OBJECTIVE/S

Creating goals for scientific enterprise

Psychologists and other scientist share three sets of interrelated goals:

measurement and description, understanding and prediction, and application and
control.
Measurement. Commitment to observation requires that an investigator figure out of a
way to measure the phenomenon under study.
Understanding and Prediction. A higher-level goal of science is understanding.
Scientists believe that they understand events when they can explain the reasons for the
occurrence of the events.
Application and control. Ultimately, many scientist hope that the information gathered
will be of some practical value in helping to solve everyday problems.

Formulating a theory: It is a system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations.

Remember all the theories you have studied from you previous subjects? Choose a theory that
fits your style in psychology and add a short description about the theory you selected.

Theory: Short description:

Proponent:
 Formulating a theory: theories permit psychologists to make the leap from the
description of behavior to understanding behavior.

Draw and write short description about the theoretical framework you choose and
give your assumptions about it.

Testing the theory. Write the atleast 6 advantages and disadvantages of theories based on the
assumptions you wrote.
Advantages Disadvatages
 OBJECTIVE/S
Hypothesize the problem of the research
Write the steps in scientific investigation

Curiosity about a question provides point of departure for any kind of investigation,
scientific or otherwise. Scientific investigations, however, are systematic. They follow an
orderly pattern. Let’s look at how this standard series of steps was followed in a study.

Research Hypothesis. A research hypothesis is a statement of expectation or

prediction that will be tested by research. Before formulating your research
hypothesis, read about the topic of interest to you.
Formulating a hypothesis: The first step in a scientific investigation is to translate a
theory or an intuitive idea into a testable hypothesis.

Read the research about about the inhibition aand physical health of Cole et al.

Cole and his colleagues wanted to investigate whether the psychological inhibition required gay men who
conceal their homosexual identity might lead to increased vulnerability to a certain kind of illness.

Cole et al. (1996) noted that over the years a variety of theorist had speculated that frequent inhibition of
emotions might create chronic physiological arousal that could lead to an increased includence of physical
illness. However, scientific evidence issue wasn sparse and inconsistent, in part because the concept of
phsychological inhibition had proven difficult to measure. Cole and his colleagues decided to approach the
question in anew way. They reasoned that many gay individuals who are not “out of the closet” inhibit the
public expression of their homosexuality to avoid stigmatization, discrimination, and physical assault. They
hypothesized vigilant inhibition of one’s true feelings required by this strategy might ramifications for gay
individuals health. Normally, hypotheses are expressed as predictions. They spell out changes in one variable
will be related to changes in variable. Thus cole et al. predicted that degree to which men conceled their gay
identity woulddefinition.
Operational be associated withDescribes
the amount ofthe
physical illness they
actions or experience.
operations that will be used to
measure or control a variable.
Write the testable hypotheses based on the study of cole and his colleagues.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
 Based on the theory that you choose write the field of interest you want to study.
Make sure that the topic interest you chose is testable.

Example: Theory: Operant Conditioning – Ivan Pavlov.

Interest: Correlation of rewards and motivation of students to engage in
learning.

Theory:
Interest:

Proponent:

Formulate your hypothesis: From the previous technique you’ve learned in the first
activity. Write your hypothesis based on the theoretical framework and field of
interest you choose.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

OBJECTIVE/S
Selecting a research method and design of the study.
Justifying the pros and cons in using this research method and design.
 The next step in a scientific investigation is to figure out how to put the
hypothesis to an empirical test. The research method chosen depends to a large
degree on the nature of the question under study. The various methods-
experiments, case studies, surveys, naturalistic observations, and so forth – each
have advantages and disadvantages.

Choosing a research method and design. The researcher has to ponder the
pros and cons and select the strategy that appears to be the most appropriate
and practical
Create a scientific notes for your own research.
1. Ask a question

2. Make a hypothesis

3. Do an experiment
 4. Come to a conclusion

Putting it into perspective: once the researcher has chosen a general method they
must make detailed plans for executing their study. Participants, or subjects are
personal animals whose behavior is systematically observed in a study.
Write the possible participants or population for your studies.

Participants:
Systematic behavior of the
participants:
Number of Participants:

OBJECTIVE/S
Distinguish the independent and dependent variables in a research
 The purpose of the experiment is to find whether changes in
one variable (Let’s call it x) cause changes in another variable (let’s call it y). To
put it more concisely, we want to find out how x affects Y in this formulation, we
refer x to as the independent variable and to y as the dependent variable.
An Independent variable is a condition or an event that an experimenter
varies in order to see its impact on its variable.

A dependent variable is a variable that is thought to be affected by the

manipulation of the independent variable.

An Independent variable is a condition or an event that an experimenter

varies in order to see its impact on its variable.

Check your understanding of the experimental method by identifying the

independent variable and dependent variable in the following investigations.
Note that one study has two IVs and another has two DVs.

1. A researcher wants to find out how stimulus complexity and stimulus

contrast (light/dark variation) affect infants’ attention to stimuli. He
manipulates stimulus complexity and stimulus contrast and measures how
long infants stare at various stimuli.
IV: _______________________________________________________
DV:________________________________________________________
2. A Social psychologist investigates the impact of group size on subjects’
conformity in response to group pressure.
 IV: ________________________________________________________
DV: _______________________________________________________

Complete the table below by identifying the dependent and independent

variables in the different research titles.
Independent and dependent variable

1. Evaluation the Study Habits

of SHS Learners and their
impications on Studet
performance in General
Mathematics
2. Effects of Morning Exercise
on the Health Anxiety Level
of Senior Citizen
3. Problem-Based Teaching in
Enhancing Performance of
Students in Physics

Evaluate your own research title by identifying your independent variable and
dependent variable

TITLE:

Independent Variable:

Dependent Variable:
 OBJECTIVE/S
Create inquiry Design Diagram for Design Experiments

We have discussed the experiment in only its simplest format, with just one
independent and dependent variable. Actually, many variations are possible in
conducting experiments with more complicated designs, these variations merit a brief
mention
Creating inquiry Design Diagram. Check your understanding of your own research
method.
It is sometimes advantageous to use only one group of subjects who serve as their
control groups. The effects of the independent variable are evaluated by exposing this
single group to two different conditions – an experimental condition and a control
condition.

Example:
Study: The effects of loud music on typing performance
Experimental: you could have a group of participants work on a typing task while loud
music was played.
Control condition: the absence of music.

Title:

Experimental:

Control Condition:

It is possible to manipulate more than one independent variable in a single experiment.

Researchers often manipulate two or three independent variables to examine their joint
effects on the dependent variables.
Example:
Study: The effects of loud music on typing performance
Experimental: room temperature and distracting music.
Control condition: absence of music.
Title:

Experimental:

Control Condition:

It is also possible to use more than one dependent variable in a single study.
Researchers frequently use a number of dependent variables to get a more complete
picture of experimental manipulations affect subjects.
Example:
Study: The effects of loud music on typing performance
Experimental: measure two dependent variables: speed (words per minute) and
accuracy (number of errors).
Control condition: absence of music.
Title:

Experimental:

Control Condition:
 OBJECTIVE/S
Make a list of strenght and weakness of your research

The experiment is a powerful research method. Its principal advantage is that it

permist conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships between variables.
Researchers are able to draw these conclusions about causation because precise
control available in the experiment allows them to isolate the relationship between the
independent variable and the dependent variable while neutralizing the extremes.
I. For all its power, however, the experiment has limitations. One problem is that
experiments are often artificial.

Example: To investigate decision-making in juries, psychologists have

conducted many experiments in which subjects read a brief summary of a trial
and then record their individual “verdicts” of innocence or guilt.

Your research:
Weakness:
Strength:

II. Experimental method can’t be used to explore some research questions.

Example: studies about nutritionally poor diet during pregnancy increases the
likelihood of birth defects. It is unethical.

Your research:
What method did you use to explore the research questions?

Is it ethically appropriate?

III. Manipulation of variables is difficult or impossible.

 Example: knowing whether being brought up in an urban as opposed to a
rural area affects people’s values.

Your research:
Is your research can be manipulated by concrete variables? If yes, explain.

What research technique best used in your research?

OBJECTIVE/S
Identify the different methods in psychology

Descriptive/correlational research methods allow psychologists to explore issues

that might not be open to experimental investigation. However, these research methods
cannot demonstrate cause-effect relationships.

Check your understanding of the uses and strengths of various research methods by
figuring out which method would be optimal for investigating the following questions
about behavioral processes. Choose from the following methods (a) experiment, (b)
naturalistic, (c) case study, and (d) survey. Indicate your choice by letter.
1. Are people’s attitudes about nuclear disbarment related to their social class or
education?
2. Do people who suffer from anxiety disorder share similar early childhood
experiences?
3. Do troops of baboons display territoriality- that is, do they mark off an area as
their own and defend it from intrusion by other baboons?
4. Can presence of food-related cues (Delicious-looking desserts in advertisements,
for example) cause an increase in the amount of food that people eat?

Matching type: match the methods of psychology in column a and with each
appropriate examples in column b
Column A Column B

1. Experiment a. Youngsters are randomly

assigned to watch a
violent and non violent film,
and
their aggression is measured in a
laboratory situation
2. Naturalistic observation b. Youngsters are given
questionnaire that describes
hypothetical scenariosand are
asked about likelihood of
aggressive behavior
3. Case studies c. Youngster’s spontaneous acts
of aggression during recreational
activities are observed
unobtrusively and recorded
4. Surveys d. detailed case histories are
worked up for youngsters
referred to excessive aggressive
behavior
 Write the advantage and the disadvantage of methods in psychology
Research Method Advantage Disadvantage

Experiment

Naturalistic

Case studies

Surveys

OBJECTIVE/S
Analyze graphs using descriptive statistics.
Whether researchers use experimental or correlational methods, they need some
way to make sense of their data. Statistics is the use of mathematics to
organize, summarize, and interpret numerical data.
Descriptive statistics are used to organize and summarize numerical data. The
mean, median, and mode are widely used measures of central tendency. The
mean tends to be the most useful of these indexes, but it can be distorted by
extreme scores. Variability is usually measured with the standard deviation,
which increases as the variability in a data set scores.

Mean. In general, the mean is the most useful measure of central

tendency because additional statistical manipulations can be
performed on it that is not possible with the median or mode.

The three measuresof central tendency usually converge, but that is

not always the case, as this data illustrates.

Answer the following questions.

20,000

20, 000

25, 000

35, 000

200, 000

300, 000 / 5 = 60, 000

 1. Which set of data is mode (The most frequent)?

2. Which set of data is the median (the middle)?

3. What is the mean (Arithmetic average?

A correlation exists when 2 variables are related to each other.

Positive vs. Negative correlation. A positive correlation indicates that
two variables co-vary in the same direction and a negative correlation
indicates that two variables co-vary in the opposite variable

Check your understanding. Interpret the correlation by interpreting

the meaning of the correlation in item 1 and by guessing the direction
(positive or negative) of the correlations in item 2.

Researchers have found a substantial positive correlation between

youngster’s self-esteem and their academic achievement (measured
 by grades in school). Check any acceptable conclusions based on this
correlation.

_________1. Low grades cause low-self esteem.

_________2. There is an association between self-esteem and
academic achievement.
_________3. High ability causes both high self-esteem and high
academic achievement.
_________4. Youngsters who score low in self-esteem tend to get high
grades.

OBJECTIVE/S
Detect the flaws.
Evaluating Research Studies.

Psychologists often try to replicate research findings to double-check their validity.

Although this process leads to some contradictory findings, science works toward reconciling
and explaining inconsistent results.

Sampling bias. Occurs when a sample is not representative of the population of

interest.
 Placebo effects. Occur when participants’ expectations cause them to change
their behavior in response to a fake treatment.

Distortions in self-reports. Response sets and the social desirability bias, are
the source of concern whenever questionnaires and personality inventories are
used to collect data.

Check your understanding of how to conduct sound research by looking for

methodological flaws in the following studies.

Study 1. A researcher announces that he will be conducting an experiment to

investigate the detrimental effects of sensory deprivation on perceptual-motor
coordination. The first 40 students who sign up for the study are as signed to the
experimental group, and the next 40 who sign up serve in the control group. The
researcher supervises all aspects of the study’s execution. Experimental subjects spend
two hours in a sensory deprivation chamber, where sensory stimulation is minimal. The
control subject spends two hours in a waiting room that contains magazines and a TV.
All subjects then perform ten 1-minute trials on a pursuit-rotor task that requires them to
try to keep a stylus on a tiny rotating target. The dependent variable is their average
score on the pursuit-rotor task,

Study 2. A researcher wants to know whether there is a relationship between age and
racial prejudice. She designs a survey in which respondents are asked to rate their
prejudices against six different ethnic groups. She distributes the survey over 500
people of various ages who are approached at a shopping mal in a low-income, inner-
city neighborhood.

Check the flaws that are apparent in each study and write the reason for every check
that is used in the case studies provided.
Methodological Flaw Study 1 Study 2 Reason/s

Placebo effect

Sampling bias

Distortions in self-
reports
Confounding of
variables
Experimental bias
 OBJECTIVE/S
Use journal articles as a support for ethical guidelines.
Conduct studies that has credibility and approval from APA standards.

Once you find the journal articles you want to examine, you need to know how to
decipher them. You can process the information in such articles more efficiently if you
understand how they are organized. Depending on your needs and purpose, you may want to
simply skim through some of the sections. Journal articles follow a fairly standard organization,
which includes the following sections and features.

Make at least 10 list of reliable and credible sources from books/the

internet that you may use in your topic research.
Topic/Interest:
 Research title Link/reference author

From the given abstract above make a short description of the abstract that you’ve gathered
and the method that is used in the research.

Research title Abstract Methods

From the method and data obtained in the study. Write a short description of the results of made
by the researcher.
Research Title Results