Research methods voorbereiding
1 Psychology is a way of thinking
Empiricist means basing one’s conclusions on systematic observations.
There are 5 fundamental ways psychologists approach their work.
1. Empiricists in their investigations
2. Test theories through research and revise their theories
3. Objectivity &fairness
4. Empirical approach to both applied research & basic research
5. Make their work public
What is important for empiricism?
- Sight hearing, touch
- Instruments that assist these senses (think of a thermostat for
example)
A theory is a set of statements that describes genera; principles about how
variables relate to one another.
Hypothesis or prediction is stated in terms of the study design.
Most researchers test theories with a series of empirical studies, each
designed to test an individual hypothesis.
Data are a set of observations.
Depending on whether the data are consistent with hypotheses based on
theory, the data may either support or challenge the theory.
Don’t use prove because they are imperical. “ data support”, “consistent
with the theory”
Replications means a study is conducted again to test whether the result is
consistent
Theory should lead up to hypotheses that when tested could fail to support
the theory (falsifiability) is a characteristic of good theories.
Applied research is research whose goal is to find a solution to a particular
real-world problem
Basic research is whose goal is to enhance the general body of knowledge
without regard for direct application to practical problems
Translational research is research that uses knowledge derived from basic
research to develop and test solutions to real world problems
,Empiricism, the use of verifiable evidence as the basis for conclusions;
collecting data systematically and using it to develop, support, or
challenge a theory. Also called empirical method, empirical research.
Theory, a statement or set of statements that describes general principles
about how variables relate to one another.
Hypothesis, astatement of the specific result the researcher expects to
observe from a particular study, if the theory is accurate. Also called
prediction.
Data (plural; singular datum), a set of observations representing the
values of some variable, collected from one or more research studies.
Preregistered, term referring to a study in which, before collecting any
data, the researcher has stated publicly what the study’s outcome is
expected to be.
Replication, the process of conducting a study again to test whether the
result is consistent.
Weight of the evidence, a conclusion drawn from reviewing scientific
literature and considering the proportion of studies that is consistent with
a theory.
Self-correcting, a process in which scientists make their research available
for peer review, replication, and critique, with the goal of identifying and
correcting errors in the research.
Applied research, research whose goal is to find a solution to a particular
real-world problem.
Basic research, research whose goal is to enhance the general body of
knowledge, without regard for direct application to practical problems.
Translational research, research that uses knowledge derived from basic
research to develop and test solutions to real-world problems.
Journal, a monthly or quarterly periodical containing peer-reviewed articles
on a specific academic discipline or subdiscipline, written for a scholarly
audience. Also called scientific journal.
Journalism, news and commentary published or broadcast in the popular
media and produced for a general audience.
Falsifiable, a feature of a scientific theory, in which it is possible to collect
data that will indicate that the theory is wrong.
Universalis, one of Merton’s four scientific norms, stating that scientific
claims are evaluated according to their merit, independent of the
,researcher’s credentials or reputation. The same preestablished criteria
apply to all scientists and all research.
Communality, one of Merton’s four scientific norms, stating that scientific
knowledge is created by a community, and its findings belong to the
community.
Disinterestedness, one of Merton’s four scientific norms, stating that
scientists strive to discover the truth whatever it is; they are not swayed
by conviction, idealism, politics, or profit..
Organized skepticism, one of Merton’s four scientific norms, stating that
scientists question everything, including their own theories, widely
accepted ideas, and “ancient wisdom.”
, 2 Why research is best and how to find it
There are three sources of evidence for people’s beliefs; experience,
intuition and authority. A comparison group enables us to compare what
would happen both with and without the thing we are interested in.
Confounds, a general term for a potential alternative explanation for a
research finding; a threat to internal validity
(There are several possible explanations for an outcome. Ex. Buy a salt
lamp and feel better, but also doing yoga and regular massages, which
one caused your positive mood?)
A confound occurs when you think one thing caused an outcome but in
fact other things changed, too, so you are confused about wat really the
cause was
Confederate, an actor who is directed by the researcher to play a specific
role in a research study.
Probabilistic, describing the empirical method, stating that science is
intended to explain a certain proportion (but not necessarily all) of the
possible cases.
availability heuristic, abias in intuition, in which people incorrectly
estimate the frequency of something, relying predominantly on instances
that easily come to mind rather than using all possible evidence in
evaluating a conclusion ( mad at de red lights because you spend more
time at them)
present/present bias, a bias in intuition, in which people incorrectly
estimate the relationship between an event and its outcome, focusing on
times the event and outcome are present, while failing to consider
evidence that is absent and harder to notice.
When thinking intuitively, we tend to focus only on experiences that fall in
the present/present cell: the instances in which catharsis seemed to work.
We are more likely to focus on the times when two factors were both
present or two events occurred at the same time
confirmation bias, the tendency to consider only the evidence that
supports a hypothesis, including asking only the questions that will lead to
the expected answer.
bias blind spot, the tendency for people to think that compared to others,
they themselves are less likely to engage in biased reasoning.
,empirical journal article is a scholarly article that reports for the first time
the results of a research study.
review journal article, is an article summarizing all the studies that have
been published in one research area.
effect size, is the magnitude, or strength, of a relationship between two or
more variables.
Paywalled, term referring to a peer-reviewed academic journal that the
general public must pay to access; only people who are members of
subscribing institutions can access the content.
open access, term referring to a peer-reviewed academic journal that
anyone, even the general public, can read without paying for access.
Disinformation, a news story, photo, or video deliberately created to be
false or misleading.
meta-analysis; a way of mathematically averaging the effect sizes of all
the studies that have tested the same variables to see what conclusion
that whole body of evidence supports.
Abstract. The abstract is a concise summary of the article. It briefly
describes the study’s hypotheses, method, and major results. When you
are collecting articles for a project, the abstracts can help you quickly
decide whether each article describes the kind of research you are looking
for, or whether you should move on to the next article.
Introduction. The introduction is the first section of regular text, and the
first paragraphs typically explain the topic of the study. The middle
paragraphs lay out the background for the research. What theory is being
tested? What have past studies found? Why is the present study
important? Pay special attention to the final paragraph, which states the
specific research questions, goals, or hypotheses for the current study.
Method. The Method section explains in detail how the researchers
conducted their study. It usually contains subsections such as Participants,
Materials, Procedure, and Apparatus. An ideal Method section gives
enough detail that if you wanted to repeat the study, you could do so
without having to ask the authors any questions.
Results. The Results section describes the quantitative and, as relevant,
qualitative results of the study, including the statistical tests the authors
used to analyze the data. It usually provides tables and figures that
summarize key results. Although you may not understand all the statistics
used in the article, you might still be able to understand the basic findings
by looking at the tables and figures.
,Discussion. The opening paragraph of the Discussion section generally
summarizes the study’s research question and methods and indicates how
well the results of the study supported the hypotheses. Next, the authors
usually discuss the study’s importance: Perhaps their hypothesis was new,
or the method they used was a creative and unusual way to test a familiar
hypothesis, or the participants were unlike others who had been studied
before. In addition, the authors may discuss alternative explanations for
their data and pose interesting questions raised by the
References . The References section contains a full bibliographic listing of
all the sources the authors cited in writing their article, enabling interested
readers to locate these studies. When you are conducting a literature
search, reference lists are excellent places to look for additional articles on
a given topic. Once you find one relevant article, the reference list for that
article will contain a treasure trove of related work.
read with a purpose. In most cases, this means asking two questions as
you read: (1) What is the argument? (2) What is the evidence to support
the argument? The obvious first step toward answering these questions is
to read the abstract, which provides an overview of the study.
End of the introduction, you’ll find primary goals and hypotheses of the
study. First first paragraph of discussion, summarize the key results and
state how well the results suporrted their hypothesis
Disinformation is a news story, photo or video deliberately created to be
false or misleading
People spread misinformation for several reasons; propaganda, passion,
politics etc. profit is a motive too; false scientific claims about for example
salt lamps.
, 3 Three claims, four validities; interrogation tools for
consumers of research
The three types of claims; frequency claims, association claims, and casual
claims. These type of claims make statements about variables or about
relationships between variables. Variables are the core unit of
psychological research
A variabele, is an attribute that varies, having at least two levels, or
values. A level, is one of the possible variations, or values, of a variable. It
is also called a condition
Ex. “Most students don’t know when news is fake.” Here, “knowing when
news is fake” is the variable, and its levels are knowing when news is fake,
and not knowing when news is fake.
Constant, is an attribute that could potentially vary but that has only one
level in the study in question.
Ex. “15% of Americans smoke,” nationality is not a variable because
everyone in the study is American. In this example, nationality would be a
constant
Measured variable, is a variable in a study whose levels (values) are
observed and recorded.
Manipulated variable, is a variable in an experiment that a researcher
controls, such as by assigning participants to its different levels (values).
Construct a, variable of interest, stated at an abstract level, usually
defined as part of a formal statement of a psychological theory.
Conceptual variable, is a variable of interest, stated at an abstract level,
usually defined as part of a formal statement of a psychological theory
Operational definition, is the specific way in which a concept of interest is
measured or manipulated as a variable in a study. Also called
operationalization, operational variable.
Operationalize, to turn a conceptual definition of a variable into a specific
measured variable or manipulated variable in order to conduct a research
study.
Claim is the argument a journalist researcher or scientist is trying to make
, Frequency claim, is a claim that describes particular rate or degree of
single variable. Ex. Headlines claim how frequent or common something is.
Claims that mention the percentage of a variable, the number of people
who engage etc can be called an frequency claim
Association claim argues that only level of a variable is likely to be
associated with a particular level of another variable. Variables that are
associated are sometimes said to correlate, meaning that when one
variable changes, the other tends to change too. An association claim
states a relationship between at least two variables. When you read this
claim you will usually find a correlational study supporting it.
correlational study is a study that includes two or more variables, in which
all of the variables are measured; can support an association claim.
positive association is an association in which high levels of one variable
go with high levels of the other variable, and low levels of one variable go
with low levels of the other variable. Also called positive correlation.
scatterplot is a graphical representation of an association, in which each
dot represents one participant in the study measured on two variables.
negative association is an association in which high levels of one variable
go with low levels of the other variable, and vice versa. Also called inverse
association, negative correlation.
Zero association, there is no correlation between the variables
Causal claim is a claim arguing that a specific change in one variable is
responsible for influencing the value of another variable. Causal claims
usually have two variables. They use language suggesting that one
variable causes the other —verbs such as cause, enhance, affect,
decrease, and change. In contrast, association claims use verbs such as
link, associate, correlate, predict, tie to, and be at risk for. Advice is also a
causal claim.
To move from the simple language of association to the language of
causality, a study has to satisfy three criteria. First, it must establish that
the two
variables (the causal variable and the outcome variable) are correlated;
the relationship cannot be zero. Second, it must show that the causal
variable came first and the outcome variable came later. Third, it must
establish that no other explanations exist for the relationship. Therefore,
when we encounter a causal claim, we must be sure the study can support
it.
