Essential Questions

• How do psychologists use the scientific method to study behavior and mental processes?

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of the different research methods?

• How do psychologists draw appropriate conclusions about behavior from research?

We are

here

The Science of Psychology

Approaches to Psych

Growth of

Psych

Research

Methods Statistics

Descriptive Correlation Experiment

Case Study

Survey

Naturalistic Observation

Descriptive Inferential

Ethics

Sampling

Careers

We are

here

The Science of Psychology

Approaches to Psych

Growth of

Psych

Research

Methods Statistics

Descriptive Experiment

Case Study

Survey

Naturalistic Observation

Descriptive Inferential

Ethics

Sampling

Correlation

Careers

Research Methods

1. Description – gathering evidence about A and B

2. Correlation – A and B are related3. Experiment – A causes B

Descriptive Research DESCRIBES

Descriptive Research

• Purpose – To describe what is in reality• Strengths

– Certain descriptive research methods can be quick– You can generalize (apply to more than just those from

which you sampled) your findings with some descriptive research methods

• Weaknesses– Can’t help you predict – Can’t give you cause and effect– Each descriptive research method has their own

weaknesses as well

Be curious!

1. Does involvement in HS athletics improve academic performance?

2. Does excessive texting impede face-to-face relationships?

3. Does personality influence musical preferences?

4. Do ads portraying unrealistic body types reduce the self-image of the viewer?

5. Does student consumption of caffeine in the morning improve first period grades?

6. Does gamification of the classroom improve increase student engagement?

7. Does a community service requirement positively or negatively impact student opinions of community service?

8. Do teacher websites improve student performance in class?

9. Does focus on minor rules (flip-flops and hats) reduce student adherence to major rules (insubordination or class cutting)?

Be curious!

We are

here

The Science of Psychology

Approaches to Psych

Growth of

Psych

Research

Methods Statistics

Descriptive Experiment

Case Study

Survey

Naturalistic Observation

Descriptive Inferential

Ethics

Sampling

Correlation

Careers

Case Studies

• What is it? Study of a single individual or just a few individuals in order to describe their situation.

• Purpose? Take advantage of situation that you can not replicate (make happen again)

• How? Gather as much evidence as you can: Observation, scores on psychological tests, interviews, medical records etc.

Case Studies

• Tells us a great story…but is just descriptive research.

*The ideal case study is John and Kate. Really interesting, but what does it tell us about families in general?

Two most famous case studies in psychology

Phineas Gage

Genie

The Lost Children of Rockdale County

• Studied a Syphilis epidemic at a high school in an affluent suburb of Atlanta

We are

here

The Science of Psychology

Approaches to Psych

Growth of

Psych

Research

Methods Statistics

Descriptive Experiment

Case Study

Survey

Naturalistic Observation

Descriptive Inferential

Ethics

Sampling

Correlation

Careers

• Respond to each of the following statements with a number from 1= strongly agree to 7= strongly disagree. 

_____ 1. I oppose raising taxes._____ 2. The primary task of the government

should be to keep citizens safe from terrorism & crime.

_____ 3. I regularly perform routine maintenance on my car.

_____ 4. I make it a practice to never lie._____ 5. Monogamy (not cheating on my

significant other) is important to me._____ 6. How often do you exercise?1 2 3

Infrequently Occasionally Often

• Respond to each of the following statements with a number from 1= strongly agree to 7= strongly disagree.

_____ 1. I’d be willing to pay a few extra dollars in taxes to provide high-quality education to all kids.

_____ 2. The primary task of the government should be to preserve citizens’ rights & civil liberties._____ 3. Sometimes I don’t change the oil in my car on time._____ 4. Like all human beings, I occasionally tell a white lie._____ 5. Sexual freedom is important to me._____ 6. In the last 6 months, how often have you

engaged in at least 20 minutes of aerobic activity?1=Almost Never. 2=Less than once/week. 3=once/week4= 2x/week. 5= 3x/week. 6= 4x/week. 7= +4x/week

Survey

Wording can change the results of a survey.

Q: Should cigarette ads and pornography be allowed on television? (not allowed vs. forbid)

Wording Effect

Surveys– A technique for

ascertaining the self-reported attitudes, opinions or behaviors of people usually by questioning a representative, random sample of people.

Strength: Can generate a lot of information for a fairly low cost

Weakness: Questions must be constructed carefully so as to not elicit socially appropriate answers or the wording effect. Plus, people could lie!

Non-response/Volunteer Bias

• Women and Love study done by Shere Hite (1974)• 98% Dissatisfied in their Marriage• 75% Extramarital Affairs

• But to all of those who were mailed surveys only 4% responded.

When randomly sampled

• 93% of women are satisfied in their marriages

• Only 7% had affairs

Survey Random Sampling

From a population if each member has an

equal chance of inclusion into a sample, we call that a random sample (unbiased). If the survey sample is biased, its results are

questionable.

The fastest way to know about the marble color ratio is to blindly transfer a few into a smaller jar and count them.

Stratified Sampling

• When sub-populations vary considerably, it is advantageous to sample each subpopulation (stratum) independently. Stratification is the process of grouping members of the population into relatively homogeneous subgroups before sampling.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4639vev1Rw

Ashika (F, athletic, AP student, from Asia)

Kale (F, career prep, works after school, Caucasian);

Deanna (F, auto-immune disease, homeschooled, Latino);

Fred (M, drop-out, Caucasian);

Joe (M, depressed, AP student, American Indian);

Bob (M, tall, athletic, likes to read, Latino)

Donny (M, obsessed with germs, takes vitamins, good student, AfAmer);

Tom (M, loves music, hates school, Caucasian)

Joy (F, nervous, anxiety disorder, absent from school often, AfAmer);

Brenda (F, loves texting to b/f in school, Latino)

Lyle (M, comes to school for socializing, hates teachers, Latino);

Anthony (M, career-prep student, lazy, Latino)

Nate (M, wants to own family business, AP student, AfAmer)

Kandy (F, pregnant, might drop-out, Caucasian)

Runa (F, AP Student, Quiz Bowl, Asian);

River (M, AP Student, Math Bowl, Golf, Caucasian)

Levi (M, Honors student, athletic, Caucasian)

Layla (F, Honors student, volunteer, AfAmerican)

Eli (M, avg. student, likes vo-tech mechanics, Latino)

Tessa (F, athletic, unstable home, Asian)

Stella (F, loves to dance, avg. student, Caucasian)

Nina (F, defiant toward adults, needs special classes, Caucasian)

“The root of the problem is that in real life, all scientists ever observe are samples.  And, in real life, all they want to know about is populations”

Nancy Darling, Ph.D.

Sampling from a population

We are

here

The Science of Psychology

Approaches to Psych

Growth of

Psych

Research

Methods Statistics

Descriptive Experiment

Case Study

Survey

Naturalistic Observation

Descriptive Inferential

Ethics

Sampling

Correlation

Careers

Naturalistic Observation

• Watch subjects in their natural environment.

• Do not manipulate the environment.

• Naturalistic Observation– The main drawback is

observer bias • (expectations or biases of the

observer that might distort or influence the interpretation of what was observed.)

– Not replicable so you can’t generalize

Hawthorne Effect• Just the fact that

you know you are in an experiment can cause change.

Whether the lights were brighter or dimmer, production went up in the Hawthorne electric plant.

Descriptive Methods ComparisonResearch Method Advantages Limitations

Naturalistic

Observation

•More accurate than reports after the fact

•Behavior is more natural

•Hawthorne Effect

•Observational Bias

•Cannot be generalized

Case Studies •Depth

•Takes advantage of circumstances that could not be coordinated in an experiment

•Not representative

•Time consuming and expensive

•Observational Bias

Surveys • Immense amount of data

•Quick and inexpensive

• Sampling biases can skew results

•Bad Questions can corrupt data

•Accuracy depends on the ability and willingness of the participants.