Psyc 1
Mod 2
January 29, 2003

Module 2
Research Strategies: How Psychologists Ask and Answer Questions

Psychology as a Science

• Limits of common sense
• Science - a method for understanding specific phenomena or behavior
• Methods of science
• Description
• Correlation
• Experimentation
• Evaluating data with statistics
• e.g. Findings in a newspaper or magazine

Why do people look to psychology for answers?

• It satisfies curiosity
• Helps diagnose self
• Don’t do it! It’s bad!

Thinking Critically with Psychological Science
The Limits of Intuition and Common Sense

• Did we know all along? Common sense?
• The hindsight bias - we have the tendency to believe it after it’s happened
• Often occurs after the fact

Common sense and intuition often tell us about psychology
• “Trust the forth within” -Star Wars
• Intuition

e.g.: Study- separation weakens romantic attraction
• “Out of sight, out of mind”
• “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”

Science vs. Common Sense
Science helps build explanations that are consistent and predictive rather than conflicting and postdictive/hindsight
Science based on

• Knowledge of facts
• Developing theories

The Scientific Method
Theory - lead to > hypotheses - lead to > research and observations - generate and refine > theory

1. 1) derive a question
2. 2) go out and research it
1. a. ask questions!

• Hypothesis
• Must be testable
• There are only humans in the universe
• Not: There is a god
• Must be falsifiable

Methods of Science

1. Case Study
• Describe a specific phenomenon or behavior
2. The Survey
• Wording Effects
• Can influence response
• Reports
• Can make question ambiguous/misleading
• Sampling
3. Naturalistic Observation
• Watching in a natural setting

Correlation

• Different Correlations
• Correlation and Causation
• e.g. A caused B
• Illusory Correlations
• Drawing correlations… when there isn’t anything there
• Perceiving Order in Random Events
• Really. NOTHING is there.
• How to Read a Correlation Effect: e.g. r = -.37
• -/+ indicates direction of relationship (positive or negative)
• number represents strength of relationship
• 1 is a perfect correlation
• the smaller the number the smaller the correlation

Methods of Experimentation

• Controlled investigation with manipulation
• Variable
• Dependent/Independent
• Double-blind procedure
• Have subject and researcher oblivious of what study is about
• Placebo effects
• Sugar pill; subject acts as if treated

Statistical Reasoning

• Describing Data
• Measures of Central Tendency
• Mean:
• Median:
• Mode:
• Measures of Variation
• Range:
• Standard Deviation:
• Variance:
• Making Inferences
• When a difference is reliable or significant

Skewed Distribution

email me