1. observe
2. predict (testable)
3. Test
4. Interpret
5. Communicate
6. *replicate*

OPTIC(r)

Does it...

• advance knowledge?
• Accept/disregard contradictory evidence?
• challenge their own assumptions?
• Explain how they came to their conclusions?
• Arguments use "sound logic"

• tendency toward favorable self presentation
• creates biased answeres b/c participants dont want researchers to think a certain way of them
• one of main problems in research designs
• favorable self presentation

• No predictions
• just trying to understand/explain a phenomena
• usually the first step in examining a topic
• used to form a basis for future studies/tests
• tests single variable questions

• 3 types of studies

1. case studies
2. Naturalistic studies
3. Interviews/surveys

• observation of one person over long period of time
• based on a one on one relationship lasting years
• offer deep insights that surveys/questionnaires miss
• psychobiography: examining lives of important people

• occur in natural setting
• unobtrusive as possible
• used often to study non-humans
• advantage: provides real behavior, not controlled or manipulated
• disadvantage: can't be controlled, or used to test cause-effect

self reporting

gain info on people's thoughts and behaviors

disadvantage: non-inclusion of ppl who are not representative of the group

studies the RELATIONSHIP between variables

can predict the nature of relationships but not causation

usefull when variables can't be manipulated

Correlational Coefficient used to draw conclusions

assesses strength and direction of correlations

stat from -1 to +1

closer to 0 = no correlation

1. experimental manipulation of a predicted cause (independent variable) and the measurement of the response/dependent variable
2. Random assignments of participants to control and experimental groups (each participant has and equal chance of getting into either category)

variable whose influence on the dependant variable cannont be seperated from the independent (gender/age/sex)

affects the result but is not the intended manipulating variable, so results can be faulty

self fulfilling prophecy: statement that affects events to cause the prediciton to become true

experimenter knowing which group belonged to which treatment = biased results

cannon randomly assign people to a group

naturally occuring groups: sex, age, health status, race

*still manipulating a variable,

EXAMPLE: studying people in different financial aid situations; how does academic counseling affect student's stress level?

just narrows the group of people you are studying, almost naturally

study of all the studies of a particular question

tests to see if research is consistent in its findings

drawing a conlcusion from all existing research

correlation coefficient (r) only applies to correlational 

Cohen's D only applies to experimental data

looks at how big of an effect of each study the independent varialbe actually has on the dependent

interviews/questionnaires

written/oral accounts of ppl's thoughts/feelings/actions

pros: measures the "nonobservable" (think/feel)

Cons: social desirability bias, can be inaccurate

systematic observations over several people

usually atleast 3 judges/observers

pros: less likely for social desirability, more objective

cons: ppl may still act differently, time intensive, requires professionals/training

determines psychological states

pros: quick, objective and accurate

cons: expensive, and requires special training

heart rate, blood pressure etc. to determine whats happening BUT heart rate can go up for a lot of different reasons.

Can be paired with self report to make conclusions

mean median mode

standard deviation (avg how much a data point deviates from mean)

significance testing

determines if correlations are significantly different

is it meaningful enough to mean something

must always have informed consent

respect for persons

justice (needs to adjust treatment given if find it has an amazing effect; positive or negative)

benefits must outweigh the risks

Privacy

IRB approval (specific to u.s.) institutional review board

may be used if...

fully justified

part of the research design

there is no other alternative

patricipants are debriefed

Standards

humane treatment (adequate housing/food/water)

minimize discomfort (euthanizing, pain meds, healing)

humane euthanazia (gassing/decapitation)

different review board but still must be applicable