PS270 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Social Desirability Bias, Artificiality, Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient
Document Summary
Social psychology methods: scientific method, empirical: based on direct observation, test hypotheses against systematic observation, remove biases and preconceptions of research. Hypotheses and variables: theory: an organized set of principles that can be used to explain observed phenomena. Independent variable (iv: presumed cause (in a casual hypothesis, dependent variable (dv, the presumed effect (in a casual hypothesis) Correlational research: can reveal whether changes in one variable are associated with changes in a second variable i. e. correlational study relating class attendance to gpa, direction and strength of relationship indexed by the pearson correlation coefficient (r= Correlations and cause: the three possible causal interpretations, causation x y, reverse causation y x, third variable z y. X: three possible causal interpretations, causation: video games aggression, reverse causation: aggression video games. Experimental research: can reveal whether changes in one variable (the iv) cause changes in another variable (the dv, cause and effect, two key features, manipulation of independent variable, random assignment to conditions.
