Chapter Two Revision

Exam type question

Imagine this scenario:
You're in a math class, and the instructor asks a basic math question. What is 8 x 4? The
teacher begins asking individual students in the room for the answer. You are surprised when
the first student answers 27. Then the next student answers 27. And the next! When the
teacher finally comes to you, do you trust your own math skills and say 32? Or do you go along
with what the rest of the group seems to believe is the correct answer?
During the 1950s, psychologist Solomon Asch conducted a series of experiments (known as
the Asch conformity experiments) that demonstrated the impact of social pressure on individual
behavior. You can conduct your own version of the conformity experiment.
In Asch's classic experiment, participants were told that they were in an experiment on vision.
With a group of other people, they were asked to look at three lines of different lengths and
determine which one was the longest.
Participants were then placed with a group that they thought included other subjects in the
study. In reality, the other individuals were actually confederates in the experiment. After a few
trials where everyone stated the correct answer, the confederates all began choosing an
incorrect answer.
So how did the participants respond when the other individuals in the group chose the wrong
line as the correct response? When surrounded by other people citing the incorrect answer,
75% of the subjects gave an incorrect response to at least one of the line length questions.
1. Say what type of research this is.
2. What are the independent and dependant variables?
3. Are there any problems with the research, and if so what are they?
4. How can the research be improved?
Type of research:
Experiment: Variables are manipulated & effects on other variables measured
Case Study: Examine one subject in detail
Naturalistic observation: Behaviour is observed in the setting where it naturally occurs
Correlational Study: Strength of association between variables is assessed
Qualitative Study: Draws on a number of paradigms, and is interested in in-depth
understandings of behaviour
Variables:

Independent variable: Are manipulated by the experimenter

Dependent variable: Depends on the independent variable
Confounding variable: Two variables are intertwined in such a way that you cannot determine
which one has influenced the effect that you measure.
Situational Variables: These variables operate in the actual experimental situation that may
affect the way the subject/s performs on the measure of the DV.
- Environmental Variables: Noise, temperature, etc.
- Demand characteristics: Cues that participants pick up about the hypothesis of a
study or how they are expected to behave
o Single-Blind Study: In single blind studies, the experimenter (or observer) is
aware of who or what belongs to the control group and the experimental
group.
o Double-Blind Study: In double blind studies, the experimenter is not aware of
who/what belongs to which group. This is to eliminate the subjective bias an
experimenter may have
- Placebo effects: a treatment that has no effect, good or bad
o Placebo effect: People receiving a treatment show a change in behaviour
because of their expectations, not because of the treatment itself
o Include a placebo control
- Experimenter expectancy effects: Subtle and unintentional ways researchers
influence their participants to respond in a manner that is consistent with the
researchers hypothesis.
o Double-Blind Procedure: Both the experimenter and participant are kept blind
as to which experimental condition the participant is in.
- Hawthorne Effect: (commonly referred to as the observer effect) is a form of
reactivity whereby subjects improve or modify an aspect of their behavior, which is
being experimentally measured, in response to the fact that they know that they
are being studied, not in response to any particular experimental manipulation.
Subject Variables: Theses variables are brought into the research project by the subject in
question and may affect the scores on the measure of the dependent variable, IQ, etc.
Sequence Variables: Sequence effects arise when the subject is tested or his/her responses
are measured under two or more conditions of the research study.
Measuring Scales:
- Nominal categories with no numerical value (e.g., male/female)
- Ordinal rank ordering (movie ratings)
- Interval numerical values but no true zero (temperature, intelligence scores)
- Ratio there is a true zero; zero means the absence of the variable measured
(weight, age)
Ethics:
Fundamental Principles:
- Beneficence: maximise benefits and minimise risks
- Autonomy: people are treated as capable of making decisions about whether
or not to participate in research

Justice: fairness

Informed consent:
- Knowledge
o Understanding the nature of the experiment, the alternatives available, and the
potential risks and benefits.
- Volition
o Participants must provide their consent free from constraint or duress, and
may revoke their consent at any time.
- Competence
o The individuals ability to make a well-reasoned decision and to give consent
meaningfully
Other ethical Issues:
-

Fraud
Allocation of credit
Sharing of materials and data
Distress, Stigma and Harm
Deception
Privacy and Confidentiality
Debriefing

Issues with study:

Internal Validity: The degree to which an experiment supports clear causal conclusions
External validity: The degree to which the results of the study can be generalized to
other populations, settings and conditions.
Threats to Validity:
- Demand characteristics
- Placebo effects
- Experimenter expectancy effects
- Confounding Variables
- Replicating and generalizing the findings
o Replication: A process of repeating a study to determine whether the original
findings can be duplicated.
Reliability: The degree to which a measure reflects a true score rather than a
measurement error. Reliability measures are stable, consistent and precise.
Reactivity: The possibility that the presence of the observer will affect peoples
behaviour.

Different research method types:

Qualitative methods

Quantitative methods

Seek depth of understanding in context

Seek breadth, generalizability

Accept researchers perspectives as data inSee bias as unacceptable and attempt to

itself to be included in and accounted for in control for it in study design
the analysis
Results conveyed as texts, descriptions, Results expressed as numbers, statistics,
stories, cases
tables

Quantitative Methods
Type of study Description
Case study

Examine
one
subject in detail

Main advantages

Naturalistic
observation

Survey

Behaviour
is
observed in the
setting where it
naturally occurs

Questions or tests
administered to a
sample
drawn
from a larger
population

Main disadvantages

Provides
rich
descriptive detail
Suggests hypotheses
for further study
Can
study
rare
phenomena in depth

Can provide detailed

information
about
nature, frequency and
context of naturally
occurring behaviours

A properly drawn,
representative
sample,
gives
accurate information
about the broader
population

Cant establish cause

and effect
Case may not be
representative
Often
relies
on
researchers
subjective opinions
Cant establish cause
and effect
Observers presence
may affect behaviour
of participants

Unrepresentative
samples
yield
misleading results
Interviewer and social
desirability bias may
distort the findings

Correlational
study

Strength
of
association
between variables
is assessed

Experiment

Variables
are
manipulated
&
effects on other
variables
measured

Allows prediction
May help establish
how results from
experiments
generalise to more
natural settings
Can examine issues
that cannot be studied
practically or ethically
in experiments
Best method for
examining cause &
effect

Cannot give causation

Careful design is
essential, otherwise
confounding
can
threaten validity of
results

SAMPLE: A subset of individuals drawn from the larger population.

- Population all the individuals we are interested in drawing
conclusions about.
- Representative Sample: reflects the important characteristics of the populations.
- Random Sampling: every member of the population has an equal probability to be
chosen to participate.
- Stratified Random Sampling: divides the population up into subgroups based on
characteristics such as gender, race, etc.
COMMON CONTROL PROCEDURES: They are meant to minimise the effects of other
relevant variables on your dependant variable score, so that you can see whether your
independent variable does play a role in affecting those scores.
- Matching: A matched-groups design is used when there is an extraneous variable
that the experimenter thinks might be related to the dependent variable and the
experimenter wants to be sure it does not become a confounding variable. Also,
the experimenter must be able to measure this extraneous variable before
conducting the experiment
o Holding the relevant variable constant for both conditions of the IV.
o Equating the relevant variable for both conditions of the IV.
- Randomising: Randomisation is essential for any experiment as it minimises the
chance of a biased result. It is the ability to randomise subjects to treatments that
distinguishes experiments from surveys. Experiments are designed to detect
causation (i.e. whether the treatment causes an effect), surveys can only detect
association
- Counterbalancing: Counterbalancing is usually thought of as a method for
controlling
order
effects
in
a
repeated
measures
design

ANALYSING AND INTERPRETING DATA:

Descriptive Statistics: Allows the researcher to summarize and describe the characteristics of a
set (or distribution) of data.
Mode: the most frequently occurring score in a distribution.
Median: the point that divides a distribution of scores in half when those scores are arranged in
order from lowest to highest.
Mean: the arithmetic average of a set scores
Measures of variability: Capture the degree of variations, or spread, in a distribution of scores.
Range: The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution.
Standard Deviation: takes into account how much each score in a distribution differs from the
mean.
Inferential Statistics: Allows the researcher to make inferences(a conclusion reached on the
basis of evidence and reasoning) about a population from data provided by a sample of that
distribution.
Statistical Significance: Is very unlikely that a particular finding occurred by chance alone.
Meta-analysis: A statistical procedure for combining the results of different studies that examine
the same topic.
MISSING DEFINITIONS
Correlational coefficient: A statistic that indicates the direction and strength of the relation
between two variables.
Positive Correlation: Higher scores on one variable are associated with higher scores on a
second variable.
Negative Correlation: Higher scores on one variable are associated with lower scores on a
second variable.
Scatterplots: Graphs that show the correlation between two variables.
Experimental group: The group that receives a treatment or an active level of the IV
Control group: The group that is not exposed to the treatment or receives zero level of the IV.

HOW TO DRAW UP A RESEARCH PROJECT

Choose a general topic (emerges out of a problem)

Read the literature and define a research question
Develop a research strategy. How will you answer the question?
Collect your data (e.g. interviews)
Analyse and interpret your data
Write up your research

Consent Forms:
It contains the following:
- Overview
- Description of procedures
- Risks and inconveniences
- Benefits
- Costs and economic considerations
- Confidentiality
- Alternative treatments
- Voluntary participation
- Questions and further information
- Signature lines