Research I

• Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes of humans and animals
• Purpose of Psychology


  • Describe
  • Explain
  • Predict
  • Influence
• Types of Behavior


  • Conscious
  • Unconscious
  • Overt
  • Covert
• Goals of Psychological Research: To build an organized body of knowledge about the field, to develop explanations for phenomena within its domain
• Scientific explanations


  • Rational: follows the rules of logic and consistent with known facts
  • Testable: could be verified through replication
• Scientific method


  1. Questions are asked

  2. Logical

  3. Credible methods

  4. Relies on empirical approach: direct observation and experimentation
• Steps in Research


  1. STEP 1: Developing a Research Idea and Hypothesis

  2. STEP 2: Choosing the Research Design

  3. STEP 3: Choosing The Subject/ Population

  4. STEP 4: Deciding On What to Observe and The Appropriate Measures

  5. STEP 5: Conducting Study

  6. STEP 6: Analyzing Data
• Research Proposal


  1. Made or written by the researcher/s for the purpose of outlining his/her/their planned research project

  2. It outlines the entire research process to be undertaken
• Parts of the Research Proposal

  • Title
  • Table of contents
  • Covers the chapters 1-3 of your future paper with the following contents
• Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION


  1. Background of the Study

  2. Statement of the Problem
• Variable


  Any quality or quantity that can take on a range of values
• Hypothesis


  • Give a hypothesis for every problem that you have to prove statistically
  • State the hypothesis (es) in null form for ease of proving it (them)
• Theoretical Framework


  • Discuss briefly the theory which was the basis of your study
  • Name the theory and give a brief description of it and how you will use it in your study
• Theoretical Framework


  Discuss briefly the theory which was the basis of your study. Name the theory and give a brief description of it and how you will use it in your study. Different theories and concepts related to the topic can also be combined provided that you make a logical arrangement of ideas. It would then be a conceptual framework rather than a theoretical one.
• Significance of the Study

  Identify who will benefit from the results of your study and how they can benefit from it. State from the most important group or person.
• Definition of Terms


  Give the important terms found in the title of your study. Define each in two ways: 1. State the Conceptual definition which would be quoted. Get the definition from a credible source (book in psychology, PLEASE this is a serious endeavor do not be contented with the dictionary definition) 2. Operational definition: how the term will be used in your study. In other words, how will the term be contextualized in your study - is it based on the raw score or the interpreted score
• Scope and Limitations of the Study


  Give in a paragraph or two a brief description of the extent of the coverage of your study as well as what is not included. Scope = coverage, Limitations = excluded
• Chapter 2: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE


  This chapter includes all types of materials reviewed, conceptual literature which came from books, related studies both local and foreign journals. Aimed mainly to show how the present study relates to the existing knowledge and previous studies in terms of both similarities and differences. Classify literature by topic and subtopics or by themes. At the end of each subtopic give a summary and at the end of the chapter, give an overall summary of what was said in the entire chapter. REMINDER: cite sources of literature whether study or theory.
• Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY


  Research Design: Quantitative, Qualitative, Mixed Method: specific method technique by which you will answer the question. Methodology: cover the theory behind the approach. Quantitative Approach: Purpose: generalize from sample to a population. Explain why a survey is the preferred type of data collection procedure for the study. Consider procedure for the study. Consider the advantages of the design such as the economy. Specify the form of data collection. Qualitative Approach: Natural setting - Researcher tends to collect data in the field at the site where participants experience the issue or problem under study. Researcher as key instrument - Researchers collect data themselves through examining documents, observing behavior, or interviewing participants. Multiple sources of data - Qualitative researchers gather multiple forms of data rather than rely on a single data source (interview, observation, documentation). Review all of the data, make sense of it, and organize it into categories. Selection of Subjects and Sampling Design: Describe who will be your subjects or respondents. What is the sampling design or how will you select them. Study Site: Describe the place where you will conduct your study. What are the peculiar or unique features that the location has or have that should be noted? Data Gathering: Instrument - describe how your instrument was developed. R.I.N.N. | 3 - who developed it - where was it developed - what was the purpose of its original development - how was it validated and what are the validation indices. Validity: Face validity - if the test on the surface appears to measure what it is supposed to measure. Predictive Validity - Whether the test predicts criteria external to the test (a.k.a criterion validity). Ex. Aptitude test.
• Validity


  1. Face validity: if the test on the surface appears to measure what it is supposed to measure

  2. Predictive Validity: Whether the test predicts criteria external to the test (a.k.a criterion validity)

  3. Convergent Validity: Whether the test correlates with other measures that should correlate with it

  4. Discriminant Validity: Whether the test should not correlate with it

  5. Construct Validity: Measures what it is supposed to measure based on a theoretical construct
• Reliability


  • Stability of the test
  • Repeated measures: test re-test
  • Internal consistency reliability: all items correlated with each other
  • Inter-rater reliability: when raters or multiple observers agree with each other
• Data Gathering Procedure


  Describe the step by step process that you will go through to collect your data
• Data Analysis


  1. Quantitative data: specific tools you will be applying to your data (e.g. descriptive statistics, inferential statistics)

  2. Qualitative data: specific model to be used for data analysis of Clarke and Braun thematic analysis

  3. Colaizzi’s descriptive phenomenological method
• Research Ethics


  1. Research that is harmful to participants is undesirable

  2. Seek informed consent of the participants by giving full information on the nature, purpose, the potential risks and benefits of the study

  3. Maintaining anonymity and confidentiality is very important so that identities of participants are protected and the data do not become items of gossip

  4. Deceiving individuals in order to get them to participate is always unethical. Weigh costs of deception against potential benefit of research. The researchers are obligated to conduct debriefing as soon as possible, that is explain to the participants the use of deception

  5. Plagiarism is a serious violation of research ethics. In reporting, do not fabricate data, do not 'steal' others' ideas and pass them as yours
• University of San Agustin's basis for the evaluation of the Informed Consent Form (ICF) and ethics clearance

  • Duly accomplished Informed Consent Document Review form
  • Procedures primarily intended for research are stated
  • Appropriate procedure for obtaining informed consent
  • There is adequate or enough provision for the protection of vulnerable participants
  • Names and contact details of the investigators are found in the ICF
  • Explicit statement regarding privacy and confidentiality
  • Information contained should be comprehensive and relevant
  • There is consistency in the information provided in the protocol or research proposal with those in the ICF
  • Study related risks are mentioned in the ICF
  • Language in the ICF is understandable
  • ICF is translated into the local dialect
  • Consent form is appropriate for the type of study participants
  • Provisions for medical/psychosocial support when needed
  • Provisions for treatment of study-related injuries
  • Provisions for compensation