Research Methods

Systematic procedures for planning research, gathering and interpreting

data, and reporting research findings.

Psychology as a Science

• In science all knowledge is based on empirical evidence (the data collected through objective observation and measurement)

• In order to collect data you need to follow a scientific method (a controlled approach to planning, conducting and reporting research)

•

The Scientific MethodA process used to find answers to questions about the world

around us.Features of the scientific method.-variables: any measurable factor that may change due to

circumstancesThere are 4 main types of variables in Psychology1) Independent (what is being manipulated)2) Dependent (what is measured)3) Extraneous (variables the influence the outcome of an

experiment)4) Confounding (a type of an extraneous variable)

For example, you could test how the amount of water you give to a plant affects how much it grows. The amount of water would be the independent variable, and the growth of the plant, which is the result you measure, would be the dependent variable.

IV: what is manipulated (amount of water)DV: what is being measured (growth of plant)

Populations and Samples.

• Population: the whole large group that is of interest to the researcher. (the whole school)

• Sample: the smaller subgroup of the population that has been selected to participate. (home group)

• Representative: the sample must be typical of the population from which it is drawn from.

• The more representative your sample is the more likely you are able to draw conclusions from your results and make generalisations.

Sampling Procedures• Techniques used to select samples.1) Random: everyone from the population has an equal

chance of being selected. Selection depends on chance.a) Lottery method: drawing names out randomlyb) Table of random numbers: a grid of randomised numbers

used to select or allocate participants.2) Stratified random sampling: if the population contains sub

groups (stratum/strata) then each subgroup needs to be represented in the sample. Eg. Population is a primary school, subgroups= year levels. For the sample you need to include students from all year levels.

3) Opportunity sampling: obtaining a sample by only including those who are available (aka convenience sampling)

The 6 step scientific method

1) Identify the research problem and formulate a question

2) Construct a testable hypothesis3) Designing the study4) Gathering the data5) Processing the data, analysing and

interpreting the results6) Writing a research report.

Step 1:Identify the research problem and formulate a question

• Research. This involves finding, reading, and reviewing relevant research and literature on the topic of interest i.e: what your experiment is based on. Researching lets you know if others have done the same experiment before and if so, what they have found.

• What do you want to know or explain?• Use observations you have made to write a question

that address the problem or topic you want to investigate

Our Experiment

1) Identify the research problem and formulate a question.

Alcohol and driving

Does alochol effect our driving ability?

Step 2: Construct a testable hypothesis

• A hypothesis is an educated guess of what you think may happen.

• An operational hypothesis is a testable hypothesis which includes what you are testing, who you are testing and how you are testing it.

Things you need to include in your hypothesis-Independent variable: the treatment the participants are exposed

to.-Dependent variable: the factor that is expected to change as a result

of the treatment -Population: who is involved in the experiment.

2) Constructing a testable hypothesis.Your hypothesis needs to be operationalised.

“It is hypothesised that people who drink alcohol will not drive as well as those who don’t drink alcohol”?

Is this an operational hypothesis??

NO!!!!!!This is an operational hypothesis...

“It is hypothesised that 18 to 22 year old males who consumed four standard alcoholic drinks in one hour would commit 80% more errors in a driving simulator than those who drank water”

“It is hypothesised that 18 to 22 year old males(population) who consumed four standard alcoholic drinks in one hour(independent variable) would commit 80% more errors in a driving simulator (dependent variable) than those who drank water”

Step 3: Decide on a research procedure design method

• Design a procedure that tests your hypothesis to see if your prediction is correct.

You need to determine the following:• Which participants will be studied?• How many participants?• How will they be chosen, selected?• How many participants will be in each group?• Materials

3) Designing the study

Design a procedure that tests your hypothesis to see if your prediction is correct.

You need to determine the following:• Which participants will be studied? 18-22 year old males• How many participants? What’s better? More of less? Why?• How will they be chosen, selected? Random, stratified,

opportunity.• How many participants will be in each group? should they be

even....• Materials: driving simulator, alcohol, water.. Anything else??

Step 4: Gathering the data

• This refers to conducting the experiment.• Applying the procedure to obtain the

information. Information supplied by the participants is called raw data.

• There are two types of data.1)Qualitative: descriptive data expressed in words2)Quantitative: measurable data, expressed in

scores and number.

4) Gathering the data

• Conducting the experiment:• How will we go about do this?

• Convenient sampling at a university.• Randomly allocate participants into 2 groups

using the lottery method.• One group will be the experimental group (drink

alcohol)• One group will be the controlled group (drink

water)• After each group has drank the alcohol/ water in

the hour they will be put into a simulator which records how many driving errors they make.

Step 5: Processing the data and analysing and interpreting the results.

• Data from the participants are collated together.• The data then needs to be calculated in order for it to be

viewed in a meaningful way. Once the data has been calculated the results are then known as descriptive statistics (organised and summarised raw data)

• The information of both groups are then compared to see if there are any differences between the groups

• Does your data support your hypothesis• If you cannot make a definite conclusion, you may need to

try the experiment again.

5)Processing the data, analysing and interpreting the results

• Collate all the raw data from the simulator.• Calculate the average errors for each group.

This will be your descriptive statistic.• Do your results support your hypothesis?• Can you make any conclusions or

generalisations about your results?

Step 6: writing a research report

• Research findings are generally communicated in the form of an empirical research report (ERA)

• Report the results of your experiment to let others know what you have learned.

6)Writing a research report.

Your ERA needs to include the following.TitleAbstractIntroductionMethod: participants, materials, procedureResultsDiscussion/ ConclusionReferencesAppendices

homework

• Activities4.1 questions 1-54.2 all4.6 first 4 dot points