Chapter 3Planning Research

How Do Research Ideas Develop?

• Continuum of informal to formal ideas– Reacting to everyday events– Applying research to solve applied problems– Following up on previous research– Testing well-developed theories

How Do Research Ideas Develop?

Informal Formal

“This is interesting. I’d like to know moreabout it!”

“We have a problemto solve. Let’s figureout the best way todo it.”

“Our earlier projectanswered some ofour questions, butthere are still someunansweredquestions.”

“The theory sayspeople should act thisway. Let’s test thetheory.”

Informal Formal

“This is interesting. I’d like to know moreabout it!”

“We have a problemto solve. Let’s figureout the best way todo it.”

“Our earlier projectanswered some ofour questions, butthere are still someunansweredquestions.”

“The theory sayspeople should act thisway. Let’s test thetheory.”

about it!”do it.”

questions.”

theory.”

How Do Research Ideas Develop?

• The effect of theory– Psychologists who subscribed to behavioral theory

to regarded animal behavior as a useful substitute for human behavior in research

– More cognitively oriented psychologists are less likely to view animal research as being as important as in the past.

How Do Research Ideas Develop?

Reasons for decreases in animal research– People are more sensitized to issues of ethics in

animal research– Changes in theory, away from behavioral theory

to cognitive theory

The Theory Behind Research Ideas

Percentage of articles by decade published in key psychology journals that include keywords associated with cognitive, behavioral, psychoanalytic, and neuroscience perspectives.

Source: Spear, J. H. (2007). Prominent schools or other active specialties? A fresh look at some trends in psychology. Review of General Psychology, 11, 363-380. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.11.4.363. Copyright American Psychological Association. Reprinted with permission.

How Can You Generate Research Ideas?

Ways to Generate Research Ideas

Studying spontaneously occurring events

Studying the validity of everyday beliefs and when these beliefs break down

Evaluating formal if-then statements

Using previous research as a stepping stone

Testing theory

How Can You Generate Research Ideas?

• Cultural Issues– Do classic findings hold true across cultures?– What aspects of culture are responsible for

differences across groups?– Are methodologies that are appropriate for one

cultural group also appropriate for different cultural groups?

The Virtual Laboratory—Research on the Internet

• Increasing amounts of internet research– Surveys and correlational research dominate

internet research– Smaller amount of experimental research

involving manipulation of variables

The Virtual Laboratory—Research on the Internet

• Technical and logistic considerations– Formatting web pages to fit different devices that

access the internet– Establishing the population that is on the internet– Increasing or maintaining respondent motivation

The Virtual Laboratory—Research on the Internet

Area of Psychology Examples of Internet-Based Research

Social Psychology Attractiveness of facesJudgments of social situations

Health Psychology Eating disorders and family relationshipsSelf-medication with over-the-counter medication

Forensic Psychology Perceptions of sexual assaultEyewitness recognition

Sexuality Gender-related attitudesSexual health of college students

Cognition Memories for songsDecision making

These are examples on the Hanover College website of different types of research projects with data collection on the internet. The research changes, with new projects appearing regularly.

The Virtual Laboratory—Research on the Internet

Ethical considerations in Internet ResearchInformed consent may be hard to verifyDebriefing may not be feasible and it may not be guaranteedInvasion of privacy may occur if people are not interested in participating but receive solicitationsResearch with minors is not legal without parental consent; you don’t know how old your participants really are

The Virtual Laboratory—Research on the Internet

• Sex– Women—78% (+8%)– Men—78% (+7%)

• Age– 18-29—95% (+8%)– 30-49—87% (+4%)– 50-64—74% (+9%)– 65+--62% (+30%)

• Ethnicity– White, Non-Hispanic--79% (+6%)– Black, Non-Hispanic--67% (+5%)– English-speaking Hispanic--78% (0%)

• Income– Under $30,000/yr—55% (+8%)– $30,000-49,000—69 %(-4%)– $50,000-74,999—90% (+8%)– $75,000+--93% (+4%)

What percentage of the population was on the internet in 2011 (and the change since 2007)?

The Virtual Laboratory—Research on the Internet

Do people respond to internet surveys?

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Percent R

esponse

Magazine Hyperlink Newsgroup Individual email

Means of Contacting Respondents

Source: Schillewaert, N., Langerak, F., & Duhamel, T. (1998). Non-probability sampling for WWW surveys: A comparision of methods. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 21, 55-70. © 1998 American Educational Research Association. Adapted with permission.

The Virtual Laboratory—Research on the Internet

Advantages to Research on the Internet

Saves time for the researcher

People can participate at any time

Data collection is automatic and accurate

Wider samples of people are possible than in traditional laboratory research

The Virtual Laboratory—Research on the Internet

Potential problems with internet research

Impossible to respond to questions participants might haveRemote participants might provide low-quality data

Computer users do not reflect the entire population

There are new ethical concerns

Presentation difficulties on different internet devices

The Virtual Laboratory—Research on the Internet

• Are potential problems with internet research serious?– In general, researchers have found that internet-

generated data are comparable to those in traditional formats.

Checking on Research: ReplicationThe value of replication

Checking on reliability of research results

Providing additional support for theories

Increasing construct validity of concepts being testedProtecting against fraudulent or fabricated data

Checking on Research: Replication

Types of replication– Exact replication—Doing the study as it was

originally conducted– Replication with extension—Repeating the study

but adding some new procedures– Conceptual replication—Addressing the same

question but from a different approach

Checking on Research: Replication

The literature review– Finding out about results of previous research– Discovering how other researchers have

conducted their research– Borrowing techniques from other researchers

Controversy: Does Music Make You Smarter?

• Researchers found that test scores improved when participants listened to Mozart.

• Other researchers wondered if the results would replicate.

• Subsequent research showed that the “Mozart Effect” was due to factors like mood and motivation, not to the music itself.

• Replication helped resolve the controversy.

How To Conduct A Literature Review

• Electronic Data bases, including PsycINFO describe published research

• There are ways to make search strategies in PsycINFO more effective so you find enough useful information but not too much

How To Read A Journal ArticleUnderstanding the format of a journal article

Abstract—An overview of the entire project

Introduction—Background on previous, related research; description of the researcher’s hypothesis

Method—Description of participants, materials, and procedureResults—Presentation of data and statements of what the researchers discovered

Discussion—Conclusions and implications based on the results