Causality and

Experimentation
Research Methodology

Structure of the
presentation
Fundamentals

Structure

Fundamentals

Early Origins and

Influences

Early Influence

Edward
Titchener

Expanded on
Wundts teaching
calling it
structuralism

Margaret Washburn

Wilhelm Wundt
Father of Psychology
Developed concept of
introspection
1st Psychology
Laboratory for studying
humans
Moved from the
philosophy of mental
process to the science
of mental process

G. Stanley Hall
Receives first
Ph.D. based on
psychological
research
Establishes first U.S.
psychology lab at
Johns Hopkins
Founder of A.P.A

Early Influence

Charles
Darwin
Proposed idea
of Natural
Selection.
Physical trait
that aid in
survival are
passed on.

William James

Mary Whinton
Calkins
Father of American
Psychology
Rejected
structuralism
Founder of
functionalism
Wrote first

Early Influence

Objected to
structuralist point of
view. Experiences
couldnt be broken
down into parts and be
properly understood.
Founders of Gestalt
psychology.

Gestalt (German)
organized wholes or
whole shape
People naturally seek out
patterns (wholes) in
sensory information
The sum is greater than its
parts

Early Influence

Carl Jung

Anna Freud

Erik Erikson

Sigmund Freud
Founder of
Psychoanalysi
s
Sought to
help patients
(therapy)
Idea of the

Alfred Adler

Early Influence

Ivan Pavlov
His early
medical
research
focused on
stimulus /
response
relationship

John Watson
Mental events
should be ignored
Founder of
behaviorism
Psychology should
focus on observable
behavior.
Most important
determinate of
behavior is learning

B.F. Skinner
Focused on the effects
of rewards and
punishments on
behavior
Founder of operant
conditioning

Mary Cover Jones

Early pioneer of
behavioral therapy
Began the process of
counterconditioning

Foundational Perspectives
Structuralis
m
Functionali
sm
Gestalt

Psychoanal
ysis
Behavioris
m

Structuralism
Wilhelm Wundt
Focused on the basic elements of
consciousness
What are the elements of psychological
processes?
Broke consciousness down (Human Mind)
Objective sensations
Accurately reflect outside world

Subjective sensations
Included emotional experiences

Introspection: a person carefully examines

and reports their own experiences

Functionalism
William James
Stated conscious experience cant be broken down
Focused on how mental processes help organisms
adapt to their environment
What is the purpose of behavior and process?
Used introspection and observation
Evolution

Psychodynamic Approach
Rooted in the ideas of
Sigmund Freud and
Psychoanalysis
Behavior and mental
process reflects the
unconscious struggle
Unconscious desires vs
the need to follow rules
More focus on sense of
self and discovery of
other motives

Cognitive Approach
Focuses on
How we take in,
mentally represent,
and store information
How we perceive and
process information
How the cognitive
process affects
behavior

Humanistic Approach
Influenced by Carl Rogers
and Abraham Maslow
Behavior is the result of
people choosing how to
think and act
Unique experiences guide
thoughts and actions
Choices are steered by
individuals unique
perspectives
See the world as friendly
-> optimistic and secure

People have a natural

tendency to grow toward
their highest potential

Bio(psycho)logical Approach
Behavior and Mental
Process shaped by the
biological process
Study the effects of
hormones, genes, and the
activity of the nervous
system
They would examine brain
activity using brain scans
when examining thinking
Treatment through
medications
Highly influential today

Evolutionary Approach
Based on Darwins Ideas of
evolution and natural
selection
Focus on Evolutions impact
on genes
Genes result in
characteristics and behaviors
that are useful and adaptive
Assumes behavior and
mental process are the result
of evolution.
Ex. Aggression is a form of
territorial protection

Sociocultural
Study the effect that
people have on each
other whether it is
individually or in large
groups
Combines:
Social Psychology
study of groups, social
roles, and rules of
social action
Cultural Psychology
studies cultural norms,
values, and

Biopsychosocial Approach

An integrated viewpoint that incorporates

various levels of analysis and offers a more
complete picture of any given behavior or

Early scholarship
Action Research
Psychology lays first claim to the
founding principles of causality and
experimentation

Early scholarship

Conducting Psychological
Research

Psychologists used a variety of scientific

research methods to draw reasonable
conclusions?

Methods

scientific method
Dependent variable
Independent variable
Experimental group

Control group
Double-blind study
Confounding variable
Placebo

Evolution of Causality and Experimentation

Action Research
to the
Scientific Method

The Scientific Method

The Scientific Method

Typically, the scientific methods starts with these
steps
1) ask a question
2) existing research sources
3) formulate a hypothesis

1. Question
Research questions are best
focused on behavior rather than
constructs that cannot be seen or
measured directly.
3. Testing the Hypothesis
A hypothesis cannot be
considered to be correct until it
has been scientifically tested and
proved to be right..
May use a variety of research
methods to test a hypothesis.

2. Hypothesis
Form a hypothesis about the
answer to the research question.
A hypothesis is an educated
guess
Specifies a relationship between
two aspects. (i.e. IV & DV)
4. Analyzing the Results
What do their findings mean?
Psychologists often look for
patterns and relationships in the
data.

5. Drawing Conclusions
Psychologists draw conclusions about their research question and their
hypothesis.
When observations do not support a hypothesis, they often must change the
theories or beliefs from which the hypothesis was derived.

Research Design: Hypothesis and

Variables

Psychologists use the experimental method to answer

questions about cause and effect.
The hypothesis specifies the relationship between
two aspects. (i.e. the IV and DV)
Independent Variables (IV) and Dependent
Variables (DV)
Experiments have variables, which are factors
that can vary, or change.
The independent variable is the factor that
researchers manipulate.
The dependent variable is the factor whose
value depends on a change made to the
independent variable.

Research Design: Operational Definition

Specific statements describing how

the IV is manipulated and how the
DV is measured.

Design an Experiment
Assuming that the power of
suggestion is the only
variable you are worried
about, you are to design an
experiment that compensates
for this variable.
The details of your experiment
should be written down.

Blind Studies
Single-Blind Studies
Participants unaware of the treatment.
Helps to avoid The Placebo Effect
A placebo is a substance or treatment that has no effect
apart from a persons belief in its effect.
Feeling better simply because we expect to feel better
and for no other reasonis an example of the placebo
effect.

Double-Blind Studies
Participants and researchers are unaware of who receives
the treatment.
Double-blind studies help researchers avoid the influence of
expectations and remain unbiased.

 Experimental and
Control Groups
Members of an
experimental
group receive the
treatment;
members of a
control group do
not.
All other conditions
are held constant
for both the
experimental group
and the control
group.
A controlled
experiment uses

Groups

Evolution of Causality and Experimentation

Action Research
Scientific Method
Research Methods

Sociology lays first claim to inventing

the research method process!
The first applications of research
methods can be traced to early
sociological studies

Research Methods
In planning a studys design, sociologists
generally choose from four widely used methods
of social investigation:
survey
field research
experiment and
secondary data analysis (or use of existing
sources)

Experiments
Youve probably tested personal social theories.
If I study at night and review in the morning, Ill improve my retention
skills.
Or If I stop drinking soda I will feel better Cause and effect. If this,
then that. When you test the theory, your results either prove or disprove
your hypothesis.
One way researchers test social theories is by conducting an experiment,
meaning they investigate relationships to test a hypothesisa scientific
approach.

Experiments
There are two main types of experiments: lab-based
experiments and natural or field experiments.
In a lab setting, the research can be controlled so that perhaps
more data can be recorded in a certain amount of time.
In a natural or field-based experiment, the generation of data
cannot be controlled but the information might be considered
more accurate since it was collected without interference or
intervention by the researcher.
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Experiments
Classically, the sociologist selects a set of people with similar characteristics, such as age, class, race, or
education. Those people are divided into two groups.
One is the experimental group and the other is the control group.
The experimental group is exposed to the independent variable(s) and the control group is not.
To test the benefits of tutoring, for example, the sociologist might expose the experimental group of students
to tutoring but not the control group.
Then both groups would be tested for differences in performance to see if tutoring had an effect on the
experimental group of students.
As you can imagine, in a case like this, the researcher would not want to jeopardize the accomplishments of
either group of students, so the setting would be somewhat artificial.
The test would not be for a grade reflected on their permanent record, for example

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Management

THANK YOU

Sudarshan Seshanna, Ph. D.

sudarshan.s@cms.ac.in