UNIT 1

Research
Methods
 Understanding
1
Topics to be Psychology

Covered
Introduction to
2 Research

3 Research methods
 Understanding Psychology
• Dates back to the 16th centaury by ancient Egyptians
• Later Plato stated mental process takes place in brain.
• Aristotle argued it to be taking place in the heart.
• During the world war II (1940s), focus was given to mental health, for recruitment of soldiers and
treatment for post war trauma.
• During 1870s German professor, Wilhelm Wundt established psychology lab, later known to be
founder of psychology.
Wilhelm Wundt and his colleagues in the first psychology lab
• Psychology became a discipline of its own which was once seen as a part of
philosophy and physiology
• Psyche + Logos= Soul + Science of a subject (Knowledge of the soul)
• Study of mind and behavior
• G. Stanely Hall who studied along with Wundt, launched first psychology journal
and established American Psychological Association (APA).
• Meanwhile sigmund Freud, a neurologist studied and introduces a vast area of
psychology called Psychoanalysis and is known to be the Father of psychology.
• Psychology since 1970s has been evolving and developing with research and its
application
 • What is psychological research?
-It is the analysis of the
experiences and behaviors of
individuals or groups.

Introduction To • How do we conduct research?

- Different methods and designs

Research such as experiment, observation,

case study etc.
• How do we know that it is
scientific?
- With the help of statistics and
checking validity and reliability using
statistic methods.
 Research methods
• Psychologists use many different methods for conducting research. Each method
has advantages and disadvantages that make it suitable for certain situations and
unsuitable for others.
• There are ways of conducting research : Quantitative & Qualitative
• 4 differnt research methods:
• Experiment
• Self report
• Case studies
• Observation
 1.1 Experimental Research

Experimental Types of
Introduction Ethics
designs experiments
 Introduction
• An experiment is an investigation which is looking for a cause-and-effect
relationship.
• Types of variables involved:
• Independant Variable: the cause, the manipulated variable
• Dependant variable: the effect, the variable that is measured
• Extraneous variable: all variables, which are not the independent variable, but could
affect the results of the experiment
• Two conditions:
i) Experimental condition
ii) Controlled condition
Eg:
 ACTIVITY 1

Research: The researchers wanted to find if 20 minute class

hours show better academic performance among students.
Identify the dependent and independent variable. List few
extraneous variables. Find the controlled and experimental
condition.
 ACTIVITY 2

Research: The researchers wanted to find if a new

medication is effective on stabilizing the moods or not. They
are using placebo pills to understand if the medication is
ineffective. Identify the IV and DV. What are the possible
extraneous variables? Find the controlled and experimental
condition.
Activity
• produce 3 research topic that requires an experimental method.

• Identify the independent, dependent and possible extraneous variables of the studies (Atleast 1 study has more

experimental group)

• Identify the experimental group and controlled group from the studies (Atleast 1 study has more experimental

group).

•The characteristics of experimental study to be noted as an introduction.

•Mention the reason why you identified the variables and groups as so.
 Experimental Design

• The way that participants are used in different levels of the IV is called the
experimental design
• Types of experimental design:
• Independent measures design
• Repeated measures design
• Matched pairs design
1 Independent measure design
• A separate group of participants are used for each
experimental condition or level of the IV.
 the participants only encounter the experimental
setting once.
 Participants not aware of the demand characteristics
(features of the experimental situation which give
away the aims).
–There might be individual differences between
participants that could influence the findings.
• This risk can be reduced by the random allocation of
participants to different conditions.
2 Repeated measure design
• The same group of people participate in every level of the IV.
• Participants perform the same or similar tasks two or more times, because of different
levels of IV
• Individual differences are therefore unlikely to bias the findings
• Chances of identifying demand characteristics and order effect
• Repeated performance could cause participants to improve because they have
encountered the task before (practice effect)
• repetition might make performance worse, perhaps if they were bored or tired ( fatigue
effect)
• Order effects can be solved in two ways:
1. Randomization: participants are randomly allocated to do either condition 1 followed
by 2, or vice versa.
2. Counterbalancing: The group of participants is divided into two and one half will do
condition 1 followed by 2, the other half 2 followed by 1.

Fig: Counter balancing

 3 Matched pair design

• Participants are matched into pairs who are

similar in ways that are important to the
experiment, such as age, gender, intelligence
or personality.
• Different groups of participants are then
used for each level of the IV, with one
participant from each pair being in each level
of the IV.
Recapping limitations and strengths

On the basis of :
• Demand characteristics
• Individual differences
• Order effect
• Difficulty is collecting sample
 Types of Experiment

• An experiment can be majorly conducted in 3 settings:

• Laboratory Experiment
• Field Experiment
• Natural Experiment
1 Laboratory Experiment

• Conducted in artificial surroundings

• The participants are not in their usual environment for the behavior they are performing.
• There is strict control over the situation
 Standardization can be maintained (the procedure for each participant can be kept exactly
the same).
 Standardization makes the findings reliable, (researchers would be more certain that the
procedures and measures used are consistent).
 Better validity (accurately measuring what it is intended to measure)
 Better control over extraneous variables
– findings from the laboratory would not generalize to other settings
– Chances of social desirability & demand characteristics
2 Field Experiment
• Conducted in the normal environment for the participants for the behavior being
investigated.
– It is a little harder to control variables and standardize procedures
– Reliability and validity may therefore be lower
 Better ecological validity (Not always)
 Lower demand characteristics
 Lower social desirability
3 Natural Experiment
• study of a naturally occurring situation as it unfolds in the real world.
• The researcher does have any influence over the situation but rather simply observes
individuals and circumstances, comparing the current condition to some other
condition.
• the researcher cannot manipulate the levels of the IV.
 Chances of good ecological validity
– less opportunity to control and standardize the situation
– There may be uncontrolled variables
– Low standardization and reliability.
Recapping limitations and strengths

On the basis of :
• Standardization
• Reliability and validity
• Control over extraneous variables
• Social desirability
• Demand characteristics
 Ethics

• Ethics to be followed while conducting an experimental research:

1. Asking for informed consent
2. Right to withdraw
3. Respecting privacy
4. Confidentiality
• In natural and field experiment, informed consent is not always taken which is a
limitation