developing hypotheses ch2 sp 12

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Developing the Research Hypothesis

Chapter 2

Dr. Mara Aruguete



Objectives

1. Describe how researchers get ideas about whatto study. Describe how to find good sources inscientific literature.

2. Describe theories and hypotheses. What makesa good theory/hypothesis?

3. Describe how theories and hypotheses lead toscientific progress.

4. Describe the parts of a research article.5. Explain ethical research practices for human andanimal research.



Objective 1

• Describe how researchers get ideas about

what to study. Describe how to find good

sources in scientific literature.



Getting Ideas: Practical problems

• What are some of the problems you encounter atschool or work?

– What are some potential solutions?

– Can you test if the solutions work?

– E.g., employees don’t recycle

• What existing programs are not currently beingtested for efficacy?

–

E.g., LU’s new orientation system, Moodle – How can you turn these into research projects?



Getting Ideas: Using Intuition/Observation

• What things have struck you as interesting?

• What do you believe to be true?

•

E.g., – LU student morale is tightly tied to food quality

– Class performance can be predicted by class attendance and tardiness

– Prayer calms anxiety before tests

– Working in interracial groups makes racism go down

• How can these topics be turned into research projects?



Try it Yourself

• You notice that whenever you drive up to your

house after having been away for a while,

your dog is in the window awaiting your

arrival. You mention this observation to a

friend and he says, "Your dog is clearly

psychic."

1. Provide an alternative to your friend'sexplanation for your observation.

2. Describe a method that might be used to test

your alternative explanation.



Getting Ideas: Building on Existing

Research• Knowledge gives way to research ideas

– The best way to find a research topic is to read about something thatinterests you

– Replication – repeating some or all of a study• well respected in science

• PsychInfo, PsychArticles & other databases – Abstracts

– Primary sources (vs. secondary)

– Peer-reviewed research articles

– Interlibrary loan can get full articles

• Internet Tools – Look for websites ending in .edu, .gov, and .org (NOT .com or .net)

– Google Scholar for primary sources

– http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1M3APR/www.wonktools.com/

– http://www.webpages.ttu.edu/areifman/qic.htm

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1M3APR/www.wonktools.com/

http://www.webpages.ttu.edu/areifman/qic.htm

http://www.webpages.ttu.edu/areifman/qic.htm

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1M3APR/www.wonktools.com/



How can you develop a study from

this existing descriptive research?



Objective 2

Describe theories and hypotheses. What

makes a good theory/hypothesis?



What is a Theory?

• What do you

think?

• In pairs: Define it.

– Use “theory” in a

sentence.



What is a Theory?

• A set of related constructs that

predicts and/or explains a variety

of events• Parts of a theory

(1) Measurable constructs of interest

(2) Relations among constructs

• Can be causal or predictive



Example of a Theory

• E.g., Children’s misbehavior is caused

reinforcement for inappropriate behaviors.

– constructs are: misbehavior,

reinforcement, and inappropriate behavior

• Can these constructs be measured ?(e.g.

Children’s misbehavior = speaking while the

teacher is addressing the class)

– a causal relationship is proposed to occur

under certain conditions

• Experiment used to test causality

• Independent (manipulated) and dependent

(measured)variables



Another Example

• Theory: Repeated failure is likelyto result in feelings of helplessness that lead to

inaction.• Constructs?

– Measures?

• Relations?

– Can you think of multiple ways totest this theory?



Hypotheses

• An "if-then" statement for aparticular experiment

• More specific and testable

than the theory• The results of research will

either support or notsupport the hypothesis



Example of a Theory + Hypothesis

• E.g, theory of Diffusion of Responsibility says that as

the number of people increases in a setting, the less

each person feels responsible for their own behavior

• E.g., a hypothesis might be that crowded classrooms

in inner city schools negatively impacts child

achievement

• Name another hypothesis



What makes a Good Theory?

• A good theory is:

1) General – explains manyevents

2) Simple – explains in theeasiest way possible

3) Productive – results inmany research studies

4) Falsifiable – possible forresearch to show that it iswrong

Santa brings presents on

Christmas…only if you are good



Example: Testing and falsifiability

• 1793 - epidemic of Yellow Fever hitPhiladelphia

– Spread by mosquitoes, leads to liver failure

– Treated with bloodletting

• How could they believe in BLOODLETTING?

– The rationale: if the patient got better, then thebloodletting was working; and if the patientdied, then the disease was too advanced for thepatient to have been helped

• The trap: the method of testing made it

impossible to conclude that the treatmentdid not work

Glore Psychiatric

Museum

St. Joseph, MO



Pitfall of the bloodletting theory:

• The theory was

unfalsifiable

– No matter what

happened, the theory was

supported

Diagram of places where

blood could be let

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Bloodletting_276px.jpg



Another Example: Our Copy Machine

• 1) Some people in our Department believe that the copymachine jams because it is too hot.

• 2) When it jams, people say it was too hot (too many copieshave been made).

• 3) When it doesn’t jam, people say it “is about to jam” or “it isnot hot enough”



Pseudoscience

• Freudian Theory

– An unconscious mind motivates some behavior

– How can it be tested?

• Intelligent Design – Life on earth is so complicated, it must have been designed

by an intelligent agent

– How can it be tested?

• Mini Theories

– They contradict one another!



Unfalsifiable mini-theories

• "absence makes the heart grow fonder"

• "out of sight, out of mind”

• "it's better to be safe than sorry"

•

"nothing ventured, nothing gained";• "opposites attract"

• "birds of a feather flock together”

• "two heads are better than one”

•

"too many cooks spoil the broth” • "never put off until tomorrow what you can do today”

• "cross that bridge when you come to it"



Objective 3

• Describe how theories and hypotheses lead to

scientific progress.



A simple model of scientific progress:

• 1) Theories are put forth and hypotheses are derived from

them

• 2) Hypotheses are tested using a number of techniques which

we will get to later in this class

• 3) If the hypotheses are supported, then the theory receives

some confirmation

• 4) If the hypotheses are not supported then the theory must

be altered or discarded



Objective 4

• Describe the parts of a research article.



Anatomy of a research article

• Abstract- short summary of entire paper (heavy onresults)

• Introduction – Introduces problem, reviews pastresearch, states hypotheses

•

Method – describes participants and procedures(enough detail to replicate)• Results – answers each hypothesis in a narrative and

statistical form (don’t worry if you don’t completelyunderstand the stats)

•

Discussion – Were the hypotheses supported? If not,why not? How does past research compare? Whatare the limitations? Future research considerations?



Objective 5

• Explain ethical research practices for human

and animal research.



Ethics Codes

–Scientific societies (e.g., APA) andgovernment agencies have formedtheir own ethics codes

–Every University has its own code»Institutional Review Board (IRB)



Ethics Codes

•Three principles of ethics codes:

1. Beneficence

• Cost/benefit analysis: Maximizebenefits, minimize costs

•

Minimize pain2. Respect for persons

• Informed consent – Ps must knowenough to make decisions aboutwhether they want to participate

• No coersion

3. Justice

• Selection of Ps must be scientifically justifiable



Informed Consent Form

• Used when there are costs associatedwith research. Includes:

– Purpose and duration of study

– Risks/benefits

– Confidentiality

– Anonymity (if applicable)

– Right to refuse/stop participation

– Contact information for researcher/IRB

HIRING STUDY



PARTICIPATION CONSENT FORM

The purpose of this study is to investigate how variations in job interviews affect hiring decisions and

attitudes about applicants. If you choose to participate in the study, you will be shown a seven minute videotaped

job interview. After viewing the videotape, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire packet which asks about

your background information (e.g. age, gender), information about what you saw in the videotape, your social

attitudes, your attitudes toward the candidate, and how likely you would be to hire the candidate. Viewing the

videotape and completing the questionnaires will take about 25-30 minutes. Approximately 200 students will participate in this study.

If you participate in this study, the benefits you may receive are limited to increasing your

understanding of the research process. You may experience an inconvenience associated with the time taken to

watch the videotape and fill out questionnaires. We will attempt to compensate for this inconvenience by awarding

you extra credit points in one of your classes. If you do not wish to participate in this study, ask your instructor

about earning the extra credit points in an alternative way.

You are NOT REQUIRED to participate in this study. If you elect to participate, you do so of your

own free will. You are free to quit at any time and there are no negative consequences associated with your quitting

the study.

If you participate in this study, your responses to all questions will be kept completely private and

confidential.

You may ask any questions you have about this research before, during, or after your participation. For

questions concerning the research, please contact Dr. Mara Aruguete, Stephens College, (573) 876-7129.

You may ask any questions you have about your rights as a research participant before, during, or after your

participation. For questions concerning your rights as a research participant please contact Dr. Lois Bichler,Stephens College, (573) 876-7227.

____________________________________________________________________________

I have read the above information and am consenting, with my signature, to participate in this study.

Signature ____________________________________

Name (Please print)_____________________________

If under 18 years old:

Parent/Guardian Signature:________________________



Deception

• Many studies withhold information about the truepurpose of the study

– Giving away information sometimes changes behavior

• Deception – When researchers lie about the

purpose (Milgram’s study) – Unethical to deceive about pain

• Debriefing - If deception, Ps must be provided withan explanation ASAP



Animal Research

• Most animals in psychological research are not

harmed or killed

• IRBs and ethics codes regulate treatment

which includes minimizing pain and suffering



Communicating with the public

• Fraud – faking data

– Data must be available to other

scientists

• Plagiarism – using someoneelse’s work without credit

– Extremely bad

• In this class you will receive an Ffor either of these



Questionable practices regarding

research participants



Your group is the IRB

• A General Psychology teacher asks his students toparticipate in a study of the effects of traumaticpictures on memory. – The study takes 3 hours, participation is voluntary

– But, students are offered 150 points (almost 2 letter grades) if they participate

• Is there an ethical problem?

• Explain.




• A researcher wants to study the effects of saturated

fat on heart disease. He recruits subjects in

homeless shelters. One group is fed a diet high in

saturated fat. The other is fed a normal diet. – Is there an ethical problem?

– Explain.




• To investigate how White and Black Americansbehave while in a group dominated by the otherrace, researchers made groups of four with

differing racial compositions and had them workon tasks together.

– Ps were told a lie (that they were helpingresearchers to develop and evaluate testing

methods). – Ethical Problem? Explain.




• One study tested drivers' reactions to hazardous

situations. People were driving along and as their

car passed a construction site, a realistic dummy fell

into the path of a car too late for the driver to avoidhitting it.

• Ethical Problem? Explain.




• In the early 1960's a Head Start was begun to

provide compensatory education for children

from economically and educationally

disadvantaged homes.• Control group of children did not receive treatment for 5 years

despite obvious performance differences.

– Ethical Problem? Explain.

developing hypotheses ch2 sp 12

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