REVIEWING PAST RESEARCH

Transcription

1 REVIEWING PAST RESEARCH Research Question Interest in research usually starts with a question E.g., How does social media affect people s mood? Often research questions revolves around a theory Theory set of ideas about a particular topic E.g., When people perceive others as having a better life than they do (i.e., upward social comparison), they tend to feel worse about themselves Hypotheses From there, scientists test hypotheses Hypothesis a statement that can be true or false, given appropriate Makes a prediction that can be supported or refuted E.g., It is expected that people who use social media regularly will be more depressed than those who don t Since people most often post positive things about their lives on social media, those who view these posts are likely to feel badly about their own life This can be! 1

2 Reviewing Research Past research comprises a body of such tests that can be used to answer questions We might start off with the question How does social media affect our mood? Then review some key terms online Social media AND mood This will hopefully reveal articles that can answer this question Social comparisons on social media: The impact of Facebook on young women s body image concerns and mood by Fardouly, Diedrichs, Vartanian, and Halliwell Reviewing Research Research reviews can be conducted using different tools Search engines: PsycINFO Informational websites: Apa.org Checking the references of research articles Reviewing Research The process of reviewing past research involves several steps 1) Search for research articles related to your topic Can involve using, using broad or specific search terms, searching by researchers names, etc. 2) Select articles that are relevant to you Examine the articles title and abstract to see if they are related to your research question 3) Review the article and take notes Review parts of the article that are most to your research question 4) Use that article to find more research Find research in article s references or future research connected to the article 2

3 Research Articles Sections of a research article Title Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion Title: Is this article right for you? Should list variables of the research article What are the independent and dependent variables? Independent Variables (IV) Something that something else Dependent Variable (DV) Something that is something else Usually follows format: The effect of [IV] on [DV] or [IV] effects [DV] Social comparisons on social media: The impact of Facebook on young women s body image concerns and mood Although, some titles don t clearly lay out IVs and DVs Facebook use, envy, and depression among college students Abstract: Digging deeper If the title seems promising, the abstract will tell you What specific topic is being studied? What are the paper s hypotheses? How are those hypotheses tested? What did they find? Not a substitute for reading the paper! You still don t know The full background information of the article What methods or statistics they used Whether the methods were How the study fits in with other research Etc 3

4 Introduction Presents Literature review General research topic How does social media affect people? Specific topic of interest Does Facebook use cause an increase in depressive symptoms? Discusses behavior/ affect/ cognition of interest (dependent variable) and what affects it (independent variable) States hypotheses, briefly describing how they will be tested, and predicts the outcome Methods Purpose: Explanation of hypothesis tests Opens paper up to scientific Allows for replication by other researchers Typical order Participants (e.g., number, demographics, etc.) Materials used used Statistical analyses used (not always included) Results This is where the stats are! Descriptives (means, SDs) Correlations (r-value) Group differences (t-test, F-test, etc.) of findings (p-value) Etc. States what the findings are in clear mathematical language, but doesn't explain what they mean 4

5 Discussion Summarizes results and discusses Whether or not hypotheses were confirmed Any of the study (poor sampling, methods) What could be done in the future Overcoming limitations of current study Testing same hypotheses in different ways Testing additional hypotheses Maybe even revising/ scrapping whole theories Goes from specific results to broader implications How can this research inform how we do things at home, work, school, in therapy practices, etc References Good place to Get more articles about a topic of interest Check sources (see if paper accurately portrays past research) Some papers also include an Appendix Often used to display measures/ materials used Sometimes used for tables, diagrams, footnotes, extra reports, etc. General flow of papers 5

6 Reading a Research Article Tips: Don t be by lengths, statistics, scientific jargon, etc Don t read every word! Come up with as you read Answer questions as you go through it Take notes on information relevant to research question 5 Questions to ask 1. What is the general topic being investigated? What background knowledge do we get about this topic? INTRODUCTION 2. What are the paper s hypotheses? 3. How are these hypotheses tested? 4. What are the? INTRODUCTION DISCUSSION 5. What could be done next? DISCUSSION Primary vs. Secondary Sources Sources Describes one or more studies conducted by the authors to test a specific set of hypotheses Typically Includes: Introduction Methods section Results section Discussion section Sources Articles that describe or analyze many studies on a particular topic Includes review articles and 6

7 Databases Collect and manage many different journals Allows people to search by Keywords Specific journals Specific authors Cited / citing sources Combinations of search terms PsycINFO The best psychology research database is PsycINFO Works a lot like Can search by keywords, words within titles, authors names, etc. PsycINFO is free and online for all university students Can access PsycINFO through university library website Most articles can be accessed and read online from anywhere 7