Introduction to Research
In Search of the Truth
• What is critical thinking?
The logical and rationale process of avoiding one’s
preconceptions by gathering evidence, contemplating
and evaluating alternatives, and coming to a conclusion
Empiricism- using observation and testing to verify the accuracy of claims
Prove- doesn’t exist
The Importance of
Understanding Research
• Not an inherent skill: can be learned
• Improves your understanding of psychology
• Understand difference between science and
pseudoscience
• Transferable to multiple topics and content
areas
• Protect yourself against false information
The Science of Psychology
• Science is an approach to evaluating evidence
– Designed to keep us from fooling ourselves
– Not a body of knowledge
– For ex: the field of chemistry or physics
• In psychology we must abandon relying on
opinions
– Begin with empiricism – observations of the world
– Tests those observations using rigorous methods
– Find out which explanations best fit the evidence
If something is factually correct you should be able to test it
From Fake News to Science
• People hold many claims and ideas
– Some of them are valuable
– Some of them are complete nonsense
• So far we’ve discussed many ways that the
appearance of logic can mislead
– Pseudoscience
– Heuristics and Biases
– Mistaken beliefs
• How do we determine what is real and not?
The Science of Psychology
• Science is an approach to evaluating evidence
– Designed to keep us from fooling ourselves
– Not a body of knowledge
– For ex: the field of chemistry or physics
• In psychology we must abandon relying on
opinions
– Begin with empiricism – observations of the world
– Tests those observations using rigorous methods
– Find out which explanations best fit the evidence
Thinking Critically
• “Common sense” often is misleading
– We are generally poor at judging our knowledge
and skills
• Critical thinking:
– Systematically questioning and evaluating
information using well-supported evidence
– Analyzing and using current research in order to
explain and understand current phenomenon
Scientific Theories
• Theory:
– An interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to
explain a phenomena and make predictions
– They are general and comprehensive
• Hypothesis:
– A specific assertion or prediction that can be
tested
Falsifiability
• For a theory to be valid, it needs to be able to be
disproven
• Rush’s hypothesis was stated in such a way that it
could not be corrected by the real world
– Any outcome supported his theory
• Theories must state specifically what will happen
and state what will not happen
– The more specific the theory, the more testable or
falsifiable that theory becomes
Simple Model of Scientific Progress
• Theories are put forth
• Hypotheses are derived
from the theory.
• The hypotheses are
operationalized and tested
using various procedures
• If the hypothesis is found
correct the theory is
supported
• What happen to the theory
when a hypothesis is found
to be incorrect?
Revising a Theory
• When a theory is proven to be incorrect we
don’t reject the theory (at first)
– We expand on the theory
– Tweak it to include the new information
– Test, assess, prod, and explore
• Scientific knowledge is tentative
– We are constantly expanding and building on our
knowledge
Rejecting a Theory
• Theories need to be falsifiable
– That also means that when proven false they need
to be rejected
• When?
– The old theory has been shown to be repeatedly
wrong AND unable to explain some facts
– This then requires for a new theory to occur: one
that explains everything the old one did and
include whatever the old theory did not account
Research Designs
• Descriptive research
– Provides an example of the current state of things
– Presents how things are currently
• Correlational research
– Assesses and describes the relationship between two
or more things
• Experimental research
– Determines how one or more things affects a
dependent variable
– How does X affect Y
Research Methods
• Quantitative methods
– Research that can be expressed through numbers or
ranks
– Weight, height, achievement scores
• Qualitative methods
– Research that describes opinions, viewpoints, and
experiences
– “What experiences were the most influential on you?”
• Mixed methods
– Combine quantitative and qualitative
Descriptive Research
• Case study
– A study in which generalizations are made from one
individual
– David Reimer
• Naturalistic observation
– A study that makes observations to the population at large
– Levine’s helpfulness study
• Survey
– Researchers ask a series of questions about the topic
under study
– Intelligence tests
Correlational Research
• An analysis of the relationship of two variables
• Assesses two variables to determine whether
an increase in one affects the other
Correlation Strength
• Scores can be placed on a scatterplot for a visual representation
• Calculated by a “correlation coefficient”
• Relationships can be placed from:
– -1 (perfect negative)
– 0 (no relationship)
– or 1 (perfect positive)
[Link]
Correlation Problems
• Correlation and causation
– Correlation is not “proof”
– Can’t describe the relationship
• Bidirectionality
– When one variable causes or affects the other
variable
• Confounding Variable
– When a third, unobserved, variable affects the
two we are observing
Experiment
• The manipulation of variables to find out
more about the affects of those variables
– Creates two conditions where one thing is
changed and holds the others constant
– Controlling for other variables allows causality
• Explores how a factor affects another factor
Experimental Groups
• Experimental design seeks to control factors
that may influence the outcome
• Experimental Group
– The group that is manipulated
• Control Group
– The group that is not manipulated
• Any differences between the groups are
eliminated by random assignment
Advantages and Disadvantages
Descriptive Correlational Experimental
• Provides a complete
picture of what is
happening
• Can present information
other designs cannot
• Allows to test the
relationship among
variables
• Can make connections
that experimental
design cannot do
ethically
• Assesses and
synthesizes large
amount of data
• Strongest research
design
• Can determine how one
variable affects others
• Generally, the weakest
research design
• Does not assess
relationships among
variables
• May not be
representative
• Can only describe
relationship
• Cannot determine
causes
• Affected by outside
factors and
directionality
• Can diminish the
experiences of
participants
• Has the highest
research demands
• Some variables cannot
be manipulated
In Class Power Point:
Psychology is a social science, needs verified evidence
How easy is unverified evidence to spot?