Types of Research Studies

ObservationObservation is the simplest scientific technique

Participant and researcher bias can occur

Naturalistic observation minimizes bias in the study

Jane Goodall interacting with primate. She studied gorillas using observation

Case StudyCase Study – A research technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

This method can be prone to bias

Some times case studies are the only ethical way to study an idea

One problem is that no two cases are alike

Genie was a child who was neglected until about the age twelve. She is termed now as a feral child

CorrelationCorrelation Study – Research project designed to discover the degree to which two variables are related to each other

Positively Correlated – when two variable both increase or decrease together

Negatively Correlated – when one variable increases while one variable decreases

SurveySurvey Method – a research technique designed to discover the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a sample of people through the use of questionnaires or interviews

These are very efficient because you can collect a great deal of information from a large group of people

People need to be extremely careful to eliminate bias from their questions

Problems are social desirability - participant bias

Survey ContinuedHow do you decide who to give a survey to?

You give a survey to a random sample of the population

Population – All the cases in a group from which a sample can be chosen for a study

Random Sample – A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Longitudinal and Cross Sectional

Experiments

Hypothesis and Operational DefinitionsHypothesis – a testable prediction of an experiments outcome

Operational Definition – A specification of the exact definition used to make a variable specific and measureable for research purposes

VariablesIndependent Variable (IV) – the variable that a researcher actively manipulates, and if the hypothesis is correct, will cause a change in the dependent variable

The variable that should cause something to happen

Dependent Variable (DV) – the research variable that is influenced by the independent variable, and the impact can be measured

The variable that should show the effect of the independent variable

Variables Cont’dConfounding Variable – a variable other than the independent variable that can influence the dependent variable

To accurately draw conclusions, researchers must control confounding variables

GroupsControl Group – The participants in an experiment who are not exposed to the independent variable. This group is used as a comparison to the experimental group.

Experimental Group – The participants in an experiment that are exposed to the treatment, the independent variable.

PlaceboPlacebo – A non-active substance or condition that may be administered instead of a drug or active agent to see if the drug has an effect beyond the expectations produced by taking it.

Random AssignmentRandom Assignment – Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance

Through this, you reduce the risk of researcher bias as well as minimizing the preexisting differences among those assigned to different groups.

Double Blind ProcedureDouble Blind Procedure – An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant to the expected outcome of an experiment.

This procedure is used to control for confounding variables.

ReplicationReplication – Repeating a research study to see whether the results can be reliably reproduced.

If a study is unable to be replicated, the results are likely to be a fluke occurrence.

Dolly, the first cloned sheep was cloned in July 1996. Died in 2003