OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH METHODS I. Lecturer: Dr. Paul Narh Doku Contact: Department of Psychology, University of Ghana

Transcription

1 OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH METHODS I Lecturer: Dr. Paul Narh Doku Contact: pndoku@ug.edu.gh Department of Psychology, University of Ghana

2 Session Overview This session seeks to introduce students to the purpose of research and offers an overview of the several research methods available for psychologists. This session explains the importance of research and the challenges facing research in Ghana. The session will also explain the meaning and processes of the experimental research method.

3 This Session s Goals and Objectives At the end of this session, you will be able to: Mention at least four importance of research Explain at least two of the relevance listed List at least three challenges facing research Explain at least two of the challenges Explain what experimental research is Explain the processes involved in experimental research.

4 Reading List Kalat, W. J. (2008). Introduction to psychology (8 th ed). Thomson learning, inc. pp Nairne, S. J. (2014). Psychology (6 th ed). Wadsworth, cengage learning. Pp Coon, D. and Mitterer, O. J (2012). Psychology: modules for active learning (13 th ed). Cengage learning. Pp Kalat, W. J. (2014). Introduction to psychology (10 th ed). Wadsworth, cengage learning. Pp Bernstein, A. D. (2014). Essentials of psychology (6 th ed). Wadsworth, cengage learning. Pp Pastorino, E., and Doyle-Portillo, S. (2006). What is psychology? Thompson wadsworth. P The session notes titled overview of research methods I

5 Overview of Research Methods in Psychology LECTURE 6

6 What is research? It is the systematic investigation into and study of materials, sources, etc, in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. An endeavour to discover new or collate old facts etc by the scientific study of a subject or by a course of critical investigation. [Oxford Concise Dictionary]

7 Importance and challenges of research Importance Provision of information Inputs for projections and policy decisions Challenges Funding Attitude of public Apparent lack of professionalism

8 Methods of scientific Research Some methods include; Observational studies Correlational studies Experimental Research Surveys, Case studies

9 Experimental Method A systematic controlled procedure aimed at establishing cause and effect relationships. An experiment can be done in a laboratory (laboratory research) or in the field (field research)

10 Experimental Method A psychologists may theorize that alcohol leads to aggression. He may then hypothesize that participants who take specific dosage of alcohol would have increases in aggression.

11 Independent and Dependent Variables Independent variable (IV) is the variable manipulated so that its effect may be determined. The measured results, outcomes or effects is the Dependent Variable (DV). Extraneous variables are variable which may potentially act like the IV to confound the research. Experiments control for extraneous variables.

12 Independent and Dependent Variables Variables: Variables are things that change. The independent variable is the variable that is purposely changed. It is the manipulated variable. The dependent variable changes in response to the independent variable. It is the responding variable. Be sure to operationally define each variable.

13 Experimental and control groups Participants in experimental groups obtain the treatment or the manipulation of the IV. Members of the control group do not. Every effort is done to ensure that other conditions are held constant for the two groups except the IV.

14 The Control in an Experiment What is a control? The part of the experiment that serves as the standard of comparison. Why is a control necessary? It is the unchanged part of the experiment that detects the effects of hidden variables.

15 How to control for extraneous variables 1. Removal from the study if possible. 2. Where complete elimination is impossible, the potential variable could be held constant. That is must be distributed equally among both experimental and control groups. 3. Randomisation either in terms of selection and assignment.

16

17 Experimental Method Advantages Strength with which causal relationships can be inferred. Ability to manipulate one or more variables. Proven to be a very useful and robust scientific method (i.e., withstood the test of time).

18 Experimental Method Disadvantages Tight controls often produce artificial conditions that could limit the generalizability of the findings (i.e., internal vs. external validity trade-off). Time consuming. Expensive. Human behaviour is very complex and cannot be fully studied using experimental methods.