Research Methodology

Quantitative Research
Case study: Middlemist, Knowles, & Matter (1976)
Intro to Ethics
Essential Understandings
 Psychologists don’t “prove” anything; they support or
refute hypotheses

 It is up to the researcher to choose the most suitable

methods for a research study

 Quantitative research methods emphasize objective

measurements and statistical analysis of data

 Variables must be fully operationalized for a study to

have validity

 Extraneous variables might affect the validity of a study

Lab Experiment
 Goal of an experiment: determine cause and effect between
two variables
 Highly/completely controlled environment
 Use of controls
 Researcher manipulates IV; all other potential variables
remain the same

 Operationalization
 Reflect on noise hypothesis
 H1: Participants will memorize more words from a list of 40
unrelated words when they are in a quiet room than when
listening to the radio.
 What are controls we can set up?
Lab Experiment
 Standardization
 Replication

 Random allocation to conditions

 Experimental vs. control conditions

 Controls for extraneous variables

Operationalize This!
 Experiment 1: A study on how one’s self-esteem affects
their problem-solving skills
 How can you change levels of self esteem? (IV)
 How would you measure problem-solving skills? (DV)

 Experiment 2: A study of stress on one’s level of

aggressive behavior
 How could you (ethically!) change one’s level of stress in
both conditions? (IV)
 What would you measure for aggression? (DV)
Field Experiments
 Outside of the laboratory, in the “real world”

 Limitations
 Extraneous variables
 Replication

 Ethics
 Lack of consent
 Lack of debriefing
Quasi- and Natural Experiments
 No random allocation

 Quasi grouping
 Cannot randomly assign variables (e.g. depression, gender,
age, etc)
 Generalizability?

 Natural experiment
 IV is out of researcher’s control
 Pre-test/post-test design

 Direct causation vs. implied causation

Correlational Studies
 Data is collected which shows a relationship between
two variables

 Positive correlation
 x increases; y increases

 Negative correlation
 x increases; y decreases

 Bidirectional ambiguity
 Correlation ≠ causation!
Cause and Effect
Are these findings from news headlines causal or
correlational? How would the research have been done?

 Men who are distracted by a beautiful woman are more

likely to take financial risks.

 Study suggests attending religious services cuts risk of

death

 Cell phones disrupt teen sleep

 Using Wash Your Hands signs in public bathrooms

increases number of handwashers
Experimental Design
 What strategy is used for the experiment?

 Within-subjects design (repeated measures)

 Between-subjects design (independent samples)

 Matched pairs
Demand Characteristics
 Participants may act differently because they know they are in a
study

 Good-participant Role
 Attempts to understand the hypothesis and confirm it

 Negative-participant Role
 Attempts to understand the hypothesis to destroy credibility (screw-
you effect)

 Faithful-participant Role
 Exactly follows instructions given by researcher

 Apprehensive-participant Role
 Worries about researcher’s judgment; behaves purposely in a socially
desirable way so the researcher likes them
Defeating Demand Characteristics
 Minimize interaction

 Deception

 Double-blind study

 Many experimenters

 Be aware of bias
Ethics
In 1976, Middlemist, Knowles, and Matter wanted to test whether
or not the presence of others had an impact on how long it took
men to urinate in a public toilet. They selected a bathroom with
three urinals. One of the researchers stood either at the urinal
right next to the unsuspecting participant, one urinal away from
the participant, or they were not present in the bathroom. The
other researcher hid in a toilet stall and measured the time it took
for the subject to begin urinating.

With no one present, the average time was 4.8 seconds; with a
researcher one urinal away, 6.2 seconds; with a researcher in the
next urinal over, 8.4 seconds.

1. Does this study meet ethical standards? Why or why not?

2. Does this study have value? How could we apply the findings?
Video on Basic Ethics
 Ethics in Psychology
Reviewing Hypothesis HW
Dig out your hypothesis homework from the other night.
Remember these base questions?

1. Can one’s mood be affected by a random act of

kindness?

2. Does culture affect the way that athletes make

decisions?

3. How does stress affect our health?

With a partner, determine what type of experiment you

would use to research the question.
Identifying Types of Experiments
 Paying with Paper

 What kind of hypothesis would you make for this

experiment?

 IV/DV?

 Explain the procedure.

 Now, what kind of experiment would this be?

Research and Real Life
 Go to https://digest.bps.org.uk/?s=learning; this site
has brief summaries of empirical studies on education.

 Find one study that interests you.

 Write a brief summary – hypothesis/aim/method/result

 How would this research be applied in the real world?