at least two levels, in order to examine the effects of the variable  Can do presence/absence of variable (experimental vs control groups)  Can also examine multiple levels, to assess the strength of the effects 23 Dependent Variable(s)  The outcome variable(s) measured by researchers  Can be only one, or many  The data that researchers will analyze to examine differences among the experimental groups 24 8 2023-09-14 Back to our example: Video Games and Aggression  How could we establish whether or not playing video games causes an increase in aggressive behaviour?  How could we study this with descriptive methods?  How could we study this with correlational methods? 25 How Could We Study This?  Descriptive:  We could observe children while playing video games and describe if they seem to be aggressive or not  Correlational:  We could measure children’s school behaviour (e.g., ask teachers if they are aggressive or not) and ask whether or not they play video games Would either of these methods tell us whether or not video game playing increases aggression? …So how could we study this experimentally? Group discussion exercise 26 Group Discussion: Experimental Methods  Try to think of ways that we could experimentally study whether or not video games increase aggressiveness  What is your independent variable? Your dependent variable?  You must avoid confounds  What are some ethical implications of what you are proposing? 27 9 2023-09-14 Group Exercise: Name that Method  For this exercise, we’re going to work through two example research designs and as a group, discuss what type of method is being described, what the variables being studied are, and what the hypothesis of the study might be 28 Name that Method #1 A researcher is interested in the relationship between caffeine consumption and level of stress. S/he has participants keep a diary for one week during which they count the number of cups of coffee, tea, and cola-based soft drinks they consume, as well as recording consumption of chocolate and medications that have caffeine as an ingredient. In addition, participants complete a measure of “daily hassles” experienced during the week. _____Observational _____Correlational ______Experimental Variables: Hypothesis: 29 Name that Method #2 A pair of psychologists are interested in the effects of mood on helping (based on Isen & Levin, 1972). They go to shopping malls and set up observation near telephone booths. Their participants are individuals who use the phone booths when the vicinity is otherwise unoccupied. For half of the participants, the researchers leave a dime to be found in the coin slot of the pay-phone. For all of the participants, when the phone call is completed and the person leaves the telephone booth, a confederate walks by the booth, and drops a file folder full of papers. The researchers watch to see if the participants help pick up the dropped papers. _____Observational _____Correlational ______ Experimental Variables: Hypothesis: 30 10 2023-09-14 Assignment 2 – Part 1  Now you’re going to work through two more studies on your own  Once you’ve answered all of the questions for the two studies, get into groups/pairs and compare your answers (then adjust if necessary) 31 Name that Method - 1 STUDY 1. Researchers (Reifman, Larrick, and Fein, 1988) were interested in the factors causing aggression. They looked at an entire baseball season’s worth of news reports. For each game, they recorded the temperature of the locale, and the number of batters who were hit by pitched balls. Type of study: _____Observational _____Correlational ______ Experimental Why did you choose that type of study? Variables: Hypothesis being tested: 32 Name that Method - 2 STUDY 2. Researchers are interested in influences on self-esteem. Half of the participants used in this study are male, and half are female. Participants are given a set of anagram problems to solve in a 5-minute time limit. Half are randomly assigned to receive very easy anagrams, and half are given difficult ones. After completing as many of the anagrams as they can, participants are given a questionnaire labelled “Thoughts and Feelings Questionnaire” that is really a measure of self-esteem. Type of study: _____Observational _____Correlational ______ Experimental Why did you choose that type of study? Variables: Hypothesis being tested: 33 11 2023-09-14 Establishing Validity TYPES OF EXTERNAL VALIDITY 34 External Validity  The extent to which research findings can be generalized outside of the research laboratory - to other people and places  Generalizability across situations means that results will apply outside of the experimental setting  Creating realism:  Experimental  Mundane realism (psychological realism) realism 35 Generalizability: Issues  Random selection:  Ensuring that a sample of people are representative of the population  Giving everyone in the population an equal chance of being selected for the sample  Problems:  Too expensive and impractical for most social psychology experiments  Usually limited to student samples 36 12 2023-09-14 Mundane Realism  Extent to which an experiment is similar to real-world situations  Laboratory is often seen as artificial  Cannot claim people would behave the same way in real life 37 Experimental (or Psychological) Realism  Extent to which the psychological processes triggered by the experiment are like those triggered in realworld situations Stanford Prison Experiment  Simply Psychology article with video clips: https://www.simplypsychology. org/zimbardo.html  BBC documentary: https://www.youtube.com/wat ch?v=F4txhN13y6A Cover story:  A deceptive description of the experiment’s purpose  Used to maintain psychological (experimental) realism 38 Research Ethics 39 13 2023-09-14 Research Ethics  All psychology researchers follow a strict ethical code that guides our research  Based on 4 core principles  Respect for human dignity  Concern for welfare (particularly vulnerable persons)  Privacy and  Justice confidentiality of information and inclusiveness  Tri-Council policy (SSHRC, NSERC, CIHR) 40 Ethical Issues in Social Psychology Informed consent:  Researchers explain the nature of the experiment to participant and obtain consent prior to start of research  Research should always strive for full informed consent and use it where possible 41 Ethical Issues in Social Psychology Use of deception in research:  Need for deception  Types of deception  Withholding hypotheses  Misdirection (e.g., second-study paradigm) 42 14 2023-09-14 Ethical Issues in Social Psychology Debriefing:  Explaining the true purpose of the study to participants after completion of the experiment  If necessary, apologize for and explain need for any deception used during debriefing 43 Additional Ethical Safeguards  Anonymity/confidentiality issues  Aggregate data  No risk of physical or psychological harm  Free to withdraw at any time  Full disclosure of aggregate results 44 Assignment 2 Part 2: Ethical Dilemma #1 Study #1. A social psychologist sits in a crowded bar all evening and records the number of people who came into the bar alone who leave alone or who leave with someone else, and the time at which they left. ________ ethical ________ cannot decide ________ unethical 45 15 2023-09-14 Group Exercise: Ethical Dilemma #2 Study #2. A team of researchers is interested in studying helping behaviour. They stage a scene in a subway in which a confederate falls off his seat and bleeds from the mouth. The dependent variable is how quickly bystanders help the “victim.” The bystanders are never told they have been in an experiment. ________ ethical ________ cannot decide ________ unethical 46 16