CAS PS 261 Lecture 7: Social Psychology Class 7
Document Summary
Random assignment helps us infer cause and effect. Random sampling helps us generalize to a population: ex. By varying just one or two factors at a time- called independent variables - the experimenter pinpoints their influence. Informed consent - an ethical principal requiring that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate: be truthful. Use deception only if essential and justified by a significant purpose: protect participants from harm and significant discomfort, treat information about the individual participants confidentially, debrief participants. Fully explain the experiment afterward, including any deception. The only exception to this rule is when the feedback would be distressing: debrief- in social psychology, the post-experimental explanation of a study to its participants. Debriefing usually discloses any deception and often queries participants regarding their understanding and feelings. Summing up: research methods: how do we do social psychology: social psychologists organize their ideas and findings into theories.