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Research Methods in Psychology (1)
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Investigating Psychology Module Lecture Notes
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Summary Research and Design Analysis / RDA (PSY-4001Y)
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INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH IN PSCYHOLOGY 1Common misconceptions Stages through which phenomena or
Often referred to as ‘Folk Psychology’ assumptions can be tested systematically.
Beliefs are often based on assumptions, prejudices, or
misinformation (“we only use 10% of our brains” – Inductive reasoning: Specific observations
false) broader generalisations/theories
Could be based on observations / intuitions / reasoning, (start small and generalise outwards)
but there may be limitations in those observations / Deductive reasoning: Broader ideas/
intuitions / reasonings (person x did behaviour y theories specific observations
because of z.) (start with a theory and look for specific relevant things)
We might create theories, but are unlikely to test them Observation/Intuition
in a systematic way We gather information from previous observations:
We can make our own observations, or
Academic Psychology Derive evidence from previous research (e.g. read
Aims to systematically examine assumptions / empirical journal articles)
phenomena / behaviour or test theories. Example:
Aims to incrementally built a picture of what is going on It’s 9am, you saw a person in smart clothing in trouble
Provides evidence which supports or challenges on a street (i.e. she looked ill). People went to ask if she
statements / theories / assumptions was ok and offered help.
We do not prove or disprove anything It’s 3pm, you saw a person in casual clothing in trouble
on a street (i.e. she looked ill). People did not ask if she
Reasons why we conduct research was ok and did not try to help.
1. Discovery – Learn more about human behaviour and Research question could be related to social
mental processes psychology, evolutionary psychology (altruism),
2. Understanding – To enable us to understand more
clearly the phenomenon/phenomena we have Research Questions & Theory
discovered All research has a research question (e.g. does the new
3. Verification – To identify evidence for or against popular therapy work?)
claims, or to ensure our discoveries are correct Theory – ‘systems of ideas or statements that explain
4. Fun. some phenomena’
Derived from previous inductive research or
intuition/reasoning
Academic Psychology & Empirical
Research Define Hypothesis/Hypotheses
The science of mind and behaviour, in terms of: Create a statement which is testable (also clear &
Description – to help describe patterns of psychological informative)
phenomena and behavioural responses Research/Alternative Hypothesis (H1) – what you
Prediction – understand what predicts certain behaviour observed
or phenomena o People will be more likely to help when a person is
Explanation – understand why phenomena occur
in smart clothing compared to casual clothing
Application – use of knowledge to create interventions
Null hypothesis (H0) – that there is no relationship
or address issues
o There is no difference in the likeliness to help
Different researchers conduct different research for
someone who is wearing smart clothing versus
different reasons.
someone wearing casual clothing.
How can we explore psychological phenomena and
Empirical Tests
behaviour?
Conduct an experiment or study – collect first hand data
Observation Survey
and further observations
Experimentation Interview
Results:
Use data – describe observations collected on
The Scientific Method in Psychology
something (e.g. normally numerical, can be text)
Psychologists aim to study mental life and behaviour
Analysis – what we do with the data to make sense of
using a scientific method
the phenomenon/phenomena
Move away from assumptions, opinions, gut feelings,
The results are reports from the analyses conducted
biases and intuition
(e.g. people reported similar intention to help for both smart
Test knowledge through experimentation and
(Mean = 5.52) and casual clothing (Mean = 5.33), scale 1-
observation, or deep analysis of the phenomena /
10)
experience
Results used to test hypothesis/hypotheses
The hypothethico-deductive method details (one)
(quantitative) can feedback into the theory for
systematic scientific approach (mainly used in
modification
quantitative research)
Null hypothesis (H0) – There is no difference in the likeliness
to help someone who is wearing smart clothing versus
The Hypothetico-deductive method Karl someone wearing casual clothing. – Fail to reject.
Popper
(one scientific method)
Quantitative & Qualitative Research
Theory is conjecture – must be
falsifiable (e.g. “all swans are white”
Quantitative research is strongly associated with
is a falsifiable statement and can be hypothetico-deductivism
proven wrong by the existence of Uses variables and mainly numeric data (e.g. counts,
one black swan) ranks, response times)
Formulation of hypotheses is key Qualitative research is more commonly inductive
Test hypotheses against data Generally related to the inductive process, rather than
the deductive process.
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