Psychologist as Detective, The: An Introduction to Conducting Research in Psychology

by Smith, Randolph A.; Davis, Stephen F.

• ISBN13: 9780130219824
• ISBN10: 0130219827
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-01-01
• Publisher: Prentice Hall

Summary

For undergraduate courses in Experimental Psychology, Research Methods, and Experimental Design. This text conveys the excitement of research methodology through a lively, conversational style. To make the study of the research process interactive and accessible for students, pedagogical features and critical thinking activities are integrated throughout the text. Actual student research appears in each chapter to increase relevance and heighten student interest.

Table of Contents

Preface	xv
The Science of Psychology	1	(21)
Ways to Acquire Knowledge	3	(3)
Tenacity	4	(1)
Authority	4	(1)
Experience	5	(1)
Reason and Logic	5	(1)
Science	5	(1)
Components of the Scientific Method	6	(2)
Objectivity	6	(1)
Confirmation of Findings	7	(1)
Self-Correction	7	(1)
Control	7	(1)
The Psychological Experiment	8	(1)
Independent Variables	8	(1)
Dependent Variables	8	(1)
Extraneous Variables	9	(1)
Establishing Cause-and-Effect Relations	9	(3)
The Research Process	12	(7)
Finding a Problem	12	(1)
Reviewing the Literature	12	(1)
Theoretical Considerations	13	(1)
Hypothesis	14	(1)
Research Design	15	(1)
Conducting the Experiment	15	(1)
Data Analysis and Statistical Decisions	15	(1)
Decisions in Terms of Past Research and Theory	15	(1)
Preparing the Research Report	15	(1)
Sharing Your Results: Presentation and Publication	16	(3)
Finding a New Problem	19	(1)
Why is the Research Methods Course Important?	19	(3)
Research Ideas and Hypotheses	22	(23)
The Research Idea	23	(5)
Characteristics of Good Research Ideas	23	(1)
Sources of Research Ideas	24	(4)
Developing a Research Question	28	(1)
Surveying The Psychological Literature	28	(9)
Formulating the Research Hypothesis	37	(1)
Characteristics of the Research Hypothesis	37	(8)
Ethics in Psychological Research	45	(18)
The Need for Ethical Principles	46	(2)
APA Principles in the Conduct of Research with Humans	48	(6)
Is Deception in Research Necessary?	50	(1)
Informed Consent	50	(2)
Participants at Risk and Participants at Minimal Risk	52	(1)
Vulnerable Populations	52	(1)
The Debriefing Session	53	(1)
The Ethical Use of Animals in Psychological Research	54	(1)
The Institutional Review Board	55	(1)
The Experimenter's Responsibility	56	(1)
The Participant's Responsibility	56	(1)
Researcher's Ethical Obligations Once the Research is Completed	57	(6)
Plagiarism	57	(2)
Fabrication of Data	59	(1)
Lying With Statistics	60	(1)
Citing Your References Correctly	60	(3)
Nonexperimental Methods, Surveys and Questionnaires, Sampling and Basic Research Strategies	63	(32)
Descriptive Methods	64	(11)
Archival and Previously Recorded Sources of Data	64	(2)
Observational Techniques	66	(6)
Grounded Theory	72	(3)
Correlational Studies	75	(2)
The Nature of Correlations	75	(1)
Correlational Research	76	(1)
Ex Post Facto Studies	77	(2)
Surveys, Questionnaires, Tests, and Inventories	79	(10)
Surveys and Questionnaires	80	(6)
Tests and Inventories	86	(3)
Sampling Considerations and Basic Research Strategies	89	(6)
Sampling	89	(2)
Basic Research Strategies	91	(4)
The Basics of Experimentation I: Variables and Control	95	(37)
The Nature of Variables	96	(1)
Operationally Defining Variables	96	(1)
Independent Variables	97	(2)
Types of IVs	97	(2)
Extraneous Variables (Confounder)	99	(2)
Dependent Variables	101	(4)
Selecting the DV	101	(1)
Recording or Measuring the DV	102	(2)
Should You Record More than One DV?	104	(1)
Characteristics of a Good DV	105	(1)
Nuisance Variables	105	(4)
Controlling Extraneous Variables	109	(13)
Basic Control Techniques	109	(13)
Internal Validity: Evaluating Your Experiment from the Inside	122	(10)
Threats to Internal Validity	122	(7)
Protecting Internal Validity	129	(3)
The Basics of Experimentation II: Final Considerations, Unanticipated Influences, and Cross-Cultural Issues	132	(22)
Participants	133	(3)
Type of Participants	133	(2)
Number of Participants	135	(1)
Apparatus	136	(3)
IV Presentation	136	(1)
DV Recording	137	(2)
The Experimenter as an Extraneous Variable	139	(3)
Experimenter Characteristics	139	(1)
Experimenter Expectancies	140	(1)
Controlling Experimenter Effects	141	(1)
Participant Perceptions as Extraneous Variables	142	(6)
Demand Characteristics and Good Participants	142	(2)
Response Bias	144	(1)
Controlling Participant Effects	145	(3)
The Interface Between Research and Culture	148	(6)
Culture, Knowledge, and Truth	149	(1)
The Effect of Culture on Research	149	(1)
Methodology and Analysis Issues	150	(4)
Using Statistics to Answer Questions	154	(34)
Descriptive Statistics	155	(17)
Scales of Measurement	155	(2)
Measures of Central Tendency	157	(2)
Graphing Your Results	159	(7)
Calculating and Computing Statistics	166	(1)
Measures of Variability	166	(6)
Correlation	172	(4)
The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient	175	(1)
Inferential Statistics	176	(5)
What Is Significant?	177	(1)
The t Test	178	(2)
One-Tail versus Two-Tail Tests of Significance	180	(1)
The Logic of Significance Testing	181	(3)
When Statistics Go Astray: Type I and Type II Errors	184	(1)
Effect Size	184	(4)
Designing, Conducting, Analyzing, and Interpreting Experiments with Two Groups	188	(28)
Experimental Design: The Basic Building Block	189	(16)
The Two-Group Design	189	(10)
Comparing the Two-Group Designs	199	(3)
Variations on the Two-Group Design	202	(3)
Statistical Analysis: What Do Your Data Show?	205	(1)
The Relation between Experimental Design and Statistics	205	(1)
Analyzing Two-Group Designs	205	(1)
Calculating Your Statistics	205	(1)
Interpretation: Making Sense of Your Statistics	206	(7)
Interpreting Computer Statistical Output	206	(7)
The Continuing Research Problem	213	(3)
Designing, Conducting, Analyzing, and Interpreting Experiments with More than Two Groups	216	(29)
Experimental Design: Adding to the Basic Building Block	217	(12)
The Multiple-Group Design	217	(7)
Comparing the Multiple-Group Design to the Two-Group Design	224	(2)
Comparing Multiple-Group Designs	226	(1)
Variations on the Multiple-Group Design	227	(2)
Statistical Analysis: What Do Your Data Show?	229	(3)
Analyzing Multiple-Group Designs	229	(1)
Calculating Your Statistics	230	(1)
Rationale of ANOVA	230	(2)
Interpretation: Making Sense of Your Statistics	232	(10)
Interpreting Computer Statistical Output	233	(9)
The Continuing Research Problem	242	(3)
Designing, Conducting, Analyzing, and Interpreting Experiments with Multiple Independent Variables	245	(39)
Experimental Design: Doubling the Basic Building Block	246	(21)
The Factorial Design	246	(12)
Comparing the Factorial Design to Two-Group and Multiple-Group Designs	258	(3)
Choosing a Factorial Design	261	(1)
Variations on Factorial Designs	262	(5)
Statistical Analysis: What Do Your Data Show?	267	(4)
Analyzing Factorial Designs	267	(1)
Analyzing the Statistical Example	268	(1)
Rationale of ANOVA	269	(1)
Understanding Interactions	270	(1)
Interpretation: Making Sense of Your Statistics	271	(9)
Interpreting Computer Statistical Output	271	(9)
A Final Note	280	(1)
The Continuing Research Problem	280	(4)
Alternative Research Designs	284	(34)
Protecting Internal Validity Revisited	285	(8)
Examining Your Experiment from the Inside	285	(3)
Protecting Internal Validity with Research Design	288	(4)
Conclusion	292	(1)
Single-Case Experimental Designs	293	(13)
History of Single-Case Experimental Designs	294	(1)
Uses of Single-Case Experimental Designs	295	(1)
General Procedures of Single-Case Experimental Designs	296	(1)
Statistics and Single-Case Experimental Designs	297	(2)
Representative Single-Case Experimental Designs	299	(7)
Quasi-Experimental Designs	306	(12)
History of Quasi-Experimental Designs	307	(1)
Uses of Quasi-Experimental Designs	307	(1)
Representative Quasi-Experimental Designs	308	(10)
External Validity and Critiquing Experimental Research	318	(25)
External Validity: Generalizing Your Experiment to the Outside	319	(14)
Threats to External Validity (Based on Methods)	321	(3)
Threats to External Validity (Based on Our Participants)	324	(5)
The Devil's Advocate: Is External Validity Always Necessary?	329	(1)
Conclusion	330	(3)
Critiquing Experimental Research	333	(10)
Writing and Assembling an APA-Format Research Report	343	(44)
What Is APA Format?	344	(1)
Sections of the APA Format Paper	345	(33)
Title Page	346	(1)
Abstract	347	(2)
Introduction	349	(4)
Method	353	(4)
Results	357	(6)
Discussion	363	(2)
References	365	(5)
Author Note	370	(1)
Headings	371	(7)
Writing in APA Style	378	(9)
General Guidelines	378	(2)
Grammatical Guidelines	380	(2)
APA Editorial Style	382	(1)
Preparing Your Manuscript	383	(4)
Appendix A: Statistical Tables	387	(6)
Appendix B: Selected Statistical Formulae	393	(2)
Appendix C: Factorial Design with Three Independent Variables	395	(4)
Appendix D: Study Break Answers	399	(18)
Glossary	417	(8)
References	425	(8)
Index	433