9/5/14

METHODS FOR
STUDYING PSYCHOLOGY

Sept. 5, 2014

HOUSEKEEPING
Reading for Monday: Stanovich Ch. 3
Turn in the questionnaire I handed out at the beginning of
class
This is part of your grade for Recitation #1
Can also be found on the Canvas -> Pages -> Recitations

Our first Recitation will begin on Wednesday (and carry over to

Friday)
You need to be present both days to get full credit

DESCRIBING BEHAVIOR
CASE STUDIES
Observations from case studies can provide
useful ideas for future research
They cannot be generalized to a larger
population
Smokers die younger than non-smokers
Anecdote: My grandfather smoked 1 pack a
day and lived to be 94
Can be vivid and lead to false conclusions

NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
Recording behavior in the natural
environment (no manipulation)
Does not control for outside factors that
influence behavior

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DESCRIBING BEHAVIOR
SURVEYS
A way to assess self-reported attitudes and behaviors of a group
Often uses a representative and random sample
Used to:
Gather Opinions

Would you vote for one of these candidates?

How does a community feel about crime?

Dispel Myths: Empty Nest Syndrome (Rubin, 1979)

Discover Possible Relationships:
Physical Punishment and Aggression in Children (Lansford et al., 2005)

SURVEYS
WORDING EFFECTS
Choose words carefully
Keep questions short and simple
Use precise terminology
Avoid unnecessary negatives
Avoid unwarranted assumptions
Ask only one question at a time (double-barreled questions)

RANDOM SAMPLE
To generalize we need a representative sample
Can use random sampling
Everyone in the population has the same chance of being included
Ex: Population is 1000; Randomly select 100 people

Are there possible problems even when using this survey strategy?

CORRELATIONS
Some real world relationships:
As ice cream sales increase homicide rates increase
As the number of churches increase in an area the number of
prostitutes increase
The increased sales of organic food in the US has increased with the
rates of autism in US

Are these relationships causal?

Is there something else that might
account for the relationship?

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CORRELATIONS AND COEFFICIENTS

A correlation is a measure of the extent to which two
factors vary together (relate), and thus how well one
factor predicts the other
Measured by the correlation coefficient, a statistical index of
the relationship that goes from +1.0 to -1.0
Number (0 to 1.0) tells us the strength of the relationship
Sign (+ or -) tells us the direction of the relationship
Positive: Both variables increase or decrease together
Negative: One variable increases while the other decreases

CORRELATIONS AND COEFFICIENTS

Correlations are often grouped into scatterplots a cluster of
dots, each of which indicate the values of two variables. The
slope of a scatterplot suggests the relationship between the
variables (positive, negative, or none)

DROPPED WALLET TEST

Subject

Age

Amount of $ returned
($5.00)

15

$0

55

$5.00

62

$4.00

24

$2.00

70

$5.00

33

$3.00

35

$2.00

21

$0

47

$3.00

10

53

$3.00
Inspired by data from Paul Kinsella, wallettest.com

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DROPPED WALLET TEST

What type of
relationship does
this show?
What conclusion
might we draw?

CORRELATION AND CAUSATION

Age correlates with an amount of money returned from
a lost wallet (honesty)
So, does being older cause a person to be more honest?

Age

Honesty

Age

Honesty

Honesty

Age

Honesty
Factor X
Age

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CORRELATION AND CAUSATION

Correlation can only indicate the possibility of causation
Knowing that two events are associated does not mean that
one causes the other

Correlation is not causation

Illusory correlations are perceived but unreal correlations
Getting chilled and wet does not cause people to catch a cold
Illusory pattern perception
Can help explain how superstations develop
You notice that you play an amazing game while wearing a certain pair of socks
When worn again similar results (there is no real relationship here only an illusory
one)

EXPERIMENTATION AND CAUSATION

Does getting older really cause people to be more honest?
Experimentation needs to involve random assignment of
groups
Can you randomly assign someone to be young or old?
Difficult to test experimentally
Sometimes correlational studies are necessary
Ethics What things might need to be tested using a correlation?

Other factors that can be tested by random assignment?

EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS
The experimental group is
the group that is exposed to
the treatment of interest
The control group is the
group that is not exposed to
the treatment of interest;
ser ves as a comparison for
evaluating the treatment
Many times, a double-blind
procedure can be used in
experimentation (the
research participants and
the research staf f are
unaware about which
research participants are
which
Why use double-blind?

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DOUBLE BLIND TESTING AND

CLEVER HANS

INDEPENDENT VS. DEPENDENT VARIABLES

Group

Independent
Variable

Dependent
Variable

Experimental

Social
Training

Honesty
Score

Control

No Social
Training

Honesty
Score

Random
Assignment!!!

Independent Variable The factor(s) that is/are being

controlled independently of other factors by the experimenter
Dependent variable Measure of behavior(s) which could
vary dependently upon the experimental factor

DEFINITIONS
A variable is anything that can vary
Intelligence, personality scores, TV exposure, walking speed
anything that is feasible (and ethical)

An independent variable is manipulated by the experimenter

to test the difference between the experimental group and the
control group
The dependent variable is measured by the experimenter to
test the effect of the independent variable

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EXAMPLE
A researcher places a sign in some hotel
rooms that says, Many guests who have
used this room decided to refuse new
towel service in an effort to save the
environment. The researcher found that
60% of hotel guests in rooms with such a
sign refused new towel service, compared
to 25% of guests in rooms with no sign.
What is the independent variable?
What is the dependent variable?

SUMMARY
Descriptive studies, like case studies, naturalistic obser vation,
and sur veys, lend useful information towards predictions if
behaviors seem related to each other
If behaviors relate to each other in a predictable way, we say that
they correlate. Correlations may be positive or negative (or, no
correlation may exist)
Correlations are not causations!
Causation may be tested by experiments which use random
assignment of groups to control for any factors other than the one
being tested
Experiments test the ef fect of at least one experimentercontrolled independent variable on one measureable dependent
variable