Research Methodology

Cards (202)

  • Scientific Methodology:
    • Science is a systematic, critical, controlled, reproducible path to knowledge
    • Involves theory and empiricism
    • Scientific method: set of assumptions, rules, and procedures used by scientists to conduct research
    • Results in an accumulation of scientific knowledge through reporting and modification of findings
    • Research must be objective and based on previous work to replicate
    • Research reports represent scientific findings in a standardized written format (APA)
  • Values vs. Facts:
    • Values are personal statements
    • Facts are objective statements determined to be accurate through empirical study
  • Types of Research:
    1. Basic research: answers fundamental questions about behavior
    2. Applied research: investigates issues with implications for everyday life and provides solutions (e.g., program evaluation research)
  • Research Design:
    • Specific method used to collect, analyze, and interpret data
    • Three basic types: Descriptive, Correlational, Experimental
  • Empiricism:
    • Relies on empirical evidence based on facts, evidence, and research
    • Origin of knowledge is sense experience, emphasizing sensory perception
  • Scientific Reasoning:
    • Involves inductive and deductive reasoning
    • Systematic hypothesis-testing is crucial
  • Deductive and Inductive Reasoning:
    • Deduction: deriving conclusions from general premises
    • Induction: forming generalizations based on observations
    • In research, inductive approach is used when there is little existing literature, while deductive approach tests existing theories
  • Data:
    • Raw numbers with many variables
    • Primary vs. secondary data
    • Used for analysis and statistics
  • Facts:
    • True statements verified through experience
    • Scientific facts result from repeatable observations or measurements
    • Central to building scientific theories
  • Nomothetic Paradigms:
    • Involves making generalizations and understanding large-scale patterns
    • Uses scientific methods to obtain quantitative data
    • Examples include classifying people into groups or establishing dimensions
  • Nomothetic paradigms involve developing laws and theories that can be empirically tested
  • Limitations of nomothetic paradigms:
    • Predictions can be made about groups but may not apply to individuals
    • Accused of losing sight of the 'whole person'
  • Idiographic paradigms focus on uncovering detailed information about a narrower subject of study
  • The term "idiographic" comes from the Greek word "idios" meaning "own" or "private"
  • Psychologists interested in idiographic approaches aim to discover what makes each individual unique
  • Idiographic approaches do not allow for general laws due to chance, free will, and the uniqueness of individuals
  • Idiographic approaches tend to include qualitative data and investigate individuals in a personal and detailed way
  • Methods used in idiographic research include case studies, unstructured interviews, self-reports, autobiographies, and personal documents
  • Strengths of the idiographic approach:
    • Focuses on the individual
    • Findings can serve as a source of ideas or hypotheses for later study
  • Limitations of the idiographic approach:
    • Time-consuming and costly to study individuals in depth
    • Not many people are willing to participate due to invasion of privacy and data access concerns
  • Ethical considerations in psychological research are guided by principles to protect participants' rights, enhance research validity, and maintain scientific integrity
  • Types of ethical issues in research:
    1. Voluntary participation
    2. Informed consent
    3. Anonymity
    4. Confidentiality
    5. Potential for harm
    6. Results communication
    7. Right to withdraw
    8. Debriefing
    9. Deception
  • Institutional Review Board (IRB) ensures that research aims and design are ethically acceptable and follow institutional codes of conduct
  • Verification of theories involves testing the truth-value of statements through evidence, often of an empirical nature
  • Hypothesis testing is a formal procedure for investigating ideas using statistics, often used by scientists to test predictions arising from theories
  • Steps in hypothesis testing:
    1. State research hypothesis as null and alternate hypotheses
    2. Collect data designed to test the hypothesis
    3. Perform a statistical test
    4. Decide whether to reject or fail to reject the null hypothesis
    5. Present findings in the results and discussion section
  • Operational definitions describe something in terms of the operations by which it could be observed and measured
  • Operational definitions help researchers decide how to measure variables in a study
  • Example: Happiness can be operationalized by counting the number of smiles a person emits during an observation period
  • Operational definitions are concrete and measurable, allowing others to see if the research has validity
  • In a research study, age can be defined as a participant's age measured in years, while addiction can be defined as meeting the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for any substance use disorder
  • Operational definitions are crucial for the validity, replicability, generalizability, and dissemination of research findings
  • Types of variables:
    • Categorical variables: Nominal (describes a name or category without order) and Ordinal (values defined by an order relation)
    • Binary variables: Yes/no outcomes
    • Numeric variables: Continuous (infinite real values within an interval) and Discrete (finite real values within an interval)
  • Variables in the context of establishing causation:
    • Independent variables: Manipulated to affect the outcome
    • Dependent variables: Represent the outcome
    • Control variables: Held constant throughout the experiment
  • Other types of variables:
    • Confounding variables: Hide the true effect of another variable
    • Latent variables: Represented via a proxy
    • Composite variables: Made by combining multiple variables
  • Reliability and validity are essential in research design and analysis:
    • Reliability: Consistency of a measure
    • Validity: Accuracy of a measure
  • Types of reliability:
    • Test-retest: Consistency across time
    • Interrater: Consistency across raters
    • Internal consistency: Consistency within the measurement itself
  • Types of validity:
    • Construct: Adherence to existing theory
    • Discriminant: Divergence from unrelated measures
    • Content: Coverage of all aspects of the concept being measured
    • Criterion: Extent to which the result of a measure corresponds to other valid measures of the same concept
    • Face: measurement method appears “on its face” to measure the construct of interest
  • Improving reliability:
    1. Use enough questions to assess competence
    2. Maintain a consistent environment for participants
    3. Ensure participants are familiar with the assessment user interface
    4. Train human raters effectively
    5. Measure reliability
    6. Regular item analysis (Cronbach's, McDonald's)
  • Qualitative research involves collecting and analyzing non-numerical data to understand concepts, opinions, or experiences