Research Methods

Research Methods
Scientific method:
P s ychol
ogists
test
t
heir
t
heo r
ies
about
human behavi
our
by
carryi
ng
ou t

e mp i
ri
cal
studies
T h eor
y:
S t
ateme nts
that
summa r
ises,
or
gani
zes and
expl
ains
observat
ion…

Opportunity Sampling (Convenience sampling):
A
samp l
e of
anyone
who
happens
to be
avail
able
a nd
w i
l
li
ng t
o par
ti
cipat
e
Advantages:
o E asy way
for
r
ese ar
cher t
o f
ind
part
ici
pants
Disadvantages:
o A
ce…

o Oft
en used
in
social
psychol
ogy r
esearch
w here
it
may
be di
ff
icul
t
to
access
part
ici
pants
Disadvantage:
o May not
be
a repr
esentati
ve of
a
group,
ma y
not
be abl
e t
o go
beyond a
ci
rcl
e…

Abl
e t
o use
stat
ist
ic
s t
o t
est
exper
iment
al
dat
a f
or
signi
fi
cance
and
rul
e
out
t
he
rol
e of
chance

Experimental Variables
Independent Variable (IV): manipul
ated
b y
the
researcher
,
ca uses
a
cha nge…

Natural Experiment (Quasi Experiment):
R esear
cher
s have
no
cont
rol

over
the
vari
ables and
they are
natur
all
y occurr
ing
Limitation:
o C an '
t r
ando mly
all
ocate peopl
e
o D if
fi
c ul
t
to
g eneral
ize
o D…

Between subjects design (independent measures):
Dif
fer
ent

par
ti
ci
pan t
s ar
e
use d
for
dif
fe rent
condi
ti
ons

Extraneous (you want
to c o n tro l)
# Repeated Measures # Independent Measures
O rder
ef
fects











P ar
ti
ci
pan t…

Interval Same
qu al
it
ies
as Temperat
ure
or
dinal,
but
equal
di
stance bet
w een uni
ts
al
lows compa r
ison
of
one
u ni
t
to
a not
her
no
t
rue zer
o
Ratio Same
qu al
it
ies
as Age,
hei
ght,
wei…

Range Dif
fer
e nce
between t
he Quick
and easy t
o
small
est and
lar
gest cal
culat
e/Dist
ort
ed
by
val
ue out
li
ers
or ext
reme
val
ue
Standard Deviation The average
amo unt
al
l
More
se nsi
ti
ve measure
scor
e…

Data
b ased on
the part
ici
pa nt
s'
ow n Need s
to
be
tr
an spar
e nt
i
n t
he
c
a t
egories
of mea ni
ngs useful
for
studyi
ng descr
ipti
on of
the
me thods
that
it
uses
a
li
mited…

Case Studies:
i
n depth
invest
igat
ions
of
huma n
exper
ience
that
ar
e
descr
ipt
ive,
narr
ow l
y f
ocuses and
comb i
ne bot
h obj
ect
ive
and subj
ect
ive
dat
a wh i
ch ar
e pr
ocess ori
entat
ed.…