Psychology 101

Psychology 101

Dr. David L. Carpenter

Rev.8/30/00

Return to: Psych 101-03 Psych 101-04 Syllabus

I. The Major Research Methods

A.     Four Basic Steps

1.     Identify the research problem

2.     Design and conduct a study

3.     Examine the data

4.     Communicate the results

II. The Experimental Method

A.     Definition of an experiment

B.     Variables

1.     What is a hypothesis?

2.     Independent variable

3.     Dependent Variable

C.     Conditions

1.     Experimental condition

2.     Control condition

D.     Confounding variables

1.     Confounding variable

2.     Random assignment

E.     Examples

F.     Conclusions about experiments

III. Quasi-Experiments

A.     Define Quasi-Experiment

B.     Random Assignment

1.     What is it?

2.     Why might it not be done?

C.     When are quasi-experiments used?

D.     Examples

IV. The Correlational Method

A.     Correlational Research - what is it?

B.     Correlation Coefficient

1.     the symbol for one

2.     the range of possible values

C.     Kinds of Correlation

1.     Direction of relationship

a.     Positive correlation

b.     Zero correlation

c.     Negative correlation

2.     Strength of relationship

a.     How represented

b.     Range of values

D.     Interpreting Correlations

1.     Causation and correlation

2.     Examples

V. Survey Method

A.     Survey Method defined

B.     Demographic information

C.     Problems with surveys

D.     Uses and limits of surveys

E.     Examples

VI. In-Depth Interviews and Case Studies

A.     Advantages over experiments and quasi-experiments

B.     In-Depth Interviews

1.     What are they?

2.     Requirements for quality interviews

3.     Examples

C.     Case Studies

1.     What are they?

2.     How are they different from in-depth interviews?

3.     examples

D.     Naturalistic Observations

1.     Naturalistic Observation Defined

2.     Three functions of naturalistic observation

3.     Examples

E.     Advantages and disadvantages of each method

VII. Research Issues

A.     Sampling

1.     Sample defined

2.     Random sample

3.     Representative sample

4.     Biased sample

5.     Generalizing beyond the sample

6.     Examples

B.     Measuring Responses

1.     Operational Definition

a.     Defined

b.     Two advantages

c.     Examples

2.     Self-Report

a.     Defined

b.     Problems with self-reports

c.     Examples

3.     Behavioral Measures

a.     Defined

b.     Problems with behavioral measures

c.     Examples

4.     Physiological Measures

a.     Defined

b.     Advantages & disadvantages

c.     Examples

5.     Conclusions about measuring responses

C.     Avoiding Gender and Racial Biases

D.     Social Aspects of Research

1.     Experimenter expectations

2.     Participants' expectations

3.     Demand characteristics

E.     Ethical Aspects of Research

1.     Avoiding Potential Harm

2.     Avoiding unnecessary deception

3.     Ensuring privacy

4.     Ensuring Ethical Treatment of Animals

F.     In Depth: Research on Physical Attractiveness

1.     Experimental Method

2.     Naturalistic Observation and Correlational Research Combined

3.     In-Depth Interviews

4.     Conclusions

VIII. Construction and Evaluating Psychological Tests

A.     Standardization

B.     Norms

C.     Reliability

1.     Test-retest

D.     Validity

1.     Content

2.     Criterion

IX. Analyzing the Data

A.     Descriptive Statistics: Describing the Data

1.     Central Tendency

a.     Mean

b.     Median

c.     Mode

2.     Veriability

a.     Histogram

b.     Range

c.     Standard Deviation

B.     Inferential Statistics: Drawing Conclusions About the Data

1.     Drawing Conclusions About Two Groups

2.     Statistical Significance

3.     Practical Significance

4.     Meta-analysis

Return to: Psych 101-03 Psych 101-04 Syllabus Return to Top of Page