Quantitative research and their data
-measures variables that vary in quantity (size, amount, magnitude)
-data are usually numerical scores and are evaluated with statistical procedures
Qualitative
-careful and holistic observations of behavior
-describe results in detailed narrative reports
Research Process
1. Find a research idea/question (select general topic, review literature, find question)
2. Form a hypothesis (tentative answer that question)
3. Determine variables ( how are variables defined and measured)
4. Identify participants/subjects (who, how ma
Basic Research
-goal is to enhance general knowledge
-Ex: how is info lost from memory? what kind of social situations cause anxieties?
-can influence applied research
Applied Research
-goal is to answer questions about real-world problems
-Ex: How can the reliability of eyewitness testimony be improved? How can anxiety in social situations be reduced?
-can influence basic research
Goals of Literature Research
1. Get familiar with current research
-what is known?
-what variables typically used?
2. Narrow in on manageable # of relevant studies
-will be important for intoduction
-will provide logical justification for research
3. Find a gap in knowledge
-find res
Empirical Journals
-Report results of original empirical study
-Contain details about method, statistical tests, results
Review Journal
- Summary of research done in an area
- Sometimes use meta-analysis (analysis of analysis)
*Combine results of multiple studies
*Compute statistics (e.g., average effect size) across studies
Primary source
-Firsthand Report
-author describes own observations
-typically empirical journal articles
Secondary Source
-secondhand report
-author describes someone else's observations
-e.g., review articles, meta-analyses, textbooks
Peer-Review Process
-Editor sends out article to 3-4 expert reviewers
*reviewers remain anonymous
*reviewers provide feedback and opinion
-Ensure high quality studies get published
*check that appropriate methodology get's used
*check for internal consistency, logical flow
*
Sections of Empirical Research Data
-Abstract
*Concise summary of article (e.g., 200 or fewer words)
* What was done and most important results
-Introduction
*Literature review
*Hypotheses and specific research questions/predictions of current study
-Method
*How research was conducted
*Part
Using Online Research Databases
-e.g., PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES
*Both are maintained by the American Psychological Association (APA)
-Don't use general search engines
*too much non-scientific junk, whereas 99% of PsycINFO is peer-reviewed
PsycARTICLES
-full-text database
*records are complete copies of original articles
-about 163,000 articles from 80 journals
PsycINFO
-not-full-text database
*records are brief summaries (e.g., title, authors, keywords, abstract)
-over 3 million items from over 2,000 journals
Using PsycINFO
-Must access from an on-campus computer or via the
proxy server (or VPN)
-search using keyword
*connect keywords with and/or/not
-Use an (*) at the rootto find variants
-screen out irrelevant atricles
*title at first basis for screening
*then article
*the
CharacterisBcs of a Good Hypothesis
-logical
*follows logical progression of previous findings
*premises (previous research) > logical conclusion (hypothesis)
-testable
*Must be able to actually observe/measure variables
-Refutable/Falsifiable
*can be demonstrated to be false
*Many pseudosc