The Scientific Method

• The approach used by psychologist to systematically acquire

knowledge and understanding about behavior and other phenomena
of interest
• Different than our “everyday” ways of knowing
Characteristics of Scientific and Nonscientific Approaches
Scientific Nonscientific (everyday)
General Approach Empirical Intuitive
Attitude Critical, Skeptical Uncritical, accepting
Methods Systematic, controlled Casual, uncontrolled
Reporting Unbiased, objective Biased, subjective
Concepts Clear definitions, operational Ambiguous, with surplus meanings
specificity (constructs)
Instruments Accurate, precise Inaccurate, imprecise
Measurements Valid and reliable Not valid or reliable
Hypotheses Testable Untestable
• Physical measurement: involves dimensions for which there is an
agreed-upon standard and an instrument for measuring.
• Length, weight, time…
• Psychological measurements: constructs that have no agreed-upon
standards nor instruments.
• Intelligence, aggression, attachment, memory performance….
Goals of Scientific Method
• Description: Researchers define, classify or categorize events and
relationship to describe mental processes and behavior.
• Prediction: When researchers identify correlations among variables
they can predict mental processes and behaviors
• Explanation: Researchers understand a phenomenon when they can
identify the causes
• Application: Psychologist in the field apply their knowledge and
research methods to change people’s lives for the better
Steps of The Research Process
Steps of The Research Process
• Develop a research question
• Specify a theory
• Generate a research hypothesis
• Form operational definitions
• Chose a research design
• Evaluate the ethics of your research
• Collect and analyze data; form conclusions
• Report research results
Research Question
• What should I study?
• Is my research question a good one?
• How do I develop a hypothesis to test in my research?
 Theories
• Broad explanations and predictions concerning phenomena of interest
• Theories differ in their scope
• Memory vs. Flashbulb memory
• A logically organized set of propositions that serves to define events,
describe relationships among these events, and explain the occurrence
of these event.
• Functions of a theory:
• Organize empirical knowledge
• Guide research.
Hypotheses
• A prediction, stemming from a theory, stated in a way that allows it to be
tested
• Hypotheses attempt to answer the questions of “how” and “why”.
• Usually a hypothesis stated in the form of a prediction for some outcome,
along with an explanation for that prediction.
• Hypotheses must be testable.

Psychologists rely on formal theories and hypotheses for many reasons:

• Permits them to place bits of observations within a coherent framework
• Help psychologists to make deductions about unexplained phenomena
• Develop ideas for future investigation
Hypothesis A
Prediction: Playing violent video games increase
aggression level more than passively watching violent
media content…
Explanation: …because players actively engage in the
aggressive actions in video games.

Hypothesis B
Prediction: Violent video games are less effective than
passively watching violent media content in terms of
aggression level
Explanation: …because players have the opportunity to
release aggressive impulses while playing but passive
viewers can’t do that.
 Testability test
Hypotheses are not testable:
• If the concepts to which they refer are not adequately defined or measured.
• Operational definition: The translation of a hypothesis into specific, testable procedures
that can be measured and observed in an experiment.
• Hypotheses must be restated in a way that will allow it to be tested and this restatement
involves creating an operational definition of that hypothesis
• Exp: Operational definition for fear as increasement in heart rate Vs. response to a certain
questionnaire
• If they are circular
• Using an event itself as the explanation of that event
• Exp: 8-year-old child doesn’t pay attention because he doesn’t pay attention
• If they appeal to ideas or forces that are not recognized by science.
• Exp: Suggesting people who commit crimes are controlled by evil spirits or other forces like
that is not testable.
 Descriptive and
correlational
research

Observational Survey
Case study
Methods Research

Direct Indirect
Observation Observation

With Naturalistic Archival

intervention Observation Research
Survey Research
In survey research, a sample of people chosen to represent a larger group
of interest (a population) is asked a series of questions about their
behavior, thoughts, or attitudes.
• We can conduct survey research for various purposes:
• Effects of COVID-19 on college students’ mental health
• Gambling behavior in young adults
• Effects of social media on self-esteem

Advantages: Drawbacks:
• Straightforward • Sample might be not representative
• Accuracy with small samples • Depend on self-reports
• Inexpensive
Population (all
campus)

Sample (100
students)

Element (one
student)
Case Study
A case study is an in-depth, intensive investigation of a single individual or
a small group.
• The main goal of this method is to use information gained from
examining an individual or a small group to improve our understanding
of a psychological concept in general.

• Case studies provide:

• potentially rich source of information about individuals or small groups
• insight about neurological problems that cannot be tested in labs due to ethical
concerns.
• However, it is hard to make valid generalizations to a larger population.
Phineas Gage
HM (Henry Molaison)
Archival Research
In archival research, existing data, such as census documents, college records,
and newspaper articles, are examined to test a hypothesis.
• Using college transcripts in order to determine whether academic performance differ
according to gender.
• Looking at newspaper records for explaining the actions of bystanders
• Searching high school records of people who later became criminals to see if there
were early signs of misbehavior.
• Not empirical data
Drawbacks:
Advantages: • Form of the data might not be convenient
• Inexpensive to test the hypothesis.
• Information could be incomplete.
• It could be collected haphazardly.
Naturalistic Observation
In naturalistic observation, the investigator observes some naturally
occurring behavior and does not make a change in the situation.
• What people do in their “natural habitat”
• Helps to establish the external validity of lab findings.
• Play habits of parents and children
• Investigating helping behavior
• Aggression in preschoolers
• Gender differences in nonverbal behaviors

Drawbacks:
Advantages: • The inability to control any of the factors
• Natural habitat of interest.
• Time consuming.
• People may alter their behavior.
Research Advantages Disadvantages
Method
Surveys Straightforward Based on self-reports (could be misleading): Responses
Accuracy with small samples tailored to what researcher wants to hear
Sample may not be representative of population.
Inexpensive

Case Study In-depth and focused Generalizations must be made cautiously.

Archival Inexpensive Data can be in poor form.
Incomplete information
Haphazardly collected.
Records often don’t exist.
Naturalistic Natural habitat Inability to control factors
Observation
Need perfect conditions.
Time consuming.
Subjects may alter actions.
Correlational Research
Main goal of correlation research is discovering if variables are related.
• Variables are behaviors, events, or other characteristics that can
change, or vary, in some way.
• In correlational research, two sets of variables are examined to
determine whether they are associated, or “correlated.”

Variable 1

Variable 2
Types of Correlation

+1 0 -1
 A B
Variable y

Variable y
Variable x Variable x
Correlations
• Correlations only show that variables are related.
• Correlations do not show that one variable causes
another.

• There is a relationship between the number of cigarettes smoked and the chance of
getting cancer
• There is a relationship between the color of someone's eyes and their ability to
succeed in college
 Which diagram best describes the relationship between
correlations and causations?

Events that
Events with causal
are
relationship
correlated.

a. b. c. d.

• All causal relations are correlated. But not all correlated events are
causal.
How can we understand which correlated events
have a causal relationship?
Correlated

Causal

• There is a correlation between number of ashtrays owned and

cancer.
• There is a correlation between number of cigarettes smoked
and cancer.
Exercises - 1
• You are conducting research on gender differences in e-mails. Your
hypothesis is that men use more declarative statements and women
use more questions.
• What might be the advantages of using the archival method?
• What might be the disadvantages of using the archival method?
Exercises - 2
• Imagine that you are conducting research on the length of time it
takes customers to select items in a grocery store. Assume that your
hypothesis is that people will spend more time deciding on more
expensive items than on cheaper items.
• What might be the advantages of using naturalistic observation?
• What might be the disadvantages of using naturalistic observation?
Exercises - 3
• You have decided to conduct a survey on whether a political
candidate will be popular with voters belong to a particular minority.
• What is an advantage of the survey method?
• What is a disadvantage of the survey method?
Exercises - 4
• You have decided to use the case study method to investigate a
mother’s experience in raising a child with autism.
• What is an advantage of the case study method?
• What is a disadvantage of the case study method?
Experimental Research
• Investigate relationship between two (or more) variables
• Establish causality
• Independent variable: manipulated by an experimenter.
• Dependent variable: measured in an experiment.
• Manipulation of the independent variable expected to affect the
dependent variable
• An independent variable must have at least two levels.
• Levels = Conditions
Bystander Effect (Latane & Darley)
• Hypothesis: The greater to number of bystanders in an emergency situation, the
less likely it is that someone will help the victim.
• Researchers created a false emergence situation
• Number of bystanders varied in three conditions:
• 2, 3, and 6
• Measured whether participants helped the victim or not
• Measured the amount of time that took for a participant to help

Independent Variable: number of bystanders present

Dependent Variable: Helping action and time
Experimental Control
Importance of Control Condition (Group)
• Does the dependent variable affected by the independent variable or another
unknow factor?
• Provide a baseline (no manipulation)
• Control conditions allow experimenters to form more accurate cause and effect
relationships between variables.
• Placebo control group
• Placebo: is a substance that looks like a drug or other active substance but actually it
is an inactive substance.

Does having a control group enough?

• Confounding factors?
Experimental Control
Holding conditions constant: to make sure that the independent variable is
the only factor that causes differences across groups.
• Equal numbers of participants in each condition(group),
• Same lab environment,
• Giving the same instructions to all participants,
• Using same materials
• We cannot control all factors so we choose the control only the factors that
we think might influence our dependent variable.
Experimental Control
Random assignment of participations: participants randomly assigned
to different experimental conditions on the basis of change alone.
• The goal of random assignment is to establish equivalent groups of participants
by balancing individual differences across the conditions.
 Experimental
Methods

Independent Repeated
Group Design Measures Design
(between-subject) (within-subject)
Repeated Measures Design (Within-subject)
• Each participant exposed to all conditions.
• Participants serve as their own controls
• Requires less participants
• More convenient and efficient
• Increase the sensitivity of the experiments
• Allow studying changes in participants’ behavior over time.
• Examined the effect of presentation type on memory performance
• Presented three types of images to participants
• Three conditions:
• Intact, half, fragmented
• Tested participants’ memory
Independent Variable: presentation type
Dependent Variable: memory performance
True Experiment
• Independent variable, the variable that is manipulated by the
experimenter,
• Dependent variable, the variable that is measured by the
experimenter and that is expected to change as a result of the
manipulation of the independent variable
• Elimination of plausible explanations through holding relevant
conditions constant and random assignment of participants to
conditions for balanced individual differences among conditions.
• A hypothesis that predicts the effect the independent variable will
have on the depended variable.
Exercises
1. Participants taking part in a sleep study to determine whether the
number of hours of sleep a person gets determines how well they will
do on an exam were randomly assigned to either the group that was
woken up at various times throughout the night or the group that was
allowed to sleep throughout the night.
• Independent variable:
• Dependent variable:
• Experimental condition:
• Control condition:
• Confounding:
Exercises
2. Participants took part in a study to determine the number of
consumed beers it would take to affect their ability to walk in a straight
line.
• Independent variable:
• Dependent variable:
• Experimental condition:
• Control condition:
• Confounding:
Exercises
3. A Medicine Company conducted an experiment to determine if its
new migraine headache pill would alleviate migraine headaches.
• Independent variable:
• Dependent variable:
• Experimental group:
• Control group:
• Confounding:
Exercises
4. A college conducted an experiment to determine if freshmen who
had their schedules made for them did better in their freshman year
than freshmen who made up their own schedules.
• Independent variable:
• Dependent variable:
• Experimental group:
• Control group:
• Confounding:
Exercises
Does watching violent cartoons increase the level of
aggression in children?
Does eating breakfast help people lose weight?
Does keeping camera on during online lectures affect
academic performance?

What type of study could you do to investigate these questions and

how would you design it?
The Ethics of Research
• Protection of participants from physical and mental harm.
• The right of participants to privacy regarding their behavior.
• The assurance that participation in research is completely voluntary.
• The necessity of informing participants about the nature of
procedures before their participation in the experiment.
• All experiments must be reviewed by an independent panel before
being conducted.
Informed Consent
• Informed consent is a signed document affirming that
• They been told the basic outlines of the study
• They are aware of what their participation will involve
• what risks the experiment may hold,
• the fact that their participation is purely voluntary
• they may terminate it at any time.
Critical Research Issues - Diversity

W.E.I.R.D Participants
• Western
• Educated
• Industrialized
• Rich
• Democratic
Critical Research Issues - Animal Research
• They designed to answer different questions.
• Allow researchers to have greater control over the subjects and allow to carry
out procedures that is not possible with people mainly due to ethical issues.
• Researchers must make every effort to minimize discomfort, illness, and
pain.
Experimental Bias
Factors that distort the way the independent variable affects the
dependent variable in an experiment.
• Experimenter expectations
• when an experimenter unintentionally transmits cues to participants about
the way the experimenter expects them to behave.
• Participant expectations
• When participants form their own hypotheses about the appropriate
behavior or purpose of the study and act on these