methods and approaches

methods and approaches

1. hypothesis

   • theory; speculation

2. Experiment

   • an investigation seeking to understand cause and effect.
   • case studies
     • are intensive psychological studies of a single individual.
     • often known as clinical studies.

3. Variable

   • effect
   • example:  1. an experiment tests whether watching violence on tv causes aggression. tho groups of children are randomly placed infant of a violent/nonviolent tv programs. -->(independent variable b/c it can be manipulated by the experimenter)2. placing a doll in front of the children and observing how they react/treat the doll.-->(dependent variable, the variable that stays constant and is being measured)
   • population; group of interest, to be studied. I__>representative sample is drawn.
   • random sampling: is a way of ensuring maximum representativeness--> the degree to which a sample reflects the diverse characteristics of the population being studied.
   • dependent
     • what is measured
   • independent
     • manipulated variable.
     • using two groups allows for comparison to be made and causation to be determined.
     • experiment group
       • receiving or reacting to the independent variable
     • control group (placebo)
       • doesn't receive the independent variable, but should be kept identical in all other respects. it's later on used to compare the experiment group.

4. correlation coefficient

   • correlation-->shows the strength of relationship among variables. is a statistic that will give us the required information/outcome.
   • pearson correlation: is a descriptive statistic that describes the linear relationship between attributes.
   • correlation does not prove causation-->the reason something happens
   • positive correlation
     • as one increases, the other increases as well. 
   • negative correlation
     • as one increases, the other decreases.

5. validity

   • internal val.
     • is the certainty with which the results of the results of an experiment can be attributed to the manipulation of the independent variable rather than to some other, confounding variable.
   • external val.
     • the extent to which the finding of a study can be generalized to other contexts in the "real world".

6. reliability

   • is whether or not the same results appear if the experiment is repeated under similar conditions.

7. statistics

   • descriptive
     • summarizes data. measures of central tendency, that is , they characterize the typical value of is a set of data.
     • mean
       • the arithmetic average of s et of number. ex. 22254411-->21(total)/6=3.5
       • median
         • the number that falls exactly in the middle of a distribution ex1. 24387-->23478=4 ex2. 558325-->235558=5+5/2=5 -->(get the average)
         • mode
           • the most repeated value in the data set. ex. 154787737=7
     • normal curve
       • positive skew
         • there are more exceptionally large values
       • negative skew
         • there are more exceptionally small variables.
     • variability
       • refers to how  much the numbers differ from each other. 
     • standard deviation
       • measures a function of the average dispersion of numbers around the mean and is a commonly used measure of variability.
   • inferential
     • are used to determine our level of confidence in claiming that a set of a givens of results would be extremely unlikely to occur if the result was only up to chance.
     • type I error
       • refers to the conclusion that a difference exists wen in fact it does not.
     • type II error
       • refers to the conclusion that there is no difference when in fact there is.

8. ethics

   • occasionally, some experiments may include deception. ex. the staley pilgrim experiment-->UNETHICAL.
   • informed consent
     • participants only agree to participate in study after they've been told what their participation entails.
   • debriefing
     • is what the participants receive after the experiment has been concluded, in which they are told the exact purpose of their participation in the research and of any deception that may have been used in the process of experimentation.
   • confidentiality

9. subfields in psychology

   • applied psychology
     • is psychology that is put directly into practice. ex. when therapist meets client. ex. school psychology
   • basic psychology
     • is grounded in research and is often conducted at universities and private labs.