Intuition occurs when one feels they have direct knowledge or insight but cannot state any observation or reason for the knowledge.

-used in forming some hypothesis (hunches)

 *Intuition relies on justification such as "it feels true to me," or "I believe this point, although I can't really tell you why."

Edgar Cayce and other psychics dervived their knowledge from intuition. The predictions and descriptions made by psychics are not based on any known reasoning or inferring process; therefore such information would appear to be intuituve.
-problem: no mechanism for seperating accurate from inaccurate knowledge

A basis for acceptance of information, because it is acquired from a highly respected source.

-can be used in the design phase of a study

-can be used when interpreting the data

*The problem with this approach is that the information or facts stated by the authority might be inaccurate.

The acquisition of knowledge through reasoning.

-used to derive hypotheses

*philosopher, Rene' Descartes was a leading advocate of rationalism: "I think therefore I am." He argued that clear and distinct ideas must be true, and from those foundational ideas should deduce all other beliefs.

problem - relying solely on rationalism can lead two people to reach different conclusions; Insufficient by itself.

The acquisition of knowledge through experience.

-In its native form, this approach would say, "if I have experienced something, then it is valid and true."

-The first school of psychology.

-This approach was used by some individuals in the 1960's who stated satanic messages
 were included on some records. Later research indicated that individual expectations
 influenced what people heard.

* philosophers, John Locke and David Hume argued that virtually all knowledge is based on experience. Locke put it well when he claimed that each person is born with a tabula rasa (blank slate). The origin of all knowledge is from our senses. Our senses imprint ideas in our brain that then is further worked upon through cognitive processes.

problem: researcher bias; senses can deceive us, must be conducted under controlled conditions; systematic strategies must be used to reduce researcher bias and maximize objectivity.

Science is the preferred way of acquiring reliable and valid knowledge abut the natural world, including methods for obtaining scientific knowledge, standards for judging whether the knowledge is warranted or justified, and finally, a set of facts and theories constituting the current status of the science.

Proctor and Capaldi have pointed out that different scientific methods have been popular at different points in time, Thats because science continues to develop  and improve all the time.

** designed to systematically produce reliable and valid knowledge about the natural world.

A reasoning process defined by Aristotle. Induction is a reasoning process that involves going from the specific to the general. Daycare ex:several children hitting or kicking other children, you might infer that many children in that center are aggressive or that children in daycare centers are aggressive. **specific to general reasoning.

Induction was the dominant scientific method used from the late 17 century to the middle of the 19th century.

Francis Bacon and Issac Newton advocated this approach.

 Latane observed that people do not exert as much effort  in a group as they do  when working alone and inferred that this represented the construct of social loafing. When Latane made made this generalization of social loafing from the specific observation of less effort  was expanded in a group, he was engaged in inductive reasoning.

defined by Aristotle, refers to going from the general to the specific.

Levine predicted that a person who views the group's task as important and does not expect others to contribute adequately to the group's performance will work harder. Here Levine was logically moving from the general proposition of social loafing and deducing a specific set of events that would reduce social loafing.

*Science makes use of both inductive and deductive thinking. However, neither of these approaches is the only or primary approach to current science.

The process of testing a predicted relationship or hypothesis by making observations and then comparing the observed facts with the hypothesis or predicted relationship.
- associated with logical positivists.

Whewell suggested that science should focus on the confirmation of predictions derived from theory and experience.

Proctor and Capaldi argue that the era of hypothesis testing extended from 1850-1960 but in actuallity it is still a very important of science activity in psychology.

A philosophical approach that focused on verifying hypothesises as the key criterion of science.

*the outgrowth of a group of scholars at the University of Vienna with a scientific background and a philosophical bent. This group became known as the Vienna Circle and the group's viewpoint was called logical positivism. "it is meaningful only  when it is verifiable by observation or experience.

Moritz Schlick - Science makes prophecies that are tested by experience.

A deductive approach to science that focuses on falsifying hypothesises as the key criterion to science.

Popper's approach. A major strength of Popper's approach is that it helps to eliminate false theories from science. Popper's approach was criticized because it focused only on falsification and completely rejected induction and because even if the data appear to falsify a hypothesis, one still cannot conclude that the theory is necessarily false.

Unfortunately for Popper, induction is required in order to claim what theories are best supported and to what degree and, therefore, what theories we should believe.

States that a hypothesis cannot be tested in isolation from other assumptions.

Position popular in behavioral science stating that science should justify its practices according to how well they work rather than according to philosophical arguments.

Science should be studied and evaluated empirically, just like a science studies any other empirical phenomenon. Naturalism is a pragmatic philosophy of science that says scientists should believe when it is shown to work.

When it comes to judging scientific beliefs, naturalism says we should continually evaluate our theories based on their empirical adequacy. That is, do the empirical data support the theory, does the theory make accurate predictions, and does the theory provide a good causal explanation of the phenomenon you are studying?

Kuhn and Paradigms

 Kuhn conducted a historical analysis of science.

• Normal Science: Is governed by a single paradigm or set of concepts, values, perceptions, and practices shared by  a community that forms a particular view of reality.
• Paradigm: a framework of thought or beliefs by which you interpret reality. Mature sciences spend most of their time in "normal science.". However over time anomalies and critisms develop.
• Revolutionaary Science: A period in which scientific activity is characterized by the replacement of one paradigm with another.

Feyerabend's Anarchistic Theory of Science

Feyerabend was a philosopher of science who looked at the various methodological approaches to science that had been advocated and was not surprised to see that each had been criticized and was lacking.

He argued that there is no such thing as the method of science. According to him, science has many methods.

The key conclusion to draw from Feyerbend is that science might not be a simple or formulatic as it is sometimes is made to appear.

The belief that mental processes and behaviors are fully caused by prior natural factors.

The belief that there are causes, or determinants, of mental processes and behavior. In our efforts to uncover the laws of psychology, we attempt to identify the variables that are linked together.

A weaker form of determinism that indicates regularities that usually but not always occur.

*causes that produce outcomes, but the search for more certain, fuller, and often more complesx causation will continue. Once you determine the events or conditions that usually produce a given outcome, you have uncovered probabilistic causes.

The assumption that the things we see, hear, feel, smell, and taste are real.

Stating that something is true or real "because we said  it is real" does not work in science. In science researchers check reality in many ways to obtain objective evidence that what is claimed is true.

*researchers interact with a natural world (that includes social objects such as attitudes, beliefs, institutions), and in science, this reality must have primary say in our claims about reality and truth. This is why we collect data.

The assumption that it is possible to discover the regularities that exist in nature.

*Nature is very reluctant to reveal its secrets. - Ex: Scientists have been working on the cause and cure for cancer for decades. Although significant progress has been made, we still do not know the exact cause of all forms of cancer or the contributors to the development of cancer.

Elimination of the influence of extraneous variables.

holding constant or eliminating the influence of extraneous variables so that you can make an unambiguous claim about cause and effect.

***experiements are the preferred research method when you need to address the issue of cause and effect.

Improvement due to participants' expectations for improvement rather than the actual treatment.

Representing constructs by a specific set of operations.

physicist Perry Bridgeman, argued that science must be specific and precise and that each concept must be defined by steps or operations used to measure them.

Defining a concept by the operations used to represent or measure it.

*using a strict operational definition didn't last long because of the limitations it imposed.

prominant research methodologist, Donald Campbell critized operational definitions on the grounds that any set of operations will always be incomplete. Ex: many definitions of aggression.

Using multiple measures to represent a construct.

Campbell's term for an operational definition.

Campbell critized the term operational definition. He recommended the word "definition" be removed from operational definition and that researchers simply talk about constructs being "operationalized" rather than being literall "defined" by their operations.

The reproduction of the results of a study in a new study.

**Before you can trust the findings of a single research study, you must determine whether the observed results are reliable. - you must know whether the same results will be found if the study is repeated.

you should not place too much trust in the results of a single research study.

A quantitative technique for describing the relationship between variables across multiple research studies.

used to combine, integrate, and describe the relationships between variables across multiple research studies.

*you should place significant trust in the results of a meta-analysis because the finding is shown to apply across multiple related research studies.

An explanation of how and why something operates.

helps to explain how and why a phenomenon operates as it does.

Theories are not created just to summarize and integrate existing data. A good theory must also suggest new hypotheses that are capable of being tested empirically. A theory must have the capacity to guide research as well as to summerize the results of previous research.

The inductive or discovery part of the scientific process.

Theory is originally based on observations and empirical research.

The deductive or theory-testing part of the scientific process.

in the deductive part of science, predictions are derived and then empirically tested. The outcome of the future research then feeds back, and this process continues again and again.

The scientist's goal is the pursuit of knowledge and the uncovering of regularities in nature. Scientist's constantly ask questions. Scientist shall be inquisitive and never think that the ultimate solution has been reached.

The reluctance of nature to reveal secrets is seen in the slow progress made in scientific inquiry. The scientist must be patient and satisfied with rewards that are few and far between.

Goal in science to eliminate or minimize opinion or bias in the conduct of research.

minimize the unfluence of the researcheron the conduct and outcomes of the research process.

Scientific investigation necessitates change. When a particular approach or problem fails, a new approach must be devised, which also necessitates change.

The portrayl of a situation or phenomenon.

Identify the charateristics of the phenomenon and then  determine the degree to which they exist.

EX; Piaget's theory of child development arose from detailed observations and descriptions of his own children.

Determination of the cause or causes of a given phenomenon.

Requires knowledge of why the phenomenon exists or what causes it. We must be able to identify the antecedent conditions that result in the occurance of the phenomenon.

The ability to anticipate the occurance of an event prior to its occurance.

Making this kind of accurate prediction requires knowledge of the antecedent conditions that produce such a phenomenon.

1. A comparison group.

2. Elimination of the influence of extraneous variables

3. Manipulation of antecedent conditions to produce a change in mental processes and behavior.

Control in this sense, requires knowledge of the causes or antecedent conditions of a phenomenon. When the antecedent conditions are known, they can be manipulated to produce the desired phenomenon.

Set of beliefs or practices that are not scientific but claim to be scientific.

Pseudoscientific  claims often are made in an attempt to gain legitimacy.

1. Intuituin

2. Authority

3. Rationalism

4. Empiricism

5. Tenacity

1. Induction (17th-mid 19th century)

2. Hypothesis Testing (1850-1960)

3. Falsificationism (Popper)

4. Verificationism (Logical Positivist)

5. Naturalism (since 1960) mixture of ideas from the different periods.

1. There is uniformity or regularity in nature.

2. Nature is real, including our experiences in it.

3. Discoverability (it is possible to discover regularities in nature.

1. Control

2. Operationalism

3. Replication

1. Curious

2. Patient

3. Objective

4. Open to change

1. description

2. explanation

3. prediction

4. control or influence

The research appproach in which one attempts to demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships by manpulating the dependent variable.

The best type of research for demonstrating cause and effect relationships.

The researcher actively manipulates the IV and holds all other varibles constant so that a difference between the treatment and control groups found on the DV after the manipulation can be attributed to the IV.

Research that attempts to describe some phenomenon, event, or situation.

A research study that is based on numerical data.

Numerical data is data consisting of numbers.

Interpretive research approach that relies on multiple types of subjective data and os used to investigate people in particular situations in natural environments.

It is interpretive (attempts to understand the insiders subjective perspectives)

multimethod (it uses multiple data collection methods such as life stories, participant observation, in-depth interviewing, open-ended questionaires), and conducted in real-world settings (stuides behavior as it naturally occurs rather than manipulating IVs

A characeristic or phenomenon that can vary across or withing organisms, situations, or environments. 

Something that takes on different values or categories and is the opposite of a constant.

Variables are basic building blocks of quantitative research.

Something that does not vary. A single value or category of a variable.

EX: gender is a variable that takes on the values of male or female. Male is a constant because it does not vary; female is also a constant.

Variable that varies by type or kind. 

EX: religion, college major, gender, political party identification, personality type, type of memory strategy, and method of therapy,

Variable that varies by degree or amount.

EX: number of milliseconds required to react to a stimulis...

Variable that is presumed to cause changes in another variable. 

SYMBOL - IV

presumed cause of another variable.

Variable that is presumed to be infuenced by one or more independent variables. 

Symbol: DV

resumed effect or outcome.

EX: Smoking is the IV and the DV is the relationship between smoking and lung cancer.

Relaionship in which one variable produce changes in another variable.

Variable that migh compete with the IV in explaining the outcome.

Also called Third Variables and confounding variables.

? Could the DV have changed values not because of the IV but because of an extraneous variable that I did not consider?

The ways people acquire knowledge

1. Intuition
2. Authority
3. Rationalism
4. Empiricism

Different Inquiry Approaches

1. Induction
2. Hypothesis testing
• local positivists emphasized verification of hypothesis
• Popper principle emphasized falsify hypothesis and theories.
3. Naturalism (Kuhn) - justify science empirically
   
   *Feyerabend "radical position" science used so many different approached that it could be viewed as anarchistic.

there is uniformity or regularity in nature
-determinism-the belief that mental processes are fully caused by prior natural factors
-Probablistic causes-a weaker form of determinism that indicates regularities that usually, but not always, occur.
nature is real, including our experiences of it
-the assumption that the things we see, hear, feel, smell, and taste are real.
discoverability-the assumption that it's possible to discover the regularities that exist in nature.2 components: discovering pieces of the puzzle, putting them together.

1. Control
2. Operationalism
3. Replication

Theorie is an important part of science - when relying on logic of discovery, theories are

• generated
• discovered
• developed

• systematically tested with new empirical data to determine how well they operate

1. description
2. explanation
3. prediction
4. control or influence

1. Qualitative
2. Quantitative

1. There must be a relationship between the IV and DV
2. Changes in the IV must occur before changes in the DV
3. the relationship between the IV and DV must not be due to any extraneous or third variable.

Correlational - measuring relationships among varibles. (often used for predictive purposes, but it is also used for testing theoretical models or path analysis. * measures the degree of relationship between two varibles. 

-primary limitation: inability to determine causality.
-third varible problem: relationship between two varibles is due to a seperate, unmeasured varible.
-path analysis: method of testing relationships among varibles by seeing how well they fit some theoretical model.
     -direct effects-when a varible directly impacts
      another
     -indirect effects: effect occurs through
      mediating varibles.

Natural Manipulation - when the IV approximates a natural manipulation in the world.

-varibles of interest are not directly manipulated.
   -e.g. a comparison of psychological functioning of people living near twin towers vs. farther away.

-because varibles not directly controlled extraneous varibles could be a problem.

Data is collected during a single time period.

-assess groups of participants at one point in time.

sometimes used in experimental research but are most often used in nonexperimental quantitative research

data is collected at two or more time periods.

-assess the same participants over a period of time.

Longitudinal studies are helpful in establishing in establishing a causal condition 2 (establishing time ordering of the IV and DV).

*popular in developmental psychology

sometimes used in experimental research but are most often used in nonexperimental quantitative research

1. Tests (instruments or procedures for measuring personality, achievement, performance, and other more specific experimental outcome varibles)
2. Questionaires
3. Interviews
4. Focus Groups
5. Observation
6. Existing or secondary data (collection of data left behind for other purposes, such as documents, physical data, and archieved data).

• Everyday life (little Johnny)
• Practical Issues (workplace morale, job placement)
• Past research
• Theory

Psychological problems arise from several traditional sources: theories, practical issues, and past research additionally we have our personal experience to draw on for researchable problems.

A theory is a statement or group of statements that explain how and why some part of the world works, a theory helps researchers make new theoretical predictions about the world to be empirically tested.

-goal function-summarize and integrate
- tool function-guide research

ex:u-tube video GPS

To correct for potential bias and ensure that all topics of importance receive attention, it is imparative that the scientific community include scientist of many different personal and demographic characteristics.

These ideas typically revolve about issues of morality and religion. ie issue of abortion - science cannot resolve the issue of which position is the best or correct one.

After a topic has been obtained next step is a literature review.

• identify if the topic has been researched
• provide design ideas
• identify methodlogical problems
• identify special needs in terms of research participants or equipment
• provide information for the research report

Getting started: familiarize yourself with the campus library
                       define your topic area, identify keywords for search

Defining Objectives: are you familiarizing yourself with the topic
                              develop methodology

Doing the search: Books, journals, electronic databases, PsycINFO, PsycArticles, PsycBooks.  internet resources: email,list servers,world wide web, search engines.

Regional and national psychological associations

Main problems with information from the web is the validity of the information.

Criteria to help you evaluate validity:

1. Authority: author and credentials, preferred domains (.edu, .org, .gov), qualifications of the publisher of the page.

2. Accuracy: credentials and email address for contact, purpose of the information, determine if there isacknowledgement of limitations of the information.

Evaluating Web Pages cont..

3. Objectivity: identify any evidence of bias, advertising would suggest bias to sell something, is the information traceable to factual information or references, author's opinions suggest bias.

4. Currency: regulaer updates to web pages.

5. Coverage:being able to view the information without paying fees or having other software requirements, exception might be to scientific journals, you should be able to obtain them through campus library.

Must consider time, expense, ethical and other issues to determine if conducting the study is possible and practical.

ex: suicide by police

want to study long term effects on police

difficult to find enough police, some may not want to participate, etc...

another exL studying the effect of being sexually abused as a child on the stability of later marital relationships.

Define the Research Problem

-an interrogative sentence that states the relationship between 2 or more variables.

ex: do space creatures influence the behavior of college students? or Can a group induce a person to deliver punishment of increasing severity to a protesting individual?

Criteria for good research problems:
variables should express a relationship (food/mood)

stated in question form

capable of empirical testing (very important!)

*Specificity of the Research question:

-to vague-what effect does the environment have on learning ability?
-better- what effect does the amount of exposure to words have on the speed with which they are learned?

- a specific statement helps ensure the researcher understands the problem.

- specific problem statementshelp the researcher to determine factors such as: participants, apparatus, instruments, measures

An interrogative sentence that states the relationship between two variables.

The preciseness with which the research question is stated.

The best prediction or a tentative solution to a problem.

The predicted relationship among the variables being investigated. The research hypothesis is the researchers predicted relationship among the variables being investigated.

A statement of no relationship among the variables being investigated and is used in statistical analysis.

The best prediction or a tentative solution to a problem.

Criterion - must be capable of being refuted or conformed (testability)

research hypothesis - the predicted relationship between variables.

null hypothesis - statement of no relationship among the variables.

**always test the null only by rejecting the null do we accept the research hypothesis.

Empiricism is a vital element in scientific studies. What does empiricism refer to?

Acquiring knowledge through experience.

Scientific activities have included

Induction, Hypothesis testing, and Paradigms

Professor Albert was conducting an experiment investigating the influence of "status" on a person's persuasive influence. In this study, he manipulated the variable of status by presenting different dress styles. In particular, a high-status person was dressed in an expensive business suit and carried a briefcase. The low-status person was dressed in faded jeans and a torn shirt. The difference in dress styles of the high- and low0 status person was used to

Operationalize the construct of status

If you conducted a study in which you wanted to determine why help is not given to people who obviously need it, with which of the following objectives would you have conducted the study?

Explanation

Scientists usually make several assumption in order to have confidence in the scientific research process. Which of the following  is not one of the assumptions?

Psychology studies only psychologically constructed reality.

are:(There is an underlying reality in nature including what we see, hear, feel, touch, and taste; The is uniformailty or regularity in nature;It is possible to discover the regularities in nature.)

A variable that varies in type or kind is called a(n)

Categorical variable

The variable that is presumed to cause a change in another variable is called a(n).

Independent Variable (IV)

A mediating variable is

An intervening variable

Why is it important to control extraneous variables (to the best extent possible)?

An uncontrolled extraneous variable (variable X) can cause doubt as to whether changes in one variable (variable A) cause changes in another variable (variable B).

An uncontrolled extraneous variable (variable X) can act as an alternative explanation for the claim that changes in one variable (variable A) cause changes in another variable (variable B).

The strongest evidence for causality comes from which of the following research methods?

Experimental research (only experimental).

In what kind of research are words and pictures common forms of data?

qualitative research

Assume that you have just been to a demonstration by the psychic Uri Geller and watched him apply his psychic powers to do such things as bend spoons. Let's further assume that you are a skeptic and doubt that this was done by psychic powers. You want to conduct a study to determine if Uri Geller really has the ability to bend a spoon through use of his psychic powers. This research idea has originated from

Everyday Life

Dr. Skeptic was interested in the following questions:

- is it ethical to experiment with animals?

- is there an afterlife?

The common element of these two questions is that they:

Are not capable of scientific investigation

If you are doing a literature search, you can log on to the world wide web and conduct your search using one of the available search engines. Using this procedure to do your literature search has the disadvantage of

Providing too much information with questionable credibility

Consider the research question: "Does excessive drinking occure in animals other than rats?" This is considered a good research question because it

-Asks a question

-Focuses on a relationship between two variables

-Can be empirically tested

-Is stated specifically enough to specify that varibles
  being tested and to aid in the design of the study.

If you have stated your hypothesis in such a way that you predict no relationship between the varibles being investigated, you have stated a

Null hypothesis

May be promoted by "mere exposure".

Similar to superstitions

Problems with this approach: May be inaccurate and No mechanism for correcting inaccuracies.

Used in science when researcher persists in the belief of a good idea.

To be successful Science msut

- conduct research ethically

- critically self-examine its practices to determine what is working and what is not

- engage in ongoing learning and improvement

Method has to be defined at a single stage in the development of a field

-consists of some specific aims to arrive at knowledge of some specific kind, methods for arriving at those aims together with the standards for judging the extent to which they are met, and specific facts and theories that represent the current state of play as far as the realization of the aim is concerned.

Where we get scientific knowledge.

Science steady buildup of experimental knowledge

no one specific method!

science can/does vary over time

Phil os a philosopher of science and has come up with what he thinks is THE method of science. In identifying the specific method of science Phil believes that science proceeds by advancing a specific hypothesis and making observations to see if the hypothesis is supported or refuted. This approach is similar to the approach advocated by

Logical Positivist

Which of the following would be the best representation of agression of aggression

hitting another person with the intent of harming them.

Replication: reproduction of results in a new study.
 - reasons for failure to replicate: effect doesn't exist,
   replication study is not an exact replication; effect may
   depend on context - Tacit knowledge

Women have been taking the hormone estrogen for decades to eliminate many of the symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes. In the latter half of 2002, the media reported that medical research had found that this hormone replacement therapy increased the risk of uterine cancer. How do the three characteristics of science apply in asscessing the reported research?

- Control ; extraneous varible

- Operationalism; what symptoms; what hormone replacement

-Peplication; has the study been replicated

-To summarize and integrate existing data

-To guide new research

-Continuous interaction between theory and empirical observation

  - logic or context discovery; the inductive part of science

   -logic or context justification; the deductive part of
    science

If I have conducted a study in which I am trying to determine why a cold virus makes me cough, I am engaged in what objective of research?

explanation

Sarah is a 26 year old female with depression. She tried antidepressants, psychotheraphy, etc which did not help her depression so she decides to kill herself. Her method is to run herself to death but the more she runs the less depressed she becomes. From this experience Sarah writes a book advocating running as a treatment for anyone that has depression. In doing this Sarah has

used unductive logic

-Occurs between two other variables in a causal chain
       - also called intervening variable

       - e.g. anxiety causes distraction(mediating variable)
         which affects memory

-Moderating Variable
        - qualify a causal relationship as dependent on
          another variable.
        -e.g. the impact of anxiety on memory depends on
          level of fatigue (moderating variable).

- a condition in which one event (the cause) generates another event (the effect).

Cause and effect:

Causedefinition is different from common use
-Cause refers to a probabilistic relationship between an IV and DV - context important

Effect- difference between what would have happened if IV present and what would have happened if IV not present.

John Stuart Mills Canons:

-Method of agreement

-Method of difference

-Joint Methods of agreement and difference

-Method of concomitant variation

-Identified the necessary and sufficient conditions for the occurance of an event.

-Position of falsification

-cause (IV) must be related to the effect (DV)
  relationship condition

-changes in IV must precede changes in DV

  temporal order condition

- no other plausible explanation must exist for the effect.

- Is it more accurate to say that a cause and effect relationship is deterministic or probablistic

- Is it possible for the effect to precede the cause (NO)

-Which of the two varibles, inflation and unemployment, is the causal varible (could go either way)

(Zimney 1961)
"objective observation of phenomena which are made to occur in a  strictly controlled situation in which one or more factors are varied and the others are kept constant."

- objective observation:impartiality and freedom from bias on the part of the investigator.

-of phenomenon that are made to occur: any publicly observed behavior; satisfy the demands of operationalism and replication of experiemnts.
-in a strictly controlled situation; in which one or more factors are varied and others kept constant.

-Causal inference - experimental approach is best method for inferring causation.
     -causal description refers to identifying the
      consequences of manipulating an IV

     -causal explanation refers to explaning the
      mechanisms through which the relationship exists.

-Ability to manipulate variables

     -only scientific methodology in which varibles are
      manipulated.

- Control

-Does not test effects of nonmanipulated varibles

     - many potential independent varibles cannot be
       directly manipulated.

     - e.g. people's ages, gender, weather

-Artificiality

     - refers to potential problems in generalizing findings
       from laboratory settings to the real world.

- Inadequate method of scientific inquiry

-Field Experiments: an experimental research study that is conducted in a real life setting.

  - advantage: may be easier to generalize findings

  - disadvantage: less control of extraneous varibles

(ex: Regan/Llamas shopper's appearance, black panther stickers)

-Laboratory Experiments: an experimental research study that is conducted in a controlled laboratory setting.

    - advantage: more control over extraneous varibles

    - disadvantage: less generalization related to
      artificiality.    
ex:Kassin/Kiekel individuals would confess to act they did not commit.

-Internet Experiments

-No manipulation of independent varibles

-Primary Goal: to provide an accurate description of a situation or phenomenon or to describe the size and direction of relationships among varibles.

-Types:  correlational study, natural manipulation research, cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.

- a combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal designs.

-different age groups are tested longitudinal

ex: Chouinard/Roy interested in changes that occur in students' academic motivation during adolescence.

-Collect data on naturally occurring behavior

-Primary Characteristics: unobtrusiveness,Natural setting

- Weakness - difficult to identify causal relationships.

Think about the following beliefs and the various quantitative research designs. Identify the type of quantitative design or designs that could be used to test each belief. Then explain why the design or designs you selected could test the belief.

1. When bones ache rain is coming: Correlational (used to predict)

2. Blonds aren't very smart:Natural Manipulation

3. People who live in the country move more slowly than people in the city: Naturalistic Observation

4. People who live in the south are not very smart: Cross-sectional.

If I conducted a study in which I needed to combine the charistics of a longitudinal and cross-sectional study, I would use

A Cohort-Sequential approach

There is a body of research in social psychology documenting that propinquity, or just being close to another person such as working in the same area, is a good predictor of who will start dating and form a relationship. It has been postulated that propinquity works because the close environment allows a person to determine if two individuals have similar attitudes and interests because these varibles influence relationships.

(To test the notion propinquity works through such intervening varibles you would conduct.

A Path Analysis

Qualitative research is of necessity interpretive because

of the nature of the data it uses when investigating a phenomenon.

Tests: commonly used to measure personality,apitutude, achievement, and performance; come with information on reliability,validity, and norms.

Questionaires: a self-report data collection instrument that is filled out by research participants.

Interviews: a situation where the interviewer asks the interviewee a series of questions.

Focus Groups: a situation where a focus group moderator keeps a small and homogeneous group focused on the discussion of a research topic or issue.

Existing or secondary data: "data" that were orignally left behind or used for some purpose other than the new research study. (documents, physical data, archieved data)

Observation ... 

Observation

-naturalistic observation (real world setting)

-laboratory (lab/controlled environment)

-time-interval stamping (observing during preselected time intervals.

-event-stamping (every time that aparticular event takes place.

-qualitative research:observation is exploratory and open ended, and the researcher takes extensive field notes.

-complete observer;researcher observes from the outside, researcher does not inform the participants that he/she is studying them.

-observer-as-participant:researcher spens a limited amount of time "inside" the situation. (obtains consent)

-participant-as-observer:the researcher spends extensive time "inside" the group or situation (obtains consent)

-Complete participant: the researcher becomes a full participating member of the group (informed/permission granted)

-make sure everyone is well trained

-be sensitive to your appearance and how people being observed react
  to you.

-establish rapport, but do not promise anything you cannot deliver.

-be reflaxive,unobtrusive,empathetic,and alert at all times.

-find an effective way to record what is observed

-try to validate and corroborate what you think you are seeing

-make observations in multiple settings

-spend enough time in the field to obtain sufficient information

John wanted to find out how guards in a prison controlled the prisoners since he heard that they can smuggle in drugs and other substances. To collect his data he decided to get a job as a guard in the prison and then observe the control tactics used by the guards. In doing this, John used what data collection method?

Complete Participant

- High antecedent probability: have to look in the right
  places.

-Can't be so narrow that it prevents scientific breakthrough.
    - don't reject new ideas that contradict current thinking