Psychology Notes: Research leads to logical, supported conclusions that allow us to make informed decisions.

Well-designed research produces more reliable answers than do conclusions based on common sense, which tend to vary from one person to another. Bias occurs when any factor unfairly increases the likelihood that the researcher will reach a particular conclusion. You could have two people both observing the students listening to MP3s and they might both arrive at different conclusions. Researcher bias: a tendency for researchers to engage in behaviors and selectively notice evidence that supports their hypothesis or ideas. Researchers may not intentionally act biased, but people in general are highly susceptible to looking for information that confirms what THEY BELIEVE to be true. Participant bias: a tendency for research participants to respond in a certain way because they know they are being observed or they believe they know what the researcher wants. Another tendency most people have is to overestimate the accuracy of their own current knowledge. Some examples: There is no reason for anyone to have a computer in their home (Ken Olsen, president of Digital Equipment Corp. 1977) Nuclear powered vacuum cleaners will probably be a reality within 10 years (Alex Lewyt, manufacturer of vacuums, 1955) Heavier than air flying machines are impossible (Lord Kelvin, mathematician, physicist, and president of British Royal society, 1895) Obviously researchers want to avoid participant bias as much as possible, one way to minimize this is to use naturalistic observation. This is a technique in which the observer makes no attempt to manipulate or control the situation. To avoid influencing participants behavior simply because of their presence, observers in a lab setting might use hidden cameras or one way-mirrors. Another way of conducting research is the case study. Case study: A research technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principals. Case studies are often prone to bias, and it may not be possible to extend the results of one case study to other situations. For example an in-depth study of just one headphone-wearing student could provide some very unrepresentative results. Why?

Sometimes, however, a case study is all that is ethically possible. Child abuse for example is usually researched with case studies. It would be unethical for researchers to abuse a group of children just so that they could study the effect of that abuse. So researchers wait until they can study an abuse case. Survey method: A research technique designed to discover the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a sample of people through the use of questionnaires or interviews. Surveys are an easy and can be effective means of collecting data, however they are almost too easy SURVEYS are so simple to create that it is easy to allow bias into the working to the questions. For example, do you like flowers will not get the same response, as do you like horticulture? Also, when using surveys it is important to make sure that you use a random 2 ways of collecting survey data: Random Sample: A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of being included. Population: All the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study. Longitudinal and Cross Sectional studies are techniques of particular use to developmental psychologists, who study how individuals change throughout the life span. Longitudinal studies follow the same group of people for many yearsi.e. they last a LONG time. As you can imagine there are many problems when conducting a longitudinal study, for this reason it is more common to conduct cross-sectional studies. Cross-sectional study: A research technique that compares individuals from different age groups at one time. Think of how many times it is useful to know the extent to which two variables are related. Is there a relationship between diet and health? Between communication style and divorce? Between training techniques and success in the Olympics? The research that answers such questions is the correlational study. Correlational study: A research project designed to discover the degree to which two variables are related to each other. In the example we used last class the two variables are: Whether or not a student listens to an Mp3 (headphones) Studying effectiveness If effectiveness of studying increases when students listen to an MP3, we can say that the two variables are positively correlated. That is both variables increase (or decrease) together. But if studying effectiveness decreases when students listen to

MP3s, and increases when they do not, the variables are negatively correlated one variable increases while the other decreases. Review: Hypothesis: - what the researcher predicts the outcome of the experiment will be. The variable that should cause something to happen is the independent variable (IV). The variable that should show the effect of the IV (or the outcome) is the dependent variable. Operational Definition: an explanation of the exact method used to make a variable measurable for research. Confounding variable: In an experiment, a variable, other than the IV, that could influence the dependent variable. Control group: Participants in an experiment who are not exposed to the IV. These individuals function as a comparison for the experimental group participants. Random Sampling Double-blind procedure: The participants and the research staff do not know the expected outcome or hypothesis. Control group: Participants in an experiment who are not exposed to the IV. These individuals function as a comparison for the experimental group participants. Random Sampling Double-blind procedure: The participants and the research staff do not know the expected outcome or hypothesis. When conducting research on humans there are 4 ethical principals that researchers must follow. Any guesses on what they are? See if you can come up with 4 rules of your own There are many reasons why animals are used in research: Animal behavior is interesting There are biological and behavioral similarities between humans and other animals. Genetic studies, because many animals have shorter life spans. Researchers can have more control over animal subjects. Procedures that cannot be ethically done on humans can be done on animals.