PSY 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Dependent And Independent Variables, Naturalistic Observation, Three Steps
Document Summary
Psychology 101 - lecture 3 - research methods in psychology. First develop a question that a researcher will observe around them. Second step is to develop a hypothesis, a testable prediction. Third is design a study and collect data. This process can lead to another question which can lead to new studies. Just means to describe with no manipulations or controls. Biggest concern: not an accurate representation of a whole population because the sample size is too small. Strength: observing the behaviors in the actual real world. Concern: lack of control and manipulation, observing people which makes the subjects act a certain way. Strength: inexpensive and can gather lots of data. Concern: self reporting can lead to people to lie, generalizing ability of findings is difficult. Describing and making associations between different variables. Known as the gold standard because it is the only research that can determine cause and effect.
