PSY10005 Study Guide - Final Guide: Central Tendency, Statistical Conclusion Validity, Type I And Type Ii Errors
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RESEARCH METHODS PSY10005
SEMESTER NOTES
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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
WEEK 1: INTRODUCTION
•Explain what knowledge is and how it is obtained. !
•Describe the current conception of science and describe its history. !
•Understand the basic assumptions underlying scientific research. !
•Describe the characteristics of scientific research and understand why each of these is
necessary.!
•Explain the difference between logic of discovery and logic of justification. !
•Describe the characteristics that typify the person who is adept at pursuing scientific research. !
•Describe the objectives of scientific research. !
•Differentiate pseudoscience from scientific research.!
WEEK 2: RESEARCH APPROACHES AND DATA
COLLECTION METHODS
•Describe the different types of variables used in quantitative research. !
•Explain the nature of causation and how researchers establish cause-and-effect relationships. !
•Describe the key characteristics of the experimental research approach as used in psychology. !
•Describe the advantages and disadvantages of experimental research. !
•Describe the different settings in which experimental research is conducted and the advantages
and disadvantages associated with each setting.!
•Explain the differences between non-experimental and experimental quantitative research
methods. !
•Compare and contrast the different kinds of non-experimental quantitative research. !
•Define and explain the goals and characteristics of qualitative research. !
•Compare and contrast the six major methods of data collection!
WEEK 3: PLANNING A RESEARCH STUDY
•Discuss the sources of research ideas and research problems. !
•Explain how to conduct a literature search on a given topic. !
•Explain what it means to state that a proposed study is feasible. !
•Explain how to specify a research problem and research question. !
•Explain how to formulate a hypothesis relating to the research question. !
•Explain the kinds of ethical issues and dilemmas faced by researchers when designing and
conducting research. !
•Describe the ethical guidelines that must be followed in conducting research with humans. !
•Describe the key ethical issues and procedures that must be considered when conducting
research.!
WEEK 4: FOUNDATIONS OF RESEARCH
•Explain the meaning of measurement and describe the four scales of measurement. !
•Explain the difference between reliability and validity • Describe the different type of reliability
and validity. !
•Explain the meaning of sampling and its terminology. !
•Describe each of the random and non-random sampling techniques.!
•Explain the difference between random selection and random assignment. !
•Describe the sampling approaches used in qualitative research. !
•Explain the meaning of research validity. !
•Explain the meaning of statistical conclusion validity, construct validity, internal validity and
external validity. !
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•Describe the threats to construct validity, internal validity and external validity.!
WEEK 5: EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
•Describe the control techniques that are carried out at the beginning of the experiment. !
•List the major control techniques that are carried out during the experiment. !
•Describe when counterbalancing is used and explain the different types of counterbalancing. !
•Define participant and experimenter effects and explain how they are controlled. !
•Explain how to select the appropriate control techniques for research purposes. !
•Describe each of the weak experimental designs and explain why it is weak. !
•Describe between-participants designs, within- participants designs, and mixed designs
including their strengths and weaknesses.!
WEEK 6: EXPERIMENTAL METHODS CONT.
•Describe between-participants designs, within- participants designs, and mixed designs
including their strengths and weaknesses. !
•Describe factorial designs, and explain their strengths and weaknesses. !
•Explain the concepts of main effect and interaction effect. !
•Describe the considerations made when deciding upon the appropriate experimental design. !
•Explain the importance of sample size and the concept of statistical power. !
•Explain why it is necessary to conduct a pilot study prior to data collection.!
WEEK 7: EXPERIMENTAL METHODS CONT.
•Describe the characteristics of each of the quasi- experimental designs’ including their
strengths and weaknesses. !
•Explain the threats to internal validity and how rival hypotheses are ruled out in each of the
quasi-experimental designs. !
•Describe the different types of single-case designs including their strengths and weaknesses!
•Explain the strategies used in single-case designs to rule out the influence of rival hypotheses. !
•Identify the situations in which of the single-case designs would be appropriate. !
•Describe the methodological issues that must be considered using the single-case designs. !
•Describe the criteria used for evaluating treatment effects with single-case designs!
WEEK 8: SURVEY RESEARCH
•Define and explain the meaning of survey research. !
•Explain when survey research is used in psychology. !
•Distinguish between cross-sectional and longitudinal designs. !
•Discuss survey data collection methods. !
•Explain how to conduct an effective interview. !
•Explain the 12 principles of questionnaire construction. !
•Explain how to construct a survey instrument. !
•Explain how to select a survey sample. !
•Describe how to prepare survey data for analysis.!
WEEK 9: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
•Compare and contrast quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research !
•Explain the characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of qualitative research. !
•Describe the characteristics of interviews and focus groups !
•Explain the major types of validity in qualitative research. !
•Explain the validity strategies used to obtain strong qualitative research. !
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Document Summary
Mixed methods: compare and contrast the four major qualitative research methods, explain the basic mixed methods research designs, explain the major types of validity in mixed methods research. Week 12: decision-making framework: describe the di erent steps involved in designing a research project, apply the decision making framework to hypothetical and real world examples. Science is a very important way of acquiring knowledge. It is designed to systematically produce reliable and valid knowledge about the natural world. It continues to develop and continue over time. Induction is speci c to general reasoning: aristotle (384-322 bce, still used today when generalizing from speci c experiments to general hypotheses or theory, latan (1981) Observed people do not exert as much e ort in a group as they do working alone \ Inferred that this represents the more general construct of social loa ng: researchers relying on a sample to represent a population.
