Introduction to Psychology Class 4: The Scientific Method 1 June 15, 2006.
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Transcript of Introduction to Psychology Class 4: The Scientific Method 1 June 15, 2006.
Introduction to Psychology
Class 4: The Scientific Method 1June 15, 2006
Do Opposites Really Attract?
“I’m a Democrat, he’s a Republican. He’s always early for everything, I’m usually running behind. I like drama and romance movies, he likes sci-fi and action. However, we can agree on comedy. He likes gourmet food; I’ll eat anything pretty much. I hate to cook, he’s is of course excellent at it. He is super smart and remembers everything he ever reads or hears, I am average and can barely remember the last book I read. This list can go on forever and ever. Our differences make things interesting and never boring. We do have something in common though; we agree to disagree and neither one of us will ever change.”
- Unknown blogger
““Opposites attract. That's what everyone says. It's a whole big deal. People who have entirely different personalities somehow magically come together. Without the aid of alcohol I might add. Personally I'm thinking, “No way!”. The biggest opposites in history. Hitler and Mother Theresa. You think Hitler would call Mother Theresa on the phone: “Hi Theresa. Here on my lonesome in my bunker. Thinking of you. What you wearing? No you hang up. No you hang up. No you hang up. You, you, you hang up”
– Jerry Seinfeld
Addressing the Question Talk to friends and get their points of view
Ask a bunch of random people the question
Talk in-depth to Seinfeld or anonymous woman
Observe people at a party
Look for someone who already has the answer!
Ask many couples to rate their personalities
“Set up” similar/different people
What defines “similar”/“different”?
What defines “attraction”?
S C
I E
N T
I F
I C
OPERATIONALIZE
The Scientific Method
Be skeptical/critical-minded
Be open-minded and intuitive
Do the background research, find theory/theories
Develop a hypothesis
Quantify variables, collect and analyze data
Describe/predict/explain behavior
Replicate result with different samples
Develop the theory
Research Designs
DESCRIBE Case Study Naturalistic Observation Survey
PREDICT Correlation
EXPLAIN Experimentation
Case Study
Qualitative research is a good start
Small sample size (N=1) Relies on observation and
intuition of researcher Positives Personal, not
reductionistic, generates hypotheses, ecological validity
Negatives No conclusion, difficult to test hypotheses and generalize findings
Naturalistic Observation
Observe subjects in their natural habitats
No attempt to influence or control behavior
Settings: streets, homes, schools, bars, zoos, rural areas
Positives Natural, no contamination, can be quantitative
Negatives Lack of control, experimenter bias
Types of Scales
Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio
Self-reports Wording has effects: 1) Double-barreled questions 2) Demand characteristics
3) Leading questions 4) Embarrassing items
Length and content have effects: 1) Inattentive responses 2) Random/fixed responses
There may be random sampling issues which lead to difficulties in generalization:
1) Non-representativeness 2) Self-selection
Respondents may not have access to information sought by researcher:
1) Explicit 2) Implicit
Create a questionnaire! Empirical question: Do opposites attract? Limit items per group to 10 Use this scale for non-demographic items
Pool and then select best or most relevant items Rephrase items if necessary to suit this scale Select a presenter for your group Present your 10 items to the class
Disagree very much
Disagree somewhat
Neutral Agree somewhat
Agree very much
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