Introduction

to Scientific
Inquiry
Overview
What is Science?
What is Science?

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What is Science?

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The Experiment
The Experiment

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The Experiment
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Psychological
Science
Psychological Science

• much of human behavior is amenable to scientific analysis

Psychological Science

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The Scientific
Method
Psychological Science

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Psychological Science

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• Observational Studies
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Experimental
Design
Experimental Design

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Experimental Design

• Purpose of Experimental Design

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Experimental Design

• Variables in Experimental Design

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• Hypothesis Testing
• stating the anticipated relationship between experimental
conditions and outcomes stating the anticipated relationship
between experimental conditions and outcomes
Experimental Design

• Illustrative Example
• hypothesis is about the likability of a person's face and the size of
their eye pupils
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Experimental Design
Experimental Design

• Components of an Experiment
• manipulating events (e.g., pupil size), conducting it in a
controlled environment (e.g., a laboratory), and making
empirical measurements (e.g., participants' likability
judgments)
• crucial for a psychological experiment's validity and
reliability
Assumptions of the
Scientific Method
Assumptions

• Order
• The assumption that the physical and psychological universe
is ordered, not random, implies systematic relationships
between phenomena.
• Certitude
• Prediction
• Control
Assumptions

• Determinism
• All events have a cause, even if identifying the cause is
challenging. Psychological determinism suggests that
psychological phenomena, like physical events, have
preceding circumstances leading to their occurrence.
However, caution is needed to avoid attributing false causes
or superstitions to psychological thoughts and actions.
• Data Analytics
Assumptions

• Empiricism
• Empiricism relies on observation and experimentation to
understand phenomena. Empirical research uses
measurements, often numerical, to gather factual
information. However, data can be invalid if selectively
collected or if important aspects of a problem are
overlooked.
Assumptions

• Parsimony
• Scientists prefer simple explanations over complex ones. The
law of parsimony suggests that simple explanations are more
likely to be correct. This principle aids in making
generalizations about human behavior and allows for
extrapolation from specific findings to more general
statements. It also facilitates finding common explanations
across species.
• But is it always the EASIER WAY?
Other Research
Methods
Other Research Methods

• Observation Methods
• Observation methods involve systematic observation and
measurement of behavior.
• Three common quantification methods are frequency,
duration, and interval.
• Naturalistic observations occur in native settings without
manipulating variables, providing valuable insights despite
not establishing cause and effect.
Other Research Methods

• Observation Methods
• Anecdotal evidence suggests a link between full moons and
strange behavior.
• To study this, researchers must define and quantify behaviors
like nocturnal activity, comparing them across lunar phases.
Other Research Methods

• Archival Research
• Relies on existing records, such as statistics or documents.
• While not establishing causation, archival research can
provide valuable insights into historical trends or patterns.
Other Research Methods

• Archival Research
• Researchers used admissions and evaluation records to
investigate the relationship between lunar phases and
psychiatric behavior.
• Found no significant differences, highlighting the need for
rigorous observation and interpretation in archival research.
Other Research Methods

• Correlational Studies
• Correlational studies examine the relationship between two
variables but do not establish causation.
• They can provide valuable insights but can also lead to
illusory correlations if interpreted incorrectly.
Other Research Methods

• Correlational Studies
• Variables: Intelligence quotient (IQ) and running speed.
• Procedure: Members of a sophomore class participate in a
50-meter race and take a standard intelligence test.
• Analysis: Correlation coefficient is calculated to determine
the degree of relationship between IQ and running speed.
• Result: The correlation may be weak but positive, suggesting
a slight tendency for intelligence and running speed to vary
together.
HOW TO START?

• Challenges in Developing Hypotheses

• Developing testable hypotheses is challenging for both
novice and experienced researchers.
• Lack of knowledge and familiarity with the subject area is a
major obstacle.
HOW TO START?

• Advice for Developing Hypotheses

• Immerse yourself in the literature of the psychology branch
that interests you.
• Actively engage with the material, questioning premises,
conclusions, and techniques.
• Combine acquired knowledge with critical thinking to
generate new ideas.
HOW TO START?

• Foundation of New Ideas

• New ideas are built upon existing ones, emphasizing the
importance of continuous learning and flexible thinking.
• Scientific progress often stems from incremental
advancements rather than singular breakthroughs.
HOW TO START?

• Encouragement for Aspiring Scientists

• While groundbreaking discoveries are rare, every research
project contributes to the growth of scientific knowledge.
• With curiosity, dedication, and creativity, aspiring scientists
can uncover important scientific truths.
Introduction
to Scientific
Inquiry
 REVIEW OF STATISTICAL
CONCEPTS IN THE CONTEXT
OF AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY:
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
PSY 210
WHAT IS STATISTICS?
Statistics refers to a set of
mathematical procedures for
organizing, summarizing, and
interpreting information.
 WHERE IS STATISTICS IN
RESEARCH?
1. Formulation of research question
2. Formulation of research hypothesis
3. Planning of research design
Research method
Statistical question
Statistical hypothesis
 WHERE IS STATISTICS IN
RESEARCH?
4. Data gathering
5. Data analysis
Statistical test
Statistical decision
6. Stating research conclusion
WHAT IS DESCRIPTIVE
STATISTICS?
Descriptive statistics are
statistical procedures used to
summarize, organize, and
simplify data.
WHAT IS DESCRIPTIVE
STATISTICS?
In descriptive statistics, more
often than not, we are usually
looking at the distribution of a
sample.
In examining a distribution,
there are three characteristics
that we should describe: the
distribution’s measure of
central tendency, measure of
variability, and shape.
 POPULATION AND
SAMPLE
Population: the set of all the individuals
of interest in a particular study.
Sample: a set of individuals selected
from a population, usually intended to
represent the population in a research
 PARAMETER AND
STATISTIC
Parameter: a value that describes a
population
Statistic: a value that describes a sample
 MEASURES OF
CENTRAL TENDENCY
WHAT IS A MEASURE OF
CENTRAL TENDENCY?
Measures of central tendency help you find
the middle, or the average, of a dataset. The 3
most common measures of central tendency
are the mode, median, and mean.
THREE MEASURES OF
CENTRAL TENDENCY
Mode: the most frequent value.
Median: the middle number in an ordered
dataset.
Mean: the sum of all values divided by the
total number of values.
WHAT IS A MEASURE OF
VARIABILITY?
Variability describes how far apart data points lie
from each other and from the center of a
distribution. Along with measures of central
tendency, measures of variability give you
descriptive statistics that summarize your data.
Variability is also referred to as spread, scatter or
dispersion.
It is most commonly measured with the following:
Range: the difference between the highest and
lowest values
Interquartile range: the range of the middle half
of a distribution
Standard deviation: average distance from the
mean
Variance: average of squared distances from
the mean
WHAT DOES SHAPE OF THE
DISTRIBUTION MEAN?
The shape of the distribution is a helpful
feature that easily reflects the frequency of
values within given intervals. When given a
distribution and its shape, here are other
helpful details we can learn about a data set
from the shape of its distribution:
Represents how spread out the data is
across the range
Helps identify which range the mean of the
data set lies
Highlights the range of a given data set
MEASURES OF
VARIABILITY
WHAT IS A VARIANCE?
The variance is the standard deviation squared
and represents the spread of a given set of
data points. Mathematically, it is the average of
squared differences of the given data from the
mean. Since the formula involves sums of
squared differences in the numerator, variance
is always positive, unlike standard deviation.
WHAT DOES SS STAND FOR?
The sum of squares (SS) is the statistical method
used to measure the variation of a data set from
its mean. Its calculation involves calculating the
mean of observations, finding the difference
between each observation and the mean,
calculating the square of each difference, and
the total of all squares obtained.
WHAT IS A STANDARD
DEVIATION?
The standard deviation is the average amount of
variability in your dataset. It tells you, on average,
how far each value lies from the mean.
A high standard deviation means that values are
generally far from the mean, while a low
standard deviation indicates that values are
clustered close to the mean.
 PSY 210

Ethics in
Psychological
Research
What We'll Learn
RESEARCH WITH HUMAN
PARTICIPANTS
ETHICS IN RESEARCH WITH ANIMALS
SCIENTIFIC FRAUD
MONITORING ETHICAL PRACTICES
RESEARCH WITH HUMAN
PARTICIPANTS
The APA (2002) provides ethical guidelines for
researchers. The association outlined the general
principles governing the conduct of research and
publication practices.
RESEARCH WITH HUMAN
PARTICIPANTS
8.01 Institutional Approval
8.02 Informed Consent to Research
8.03 Informed Consent for Recording Voices and
Images in Research
8.04 Client/Patient, Student, and Subordinate
Research Participants
8.05 Dispensing With Informed Consent for
Research
RESEARCH WITH HUMAN
PARTICIPANTS
8.06 Offering Inducements for Research
Participation
8.07 Deception in Research
8.08 Debriefi ng
 Informed Consent
Informed consent is the process of telling potential research
participants about the key elements of a research study and what
their participation will involve.

Deception
Deception is the intentional misleading of subjects or the withholding
of full information about the nature of the experiment. Investigators
may mislead or omit information about the purpose of the research,
the role of the researcher, or what procedures in the study are actually
experimental.
 Freedom to Withdraw
Freedom to withdraw allows a research participant to drop out of a
study at any time without penalty.

Protection from Harm

and Debriefing
Researchers must ensure that those taking part in research will not be
caused distress. They must be protected from physical and mental
harm. This means you must not embarrass, frighten, offend or harm
participants.
 Removing Harmful
Consequences
An ethical principle requiring researchers to ensure that participants
in deception research or other potentially detrimental practices leave
a study in the same emotional state as when they arrived.

Confidentiality
Confidentiality represents an agreement that is formed between the
researcher and participant, via the informed consent process, that
ensures the participant's identity, personal information, responses, etc.
will not be disclosed to anyone outside of the research team unless
otherwise agreed upon.
ETHICS IN RESEARCH
WITH ANIMALS
Arguments Against Research with Animals
Arguments for Research with Animals
Guidelines for Use of Animals in Research
 Arguments Against
Research with Animals
Ethics prohibit experimentally induced brain damage in human
beings, preclude deliberate separation of a human infant from its
parents, forbid testing of unknown drugs on human beings, and
generally exclude dangerous and irreversible manipulations on
human beings. Animal-rights advocates believe that research on
animals should have the same prohibitions. According to the animal-
rights advocates, researchers need to uphold the rights of both
human beings and animals because, for example, they believe that
experimental destruction of a monkey’s brain is as ethically
reprehensible as the destruction of the brain of a human being.
 Arguments Against
Research with Animals
Three points summarize the animal-rights advocates’ position: (1)
Animals feel pain and their lives can be destroyed, as is true of
humans (Roberts, 1971); (2) destroying or harming any living thing is
dehumanizing to the human scientist (Roberts, 1971); and (3) claims
about scientifi c progress being helped by animal research are a form
of racism and, like interracial bigotry, are completely unwarranted and
unethical. Neglecting the rights and interests of other species has
been called speciesism by Singer (1995).
 Arguments for
Research with Animals
Animals feel pain and suffering.
Destruction of any living thing is dehumanizing to the human
scientist.
Scientific progress at the expense of animals is simply speciesism,
the belief that the sacrifice of members of other species is justifi ed
if our species is benefited.
 Guidelines for Use of
Animals in Research
8.09 Humane Care and Use of Animals in Research
(a) Psychologists acquire, care for, use, and dispose of animals in
compliance with current federal, state, and local laws and regulations,
and with professional standards. (b) Psychologists trained in research
methods and experienced in the care of laboratory animals supervise
all procedures involving animals and are responsible for ensuring
appropriate consideration of their comfort, health, and humane
treatment. (c) Psychologists ensure that all individuals under their
supervision who are using animals have received instruction in
research methods and in the care, maintenance, and handling of the
species being used, to the extent appropriate to their role.
 Guidelines for Use of
Animals in Research
8.09 Humane Care and Use of Animals in Research
(e) Psychologists use a procedure subjecting animals to pain, stress, or
privation only when an alternative procedure is unavailable and the
goal is justified by its prospective scientific, educational, or applied
value. (f) Psychologists perform surgical procedures under appropriate
anesthesia and follow techniques to avoid infection and minimize pain
during and after surgery. (g) When it is appropriate that an animal’s
life be terminated, psychologists proceed rapidly, with an effort to
minimize pain and in accordance with accepted procedures.
SCIENTIFIC FRAUD
Plagiarism
Fabrication
Falsification
SCIENTIFIC FRAUD
MONITORING ETHICAL
PRACTICES
APA
PAP
Thank you!
CONTROLLING
EXTRANEOUS
VARIABLES
OBJECTIVE
Physical Variables
Social Variables
Personality Variables
Context Variables

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PHYSICAL
VARIABLES
PHYSICAL VARIABLES
• Aspects of testing conditions that need to be
controlled for the experiment to be internally
valid.

• Group B should be tested in conditions same

with Group A.

• It should be eliminated!
PHYSICAL VARIABLES
• Elimination
• If noise would be affecting the testing
conditions, thus it should be eliminated.
• But, there are physical variables that is
difficult to remove and cannot be removed.
• Weather
• Availability of good laboratory
PHYSICAL VARIABLES
• Constancy
• Keep all aspects of the treatment conditions as
nearly similar as possible.
• If we cannot eliminate an extraneous variable,
make it present in all treatment conditions.
• Write the instructions so constancy could be
maintained.
PHYSICAL VARIABLES
• Balancing
• Distributing the effects of an extraneous variable across the
different treatment conditions of the experiment.
• Half of the Group A is randomly assigned to treatment for
Group B. Half of the Group B is randomly assigned to
treatment for Group A.
• Another, test their intelligence level, arrange it from lowest
to greatest, distribute it to the groups.
• What if there are many confounding variables?
SOCIAL VARIABLES
SOCIAL VARIABLES
• Qualities from the relationship between
experimenter and subjects that can influence
results.

• Demand Characteristics and Experimenter

Bias
SOCIAL VARIABLES
• Demand Characteristics
• Aspects of the experimental situation that demand that
people behave in a particular way.
• What we do is often shaped by what we think is expected
behavior in a particular situation.
• If you are in the classroom and professor arrives, you stop
talking.
• You are inside a church; you maintain a quite demeanor.
• If the subjects know what variables you are studying, there
could exhibit demand characteristics.
SOCIAL VARIABLES
• Demand Characteristics
• Single Blind Experiments
• In single blind experiments, the experimenters are encouraged
to not fully disclose information about the experiment.
• If they do, they should not inform the subjects what treatment
group they are in.
• Use of placebo effect (in drug treatments)
SOCIAL VARIABLES
• Demand Characteristics
• Cover Stories
• You are informing the subject false information or procedures
(but plausible) about your experiments.
• This involves deception.
• So, what is more effective: not telling the truth about the
experiment or telling lies?
SOCIAL VARIABLES
• Experimenter Bias
• A deliberate effort by the experimenter to show cues about
the full nature of the experiment to the subjects.
• Intention: to confirm their assumptions
• You tend to be friendly to the experimental group but
otherwise is observed to the controlled group.
• Rosenthal Effect
• Experimenters treating subjects differently depending on
what they expect from the subject
• aka Pygmalion effect
SOCIAL VARIABLES
• Experimenter Bias
• Double-Blind Experiments
• Subjects do not know which treatment they are
receiving, and the experimenter does not know
either
• If the experimenter does not know the treatment
assignment, they cannot be biased.
• You assignment them codes.
PERSONALITY
VARIABLES
PERSONALITY VARIABLES
• Pertains to the personality of either subjects or
experimenter that could affect the internal
validity of the experiment
PERSONALITY VARIABLES
• Experimenter Personality
• Subjects sometimes learn better, talk more, get
better scores on intelligence and adjustment tests,
and are typically more compliant and eager to
please when the experimenter acts in a friendly
manner (Rosenthal, 1976).
• Experimenters scored high in social desirability
then to be likeable experimenters (Crowne &
Marlowe, 1964).
PERSONALITY VARIABLES
• Experimenter Personality
• Subjects sometimes learn better, talk more, get
better scores on intelligence and adjustment tests,
and are typically more compliant and eager to
please when the experimenter acts in a friendly
manner (Rosenthal, 1976).
• Experimenters scored high in social desirability
then to be likeable experimenters (Crowne &
Marlowe, 1964).
PERSONALITY VARIABLES
• Experimenter Personality
• Friendly experimenter: Good or Bad?
• Internal Validity
• External Validity
PERSONALITY VARIABLES
• Subject Personality
• Is this a real problem for the experimenter?
• Is your chosen population as this certain
personality trait?
• Volunteers in experiment: Good or Bad
• Internal validity
• External validity
CONTEXT VARIABLES
CONTEXT VARIABLES
• Those that come about from procedures
created by the environment, or context, of the
research setting.

• Recruitment, selection, limitations and the like.

• In our case, what could be the context

variables?
CONTEXT VARIABLES
• Experimenter Selects the Subjects
• Biased selection = Less generalizability
• Golden Rule: Good sample = good generalizability
• Best to use subjects you do not know that fits your
inclusion criteria
CONTEXT VARIABLES
• Some Folklore About Subjects
• Participants (or students) who joined the
experiment late
• Fatigue of the experimenter could affect the
experiment