Chapter 2

PSYB01 1 Chapter2:TheFoundationsofPsychologicalResearch o Therearetwoverybroadresearchapproachesusedbyresearchers:EXPERIMENTALandNON-EXPERIMENTALdesigns o Studiesthatusenaturalisticobservationmethodologyarenon-experimentalinthatactionsand eventsarecarefullymeasuredandcataloguedbut independentvariablescannotbedirectlymanipulatedandextrafactorsthatcanconfoundresultsaredifficulttocontrol o Nonexperimentaldesignsencompassseveraltypesofstudies:  Quasiexperimental,correlational,surveyandsingle-subjectorsmall-Nresearch o Anexperimentalstudycanbeusedwhentheresearcherwantstotestcauseandeffect THEGOALSOFSCIENCE o Ekman:devotedhiscareertostudyingfacialexpressionsofemotions o Everywherehewentinthedevelopedworld,peopleagreedonwhatthoseexpressionsmeant o Remotevillagesalsoagreedonwhattheexpressionsmeant o Overthenexthalfcentury,Ekmanwouldbuildaprogramofpsychologicalresearcharoundhisbreakthroughdiscoverythatfacialexpressionsof emotionswerenotsociallylearnedbutratheraretheuniversalproductsofevolution o Thisresearchestablishedthehumanfaceasanexquisiteandefficientorganofemotionalcommunication Description o Scientificunderstandingentailstwodistinctbutrelatedprocesses: 1. Description 2. Explanation o CONCEPTUALDEFINITIONprovidesthemeaning,oftenratherbroadinscope,ofanabstractterm,suchasintelligence,anxiety, oremotion o Operationaldefinitionsfollowfromconceptualdefinitions.AnOPERATIONALDEFINITIONindicateshowaconceptiscoded,measured,or quantified o Animportantaspectofascientificdescriptionandexplanationisestablishingpredictiverelationshipsbetweentwoeventsoroccurrences o ThroughtheuseoftheFacialActionCodingSystem,Ekmanidentifiedsevendiscreteemotionalexpressionsthathumansindifferentculturesdevelopa similarcapacitytorecognize:happiness,sadness,fear,anger,surprise,disgust,andcontempt Explanation o Explanationcanincludeboth predictionaswellasestablishingcauseandeffect o CookandCampbell  Causalityrequires3kindsofevidence 1. TemporalPrecedence – establishesthatthecauseprecedestheeffect 2. CovariationoftheCauseandEffect – whenthecauseispresent,theeffectoccurs,andwhenthecauseisabsent,theeffectdoesnot occur 3. AlternativeExplanations -aresearchermustshowthatnothingotherthanacausalvariablecould beresponsiblefortheobserved effect;thatis,thereisnootherplausibleexplanationfortherelationship o Theproblemisthatitisimpossibleinhumanstudiestocontrolforallextraneous,CONFOUNDINGorso-calledTHIRDVARIABLESthatcould accountfortheobservedeffect PracticalKnowledge o StudiesareoftencategorizedaseitherBASICRESEARCHorAPPLIEDRESEARCH o Basicresearchaddressesfundamentalquestionsaboutthenatureofabstractpsychological processesandideas,suchasemotion,intelligence,reasoning, andsocialbehavior o Appliedresearchaddressesimportantquestionsthatarethoughttobeofimmediaterelevanceinsolvingpracticalproblems PSYB01 2 o PROGRAMEVALUATIONstudiestheeffectsonbehavioroflarge-scalepolicychangesandaswellsocialreformsandinnovationsoccurringin government,schools.Courts,prisons,businesses,healthcare,housing,andsoforth o Basicresearchoftenhasexceptionallyimportantapplicationsthatareimpossibletopredict SOURCESOFRESEARCHIDEAS StartingWithObservation o Scienceoftenbeginswithsimpleobservation,whichcanserveasasourceofbothevidenceandideas. o Ofteninresearch,ourobservationswillneedtobebrokendownintosimplerunitsthat allowformoreprecisequantificationandmeasurement o Observationsoftenacttorestrictourattention,butsometimeswemightstumbleuponanimportantdiscoverythatmaynothavebeenofprimaryinterest tous o Thisiswhywewanttoemphasizethatduring theearlierphaseofresearchwhenwearetryingtogenerateideas,narrowingthefocusofobservationmay becounterproductive,stiflingperhapsourimaginationandcreativity SERENDIPITY– apreparedyetopenmindincreasesthechancesofaccidentallydiscoveringsomethingfortunate StartingWithTheory o Inmanyinstances,yourresearchquestionwillflowdirectlyfromatheory o James-LangeTheory– theorizedthatemotionsarefeelingsthatcomeaboutasaresultofphysiologicalchangescreatedbytheAUTONOMIC NERVOUSSYSTEMthatregulatesbodilyreactionstostress  Chicken-and-eggquestionbystatingthatthephysiologicalchangescomefirst.Followedbytheexperienceofemotionalfeelings o Cannon-BardTheory– arguethattheJames-Langetheorygotitbackward,proposedthatemotionscomefirst,followedbybodilychanges o TheEMBODIMENTTHEORYOF EMOTIONthusproposesadynamicinterplayofspecificbodilystatesandtheirassociatedemotions Literature o Scientificliteraturecanalsoserveasafountainfornewideas scientificJOURNALS o Peer-reviewedpublicationsfallintooneoftwocategories:EMPIRICALARTICLESandREVIEWARTICLES o Anempiricalarticlereportsonaparticularstudyandiswritteninacertain formatdividedintosectionswithanAbstract,Introduction,Method,Results, andDiscussion o Areviewarticleexaminesseveralstudiesofaparticularphenomenon,suchasfacialexpressionsofemotion.Itevaluatesthe methodologyusedacross differentstudies,examinesthedegreetowhichfindingsarerobustacrossvariousconditions.Settingsandprocedures,andcommentsontheextentto whichtheempiricalfindingsallowforgeneraltheoreticalconclusions. o POPULARSCIENCEliterature,oftenwrittenbyeminentscientistswhoaimtoexplainscienceforageneralaudience o CloselyrelatedtopopularscienceisSCIENCEJOURNALISMthatoftenfocusesonrecentdevelopmentsinsciencethatarejudgednewsworthy o Thedownsideisthatthispopularliteraturelacksthecriticalsenseofproportionalitycautiousness,andtentativenessthat isfundamentaltothescientific method o ThesejournalisticpiecesrepresentimportantSECONDARYSOURCES,thatis,second-handmediaaccountsofscientificwork.Theyarebestusedas cluestoleadyoutothePRIMARYSOURCE,thefirst-handempiricalreportpublishedinapeer-reviewedjournal. o Zarracina–playerswithfullsmileslivedthelongest,to79.9years,whichisnearly2yearsmorethanthetypicallifeexpectancyfor anAmerican o Todorov –theirresearchparticipantswhomadesplit-secondjudgmentsofcompetencefromfacesofpoliticalcandidatespredictedtheoutcomesofU.S. congressionalelectionsbetterthanchance SearchingtheLiterature o Internettraveling,sotospeak,fromhyperlinktohyperlinkmayalsoleadtoanonlineserendipityofstumblingontoanunexpectedarticlethatcouldadd anewdimensiontoyourthinkingorperhapsleadyoudownaverydifferentpathfromyouroriginalidea o Websites:GoogleScholar,PsycINFOandPsycLIT,SocialSciencesCitationIndex (SSCI) o Thesewebsitesarenotfreeandareproprietary,openonlytosubscribers PSYB01 3 LettheSearcherBeware! o Kirk– youshouldneveruseinformationthatcannotbeverifiedbyotherindependentsources. o Evans –arguesthattheInternetmayparadoxicallyhaveanarrowingeffecton thinkingandresearch,suggestingthatgoodideasmaybeignoredandlost o Bentley–theInternet“makesacademic researchapopularitycontest”dominatedbysearchenginesthatorderorprioritizeinformationinwaysthatmay havelittletodowithscientificmeritorimpact o Weareallpronetoconfirmatorybias,whichmayleadustoonlysearchforinformationontheInternetthatsupportsourpositionsandideas RESEARCHSTRATEGIES DEDUCTIVERESEARCH-weareattemptingto connecttheorywithempiricaldata.Thatis,evidenceweobtainedthroughscientificstudies  Aswehave learned,researchersmaymakethisconnectionbystartingwithapsychologicaltheoryandtestingsomeofitsimplicationswith data INDUCTIVERESEARCH– researchersmaydevelopaconnectionbetweenpsychologicaltheorybyfirstsystematicallycollectingobservations, measurements,ordataandthendevelopingatheorythatexplainsthepatternsinthedata o Twoofthemostimportantelementsofallscientificresearchstrategiesare  Data  Theory o Deductiveresearchstrategywillbeginwithatheoryfromwhichparticularstatementsaredrawnandthentestedbycollecting data o Bycontrast,aninductivestrategyfirstexaminesthedataandthenderivesatheorytoexplainthepatternsshowninthedata. InductiveResearch o Inductiveresearchentailsreasoningfromparticulardataorempiricalobservationstoageneraltheory o OftenusedinQUALITATIVERESEARCH naturalisticobservationdesignstudiespeopleintheirnaturalsettingssothattheirbehaviorsandwordscan beputintotheirpropercontext=ETHNOGRAPHY o Ethnography  Doesnotmeanthecasual“seeing”ofeverydaylifethatleadstohaphazardimpressions.Tothecontrary,forthisresearchmethodologytobe effective,observationmustbesystematic,whichmeansthatitmustbeconductedcarefully,withprecisedescriptionthatallowsforconsistent orreliablecatalogingofdataandtheorderlyclassificationandanalysisofthatinformation o Theaimofqualitativeresearchistounderstandcontext—thewhat,how,when,andwhereofaneventoranaction o Ityieldsdataregardingmeanings,concepts,definitions,characteristics,metaphors,symbols,anddescriptionsofeventsoractions o Inductiveresearchalsofitswellwithquantitativestudiesthatusenaturalisticobservation o Kniffin&Wilson–Wilsoninducedanevolutionaryinterpretationofthedatafromtheyearbookstudytheorizingthatattractivenessislargely determinedbynonphysicalfeatures,suchastrustworthinessandrespect,asknowingthesequalitiesofapersonisvitalfor adaptation,fitness,and reproduction o Ex.“Lincolnmadebeautifulbyhisnonphysicalqualities” DeductiveResearch o Indeductiveresearch,reasoningproceedsfromageneraltheorytoparticulardata o Theories,however,arenotdirectlytestable. o Hypothesesmustbederivedfromatheory o GENERALIZATION– isabroadstatementthatcannotbedirectlytestedbutratherneedsto betranslatedintooneormorehypotheses o Onlyhypothesesaredirectlytestable.Thisissobecauseahypothesisproposesaspecificrelationsh