PSYCHOLOG

Y An Introduction to
Psychology. Types of
Research Methods
Chapter 1.2
BY:
Alex Malayi Wati, MA, MPhil
Department of Psychology
University of Eastern Africa, Baraton
 Chapter 1 Learning


Objectives
LO 1.8 Naturalistic and laboratory settings
LO 1.9 Case studies and surveys
 LO 1.10 Correlational technique
 LO 1.11 Experimental approach and terms
 LO 1.12 Placebo and the experimenter effects
 LO 1.13 Conducting a real experiment
 LO 1.14 Ethical concerns in conducting research
 LO 1.15 Principles of critical thinking
 LO 1.16 Apply critical thinking to a real world example
 TYPES OF DESCRPTIVE
RESEARCH METHODS
 Psychologists use a number of
research methods, including case
studies, naturalistic observations,
experiments etc.
 Each method has strengths and
weaknesses; all of them contribute to
our knowledge of claims and events.
 The choice of the specific method
used usually is determined by the
type of problem being investigated.
 1. Naturalistic Observation
 Watch subjects in their
natural environment.
 Do not manipulate the
environment.
 Observing behavior in
their natural
environment often
involves counting
behaviors, such as
number of aggressive
acts, number of smiles,
etc.
 1. Naturalistic Observation
 Advantages: Behavior is
naturally occurring and is
not manipulated by a
researcher.
 Limitations: Even in the
presence of someone
observing can cause
those being observed to
alter their behavior.
Researcher’s beliefs can
also alter their
observations.
 2. Survey Research Method
 Mostcommon type of
study in psychology
 Surveys have been used
to gather viewer
opinions such as during
presidential elections or
general elections.
 Measures correlation
 Cheap and fast
 Need a good random
sample
 2. Survey Research Method
 Advantages: Can gather
large amounts of
information in a relatively
short time, especially when
being conducted on the
internet.
 Limitations: Survey is
based solely on subjects’
responses which can be
inaccurate due to outright
lying, misunderstanding of
the question, placebo effect,
and even the manner in
which the question is asked.
 3. Correlational Research
 The purpose of a
correlational study is to
express that a relationship
between two variables
exists, what direction the
relationship is, and how
strong it is.
 As more ice cream is eaten,
more people are murdered.
 Does ice cream cause
murder, or murder causes
people to eat ice cream
 3. Correlational Research
 Advantages: Can assess the
strength of a relationship. Is
popular with lay population
because it is relatively easy
to explain and understand.
 Limitations: Cannot make
any assumptions of cause
and effect (explain how third
a variable can be involved, or
how the variables can
influence each other).
4.Case Study Research Method

Case study research is

an in-depth
observation of one
participant or
following a single case
(a person, an animal
or even a setting or
institution, typically
over an extended
period of time
 4.Case Study Research Method
 Advantages: Can
provide extensive
information, both
qualitative and
quantitative and it can
be helpful in better
understanding rare
cases or very specific
interventions
 Limitations: Since only
one case is involved, it
severely limits the
The ideal case study is
application to the other
John and Kate. Really situations or the rest of
interesting, the population. Can be
but what does it tell us very time consuming
about families in general?
 5. Longitudinal Research
Method
 Longitudinal research
design involves studying
the same group of
individuals over an
extended period of time.
 used in psychology to
study developmental
trends across the life
span, and in sociology to
study life events
throughout lifetimes or
generations.
 5. Longitudinal Research
Method
 Advantages: It allows
researchers to look at
changes over time - are
particularly useful when
studying development
and lifespan issues.
 Disadvantages - It
require enormous
amounts of time and
are often quite
expensive.
6. Cross-sectional
Research  Cross-sectional
research design
involves observation
of all of a population,
or a representative
subset, at one
specific point in time.
 Cross-sectional
studies are
descriptive studies
(neither observational
nor experimental).
Cross-sectional Vs Longitudinal
 Longitudinal studies
involve taking
multiple measures
over an extended
period of time e.g. 2
or 5 years, while
cross-sectional
research is focused
on looking at
variables at a specific
point in time e.g. in
the month of June.
 Ethics in Psychological
 Research
Physicists are concerned about the potentially harmful
outcomes of their experiments with nuclear materials.
Biologists worry about the potential outcomes of creating
genetically engineered human babies. Medical researchers
agonize over the ethics of withholding potentially beneficial
drugs from control groups in clinical trials. Likewise,
psychologists are continually considering the ethics of their
research.
 Research in psychology may cause some stress, harm, or
inconvenience for the people who participate in that
research. For instance, researchers may ask introductory
psychology students to participate in research projects and
then deceive these students, at least temporarily, about the
nature of the research. Psychologists may induce stress,
anxiety, or negative moods in their participants, expose
them to weak electrical shocks, or convince them to behave
in ways that violate their moral standards. Additionally,
researchers may sometimes use animals, potentially
harming them in the process.
 Ethics in Psychological
 Research
Decisions about whether research is ethical are made using
established ethical codes developed by scientific organizations,
such as the American Psychological Association, and federal
governments. In the United States, the Department of Health and
Human Services provides the guidelines for ethical standards in
research. Some research, such as the research conducted by the
Nazis on prisoners during World War II, is perceived as immoral by
almost everyone. Other procedures, such as the use of animals in
research testing the effectiveness of drugs, are more controversial.
 Common APA Ethical guidelines:
 No Harm is he most direct ethical concern of the researcher and
prevents harm to the research participants. Participants must be
allowed to make an informed decision about participation.
 Informed consent is conducted before a participant begins a
research session, and is designed to explain the research
procedures and inform the participant of his or her rights during
the investigation. The informed consent explains as much as
possible about the true nature of the study, particularly everything
that might be expected to influence willingness to participate, but
it may in some cases withhold some information that allows the
 Ethics in Psychological
Research
Confidentiality refers to researchers protecting
the privacy of research participants. In some
cases, data can be kept anonymous by not
having the respondents put any identifying
information on their questionnaires. Animal
research – answers questions we could never do
with human research.
 Deception occurs whenever research
participants are not completely and fully
informed about the nature of the research
project before participating in it. These rabbits
are part of a drug-testing study. Their bodies are
enclosed in the metal cases to prevent
movement during the test. What steps might the
researchers using these animals take to treat the
animals ethically?
 Ethics in Psychological
Research
Debriefing is a procedure designed to fully
explain the purposes and procedures of the
research and remove any harmful aftereffects
of participation.
 Research with Animals
 Because animals make up an important part of the
natural world, and because some research cannot be
conducted using humans, animals are also
participants in psychological research. Most
psychological research using animals is now
conducted with rats, mice, and birds, and the use of
other animals in research is declining (Thomas &
Blackman, 1992). As with ethical decisions involving
human participants, a set of basic principles has been
developed that helps researchers make informed
decisions about such research;
Psychology’s Three Big Debates
Nature Versus
Nurture

Stability Versus
Change

Continuity Versus
Discontinuity
Nature Vs Nurture
Debate
 Nature vs. Nurture
 Nature vs Nurture debate is one of the
oldest issues in psychology and the debate
centers on the relative contribution of genetic
inheritance and environmental factors to
human development.
 Though it is clear that physical characteristics
are genetic (hereditary), it is not clear when it
comes to behavior, intelligence and
personality. Why are some people happy
most of the time while others unhappy? Why
are some people very outgoing and others
reserved? - homosexuality perfect example
 Nature Debate
Nature –
refers to all of the genes and
hereditary factors that influence who we are
—from our physical appearance to our
personality characteristics.
Example: Nature is your genes. The physical
and Personality traits determined by your
genes stay the same irrespective of where
you were born and raised.
 Factors: Biological and Family
 Peoplebehave the way they do because they
are animals who act in accordance with their
animal instincts and are determined by
their biology
 Nature Debate
 Nurture –refers to all the environmental variables
that impact who we are, including our early
childhood experiences, how we were raised, our
social relationships, and our surrounding culture.
 Example: Nurture refers to your childhood, or how
you were brought up. Someone could be born with
genes to give them a normal height, but be
malnourished in childhood, resulting in stunted
growth and a failure to develop as expected.
 Factors : Environmental and Social
 People behave the way they do because they are
determined by the things other people teach them,
the things they observe around them, and because of
the different situations they are put in.
 Nature vs. Nurture
 Geneticpredisposition vs being taught to do.
While we may not know how much of what
we are is determined by our DNA (Genes)
and how much by our environment (life
experiences). We are not in doubt of the fact
that both play a part – artistic ability.
 Nature endows us with inborn abilities and
traits; nurture takes these genetic tendencies
and molds them as we learn and mature
(debate of how much? Continue)
 Five Important Questions
1. "Do you believe criminals such as (Thieves,
killers, alcoholics, homosexuals, lesbians etc.)
are made by Nature?" - Roberto
2. "Which do you think make up a person the
most based on their personality, Nature or
Nurture?" - Noah
3. " Is the out come of a child's behavior caused
by their parents, parenting skills, Nature or
Nurture?" - Jonathan
4. "Is Religion a Nature or Nurture issue?" -
Thalia
5. "What is more Influential, Nature or Nurture?"
- Erika
 Nature Debate
 In the past, debates over the relative
contributions of nature versus nurture often
took a very one-sided approach, with one
side arguing that nature played the most
important role and the other side suggesting
that it was nurture that was the most
significant.
 Today, most experts recognize that both
factors play a critical role.1 Not only that, but
they also realize that nature and nurture
interact in important ways all throughout life.
 Researchersdo know that the interaction
between heredity and environment is often
 Nature Vs Nurture
Debate
 Today, majority of experts believe that both
nature and nurture influence behavior and
development
 What do you think about homosexuality and
drug addiction in particular? (Danger of crime
being justified by heredity?) to disentangle the
effects of genes and environment, behavior
geneticists often use set of studies: Family
studies, twin studies and adoption studies.
 Infamily studies, researchers examine the
extend to which a characteristic runs in intact
familiar – (those in which members are raised in
the same home) such characteristics may be
said to be environmentally influenced.
 Nature Vs Nurture
Debate
 Twin studies consist of identical twins who
have 100% of their genes and fraternal twins
who have only 50% of their genes on average.
If identical twins are likely more alike on
psychological characteristics such as influence
than are fraternal twins then it can be inferred
that this characteristic is genetically influenced
A comparison of twins reared together may be
compared to fraternal twins reared together.
The study of twins is a powerful way to
determine therefore, the contribution of genes
and environment to a given trait
 Nature Vs Nurture
Debate
 Adoption studies another condition that permits
dissociation of genes and environment. These
studies examine the extend to which children
adopted into new homes resemble their adoptive
parents as opposed to their biological parents.
 Should adopted children in such studies resemble
their biological parents more on a psychological
characteristic than it can be assumed that the
behavior is genetically influenced.
 In this studies the assumption made is that the
environment are equal and in the adoptive
studies, the assumption is that there are no one
adoptive effects
Human Behavior- Evolutionary
Psychology
Anti-social Behaviour Pro-social behaviour
• For Boys • For Girls
• Difficulty in getting on with • Cooperation
others
• Working together
• Aggressive & disruptive
• Helping and caring behaviours
• In children this includes
hitting, • In children this includes sharing,
 bullying, teasing, verbal  taking turns, responding to the
abuse.  needs of others
• hostile
• non-cooperative
 Gender

What differences What stereotypes are th

are there between Female/male behaviour
girls and boys appearance?
behaviour?

What makes boys and girls

behave differently?
 Gender Differences
Boys Girls
  Higher verbal ability
More risk taking
 More aggressive  Higher spelling
 conversational ability.
More physical
 Less Physical
 Rough & tumble
play  ‘Caring’ less aggressive.
 Better mathematical
Skills & spatial ability
(map reading!)
Gender differences

 Clear Biological differences

 Occupational choice differs
 Playtime differs in children
 To what extent do media
stereotypes affect the
development of gender?
 To what extent do parenting
styles affect the development of
gender?
 Genetic basis of individual
differences & Similarities
 it has been clearly demonstrated that the degree
of resemblance among individuals depends upon
the closeness of their biological relationship,
though We all know that even among closely
related individuals there are often striking
differences such as hair color, eye color, body
build
 We often think that heredity ought to create only
resemblance between parents and children. But
the truth is that heredity may also operate to
produce differences. The fact that relatives both
resemble and differ from each other in inheritable
traits is largely due to two important mechanisms
in the heredity process:
 What takes place during
fertilization
 Male child = 44 + XY = 46 - thus 22 + X from
the mother and 22 + Y from the father
 Female child = 44 + 2X = 46 - thus 22 + X
from the mother and 22 + X from the father
 Thus, sex of a child is dependent entirely on which type
of sex cell came from the father. The mother has
nothing to do with it, contrary to the suppositions in
many cultures where men are allowed to take new
wives on the ground that his first wife is not giving him
sons.
 Many lines of evidence converge to show that
chromosomes play a very important role as bearers of
heredity traits. How this is done is largely unknown.
Heredity is believed to be the result of chemical
interactions which take place between the
 Conditions determined
at the Time of
 Fertilization
Hereditary endowment – The newly created child’s
hereditary endowment is determined when the sperm cell
unites with the ovum.
 Sex determination – Whether the child will be male or female
is determined, once and for all, at the time of conception and
nothing, after that, can change the child’s sex.
 Number of offerings – whether the child will be a singleton or
one of non -identical multiple births is determined when
fertilization occurs. Whether the child will be one of identical
multiple births is determined in the early stages of cell splitting
immediately after fertilization.
 Ordinal Position in the family. Whether the child will be
firstborn, second born, or later born in the family is determined
at the moment of conception – a termination that will have a
lifelong influence on the child’s behavior and personality.
Two Factors
Reduction division – cell
division that produces cells
in sexually reproducing
organisms
Dominance and
Recessiveness
Reduction division
 In common other cell divisions in normal
body growth each chromosome is duplicated
in each of the new cells, but in reduction
division each cell being formed gets one such
chromosome from each of the twenty three
pairs of chromosomes in the original cell.
 Therefore, reduction division is a selective
process which only half of each parent’s
chromosomes are selected out of any one
egg or sperm. The selection of each pair is
independent of the selection of the other.
The reduction is what causes similarities or
differences, since two children of the same
parents receive either different set of genes
or similar set.
 Dominance and
Recessiveness
 Another phenomenon - dominance and
recessiveness. This involves genes inherited from
the two parents.
 If the gene for a particular trait is dominant, it will
result in a child with that trait no matter what kind
of gene it is paired with.
 For a child to exhibit recessive trait, however, he
must inherit only recessive genes from both
parents: a recessive gene must join with one just
like it in order to take effect.
 Thus an individual may inherit and possess a large
number of recessive genes without displaying any
recessive characteristics. He may nevertheless,
transmit those recessive genes to his offspring’s.
Examples of dominant and
Recessive genes
 Dominant genes are; skin, brain
cancers, drooping eyelids, cataracts,
certain muscular disorders, baldness
(in males only) and dwarfism.
 Recessive genes or conditions are;
blindness, some type of visual and
hearing defects, certain kind of
paralysis, albinism, certain types of
insanity, epilepsy, sickle cell anemia
etc.
Environmental Influence
 Keep in mind that our genes influence
the nurture and experiences we seek.
(My children and their temperaments
influence my parenting.)
 Five
ways we are shaped along with
genes:
1. Prenatal environment
2. Early experience
3. Peer Influence
4. Culture
5. Gender influences
Environmental Factors
 Income
 Housing
 Nutrition
 Education
 Access to health facilities
 Parenting Styles
 Play Opportunities
 Weather
 Environmental Influence
1. Prenatal environment influences?
2. Early experience - Multiple studies emphasize the
importance of stimulating experience &/or touch: Both
enhance brain development (as does physical activity)
3. Peer influence factors? (e.g., man in elevator
4. Culture - Examples? Food preferences, personal
space, aggression/violent behavior
• Obesity - Cultural influences combined with a genetic
predisposition to store fat

5. Gender Influences - Why are you a male/female?

(Besides the obvious reasons…)
 Gender is a social category of being male or female.
Socialization and gender
 Differential gender socialization
 Gender and culture
 (e.g.,
rites of passage, expected
behaviors)
 Gender differences
 Clear Biological differences
 Occupational choice differs
 Playtime differs in children
 To
what extent do media stereotypes affect the
development of gender?
 To
what extent do parenting styles affect the
development of gender?
Summary
 Because someone is born into a low
income environment, does NOT mean
they will grow up to be poor &
disadvantaged.
 Itis important to understand that a
person’s sense of ‘SELF’ influences
their development and the CHOICES
they make gives them more CONTROL
over their environment.
A person’s ability is strongly influenced
by their GENOTYPE and the
ENVIRONMENT.
Summary
 We have found Criminals can be Born that
way.
 Nature and Nurture tend to have equal
participation in Personalities.
 Parenting skills will almost always play a
role in a Childs Behavior
 Humans are hardwired to believe in
something they can't perceive, weather
that be God, or some other concept they
have no direct experience with. People are
more likely to believe something if their
parents, friends and peers do as well, and
if they've heard about it from a young age.
 In many Cases it is always equal.
References
 http://www-psych.stanford.edu/~ashas/Psych1Lecture3.pdf
 www.wwnorton.com
Amoeba Web:
http://vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/amoebaweb/
A site containing nicely organized tables of links to web pages
related to various topics in psychology.
Centre for Psychology Resources:
http://psych.athabascau.ca/html/aupr/psycres.shtml
A site maintained by Athabasca University in Canada. Provides
comprehensive information on a variety of psychology
topics.
PsychCrawler http://www.psychcrawler.com/
Want a search engine just for information about psychology?
PsychCrawler allows you to search for journal articles,
books, and web content.
Psychwatch: http://www.psychwatch.com
http://www.sparknotes.com/psychology/psych101/personality/
section4/page/2/