1. Introduction to Behavioral Sciences 2
2. Formulating a Research Question 5
3. Research Strategies 9
4. Ethical Treatment 15
5. Developing a Measurement Strategy 21
6. Internal Validity 28
7. Survey Research 33
8. Data Collection 37
9. Interpreting Results 42
10. Correlational Designs 45
11. True Experiments 48
This summary includes (almost) everything from the lectures 1 until 7, from the book chapters and the
lectures.
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Introduction to Behavioral Sciences (Kite & Whitley, Ch. 1)
Science
- Goals of science (4)
o Description – as a goal of science, description has four purposes
§ To define the phenomena to be studies
• E.g. if you want to study memory, you need to start by defining memory
§ To differentiate clearly among closely related phenomena
• You need to be certain you are studying what you want to study!
§ To record events that might be useful or interesting to study
§ To describe the relationships among phenomena
o Understanding – attempting to determine why a phenomenon occurs
§ Often the why is an answer to the research question
§ Can start with proposing set of hypotheses
§ If you want to answer concerning causality, three rules for this:
• Covariation – the hypothesized cause must be consistently related to &
correlated with the effect
• Time precedence of the cause – during the test of the hypothesis, the
proposed cause must come before the effect
• No alternative explanations! Hypothesized cause must be only possible
explanation
§ Also look at relationships amongst the answers to the “why” questions
o Prediction – seeks to use our understanding of phenomena and the relationships among them
to predict events
§ Can take 2 forms
• Forecasting of events – e.g. predicting academic performance from GPA
o Always with a certain margin of error
o Prediction becomes much less precise when used at individual level
• Derivation of research hypotheses from theories
o What do we expect the answer to the research question to be?
o Control – seeks to use knowledge to influence phenomena
§ E.g. using the principles of behavioral science to influence behavior
§ However, can and may we control behavior?
- Key values of science (4)
o Empiricism – scientific knowledge should be based on objective evidence rather than intuition,
ideology or abstract logic
§ Objective: minimized bias!
o Skepticism – scientists should always be questioning the quality of the knowledge they have
on a topic
§ To ensure that theories are as complete and correct as possible
o Tentativeness – knowledge can change as new research findings become available
o Publicness – science needs to be available to everyone (results & methods)
§ 3 advantages: people can use the results of the research; scientists can check the
validity of others’ research by examining how the research was carried out; scientists
have all the information they need to replicate research
- Scientific approaches to knowledge
o Epistemology – a set of beliefs about the nature of science (and of knowledge in general)
§ Dominant in Western world = logical positivism – knowledge can best be generated
through empirical observation
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• Scientists must be emotionally distant observers from what or whom they
study
§ Another view is humanistic perspective – science should produce knowledge that
serves people, not just knowledge for its own sake
• In this case, personal beliefs and value strongly affect theory
§ Some contrasts between logical positivism and humanism (more in book)
Logical positivism Humanism
Personal beliefs & values have no effect Personal beliefs & values strongly affect theory,
choice of research topics and methods, and
interpretation of results
Knowledge is sought for its own sake – utility is Research that does not generate directly
irrelevant applicable knowledge is wasteful
Aim to generate knowledge that applies to all Aim to help people achieve self-determination
people
Phenomena should be studied in isolation Phenomena should be studied in natural context
Scientific inquiry must be carefully controlled Science should seek naturalism even at the cost
of giving u control
There is only one correct interpretation of data The same data can be interpreted in many ways
o Why is awareness of different epistemologies important?
§ You need to understand an epistemology in order to be able to interpret the results
it generates
§ Your epistemology determines your opinions about which theories are valid, what
kind of research questions are important, what the best methods are etc.
• E.g. logical positivists believe scientists can objectively answer questions.
However, social constructionists believe that people’s understand of the
world is influenced by the perceiver’s social experiences à scientific process
is shaped by the persons beliefs
Theories
- Theory – set of statements about relationships between variables
- Components of theories (3)
o Assumptions – beliefs that are taken as given and are usually not subject to empirical testing
(often implicit and paradigmatic)
§ Theorists make assumptions for 2 reasons
• Something cannot be subject to testing (e.g. assumptions about the nature of
reality)
• The present state of research technology does not allow something to be
tested
§ 3 types of assumptions
• General scientific assumptions – deal with the nature of reality (e.g. “there is
order to reality; that is, events do not happen randomly”)
• Paradigmatic assumptions – scientific assumptions derived from a paradigm
(e.g. in logical positivism à scientists can be objective)
• Domain assumptions – specific to the subject of a theory (e.g. Locke &
Latham’s theory on performance, assume that most human activity is goal
directed)
o These are not always explicitly mentioned, which would be good
because it makes a theory more understandable
o Hypothetical constructs – terms invented (constructed) to refer to variables that cannot be
directly observed, but are useful because we can attribute observable behaviors to them
§ Example = the personality trait hostility
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§ However these are abstract, cannot be used in research: need concrete
representation, this is called operational definition (operationalization).
§ 2 pitfalls of hypothetical constructs
• Reification/treating a hypothetical construct as something real rather than as
a convenient term for an entity or process whose existence is merely
hypothesized but not necessarily known with certainty
• Because hypothetical constructs might not really exist, they cannot be used
as explanations for behavior
§ If hypothetical construct is no longer useful, it will be modified or discarded
§ 2 types of hypothetical constructs
• Unidimensional – consisting of a single component
• Multidimensional – consisting of two or more independent components
o Propositions – statements about relationships among hypothetical constructs
§ Represented as arrows in a model
§ Describes abstract relationship à cannot be tested directly!
o Definitions – a good theory begins with carefully defined hypothetical constructs
§ Abstract constructs must be well defined and operationalized
§ Important type of definition = narrative definition – explains the meaning of the
construct in words (like in dictionary)
§ Second type of definition = operational definition (explained above)
• A hypothesis describes a relationship among operational definitions (in
contrast to a proposition)
o Variables – any thing or concept that can take on more than one value
§ Independent/explanatory variable– theory proposes this as a cause of another
variable
§ Dependent/response variable – caused by another variable (outcome)
§ Extraneous variable – other factors in a research situation that provide alternative
explanations for an observed relationship
• If these are present, a causal relationship cannot be established
§ Mediating variable – comes between two variables in a causal chain (X1 à X2 à Y)
§ Moderating variable – changes or limits the direct relationship between an
independent variable and a dependent variable (interaction)
- Characteristics of theories
o Specification – theories differ on how well they define their constructs and describe the
proposed relationships between them
§ A poorly specified theory hinders the research process by making it difficult to
construct valid measures of hypothetical construct, derive hypotheses and interpret
research results
o Scope – how wide is the range of behaviors a theory tries to explain?
- Purposes of theories (3)
o Organizing knowledge
§ The way scientists organize knowledge starts with determining the scope of the
theory and defining its variables
§ Then, general principles of behavior can be developed by identifying the common
factors present in a set of observations. These common factors are usually abstract
concepts that represent the more concrete factors and relationships observed
o Extending knowledge
§ Theories can extend knowledge in 3 ways
1. By using research results to modify the theory
2. By establishing linkages between theories
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