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Research Method: Nurfitriany Fakhri

The document discusses the main research methods used in social psychology including systematic observation, correlation studies, and experimental research. It explains how theories guide social psychology research and how experiments use independent and dependent variables to test causal relationships. The document also addresses issues around deception in research and how informed consent and debriefing are used to balance participants' rights and the goals of gaining knowledge.

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Angra Ardana
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49 views

Research Method: Nurfitriany Fakhri

The document discusses the main research methods used in social psychology including systematic observation, correlation studies, and experimental research. It explains how theories guide social psychology research and how experiments use independent and dependent variables to test causal relationships. The document also addresses issues around deception in research and how informed consent and debriefing are used to balance participants' rights and the goals of gaining knowledge.

Uploaded by

Angra Ardana
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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RESEARCH

METHOD
NURFITRIANY FAKHRI
Understand the methods social
psychologists use to gain insight into
the questions posed

LEARNING
OBJECTIVES: Explain how theories play a key role in
social psychological research

Identify how the dilemma of deception


is addressed in social psychology
A. HOW SOCIAL Methods of research in social psychology

PSYCHOLOGISTS 1. Systematic Observation: Describing the World Around


Us
ANSWER THE 2. Correlation: The Search for Relationships
QUESTIONS 3. The Experimental Method: Knowledge Through
THEY ASK: Systematic Intervention
RESEARCH AS
THE ROUTE TO Another things to be considered:
INCREASED • The Role of Mediating Variables
KNOWLEDGE • Meta-Analysis: Assessing a Body of Knowledge
1. SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION: DESCRIBING THE
WORLD AROUND US
Systematic observation—carefully observing behavior as it occurs.

• Naturalistic observation—observation of people’s behavior in natural settings (Linden, 1992). The researchers
would try to remain as inconspicuous as possible
• Survey method. Here, researchers ask large numbers of persons to respond to questions
about their attitudes or behavior.
 Surveys offer several advantages: quick, a lot of, relatively easy to conduct.
 Requirements: the persons who participate must be representative of the larger population about which
conclusions are to be drawn, wording are carefully addressed
2. CORRELATION: THE SEARCH FOR
RELATIONSHIPS
Correlational Method
The technique whereby two or more variables are
systematically measured and the relationship between
them (i.e., how much one can be predicted from the
other) is assessed.

Correlation assesses the


linear relationship between Shows the strength and valence of a linear
two variables relationship between two continuous
variables.
Ranges from -1, through 0, to +1.
The Correlational Method

Positive correlation
Increases in the value of one variable are
associated with increases in the value of the
other variable.
• Height and weight are positively correlated; the
taller people are, the more they tend to weigh.
THE CORRELATIONAL METHOD

Negative correlation
Increases in the value of one variable are associated with
decreases in the value of the other variable.

• Vaccination rate correlates negatively with disease rate: The more


often people get vaccinated, the less often people get the disease.
LIMITS OF THE CORRELATIONAL METHOD:
CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION

Correlation does not allow us to ‘locate’ cause and effect.

Despite of it:
It can be used in natural settings where experiments might be
very difficult to conduct, and it is often highly efficient due to, a
large amount of information can be obtained in a relatively
short period of time
3. THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD: KNOWLEDGE THROUGH
SYSTEMATIC INTERVENTION

Experimentation
• Involves the following strategy: One variable is changed
systematically, and the effects of these changes on one
or more other variables are carefully measured.
THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD:
ANSWERING CAUSAL QUESTIONS

One way to determine causality is to use the experimental method.

Experimental Method
Method in which the researcher randomly assigns
participants to different conditions and ensures these
conditions are identical except for the independent variable
(the one thought to have a causal effect on people’s
responses).
THE EXPERIMENTAL METHOD: ANSWERING
CAUSAL QUESTIONS
Experimental method is the method of choice in most
social psychological research because it allows causal
inferences.
INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT
VARIABLES

• The independent variable is

• The dependent variable is


INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

• An independent variable is one that the experimenter manipulates to examine its effect on
participants.

• An experiment will have one or more independent variables.


DEPENDENT VARIABLES

• A dependent variable is an operationally defined measurement


employed to see if is affected by the different conditions or levels of
the independent variable.

• There can be one or more dependent variables (DV) for each


independent variable (IV).
INTERNAL VALIDITY IN
EXPERIMENTS
Experiments should be high in internal validity.

Internal Validity
Making sure that nothing besides the
independent variable can affect the
dependent variable.
Random Assignment to Condition

A process ensuring that all participants have an equal chance of taking part
in any condition of an experiment.
Through random assignment, researchers can be relatively certain that
differences in the participants’ personalities or backgrounds are distributed
evenly across conditions.

This powerful technique is the most


important part of the experimental
method.
EXTERNAL VALIDITY IN
EXPERIMENTS

External Validity
The extent to which the results of a study
can be generalized to other situations and
to other people.
BASIC VERSUS APPLIED RESEARCH

Basic Research Experiments:


Designed to answer basic questions about why people do what they do.
Applied Studies:
Research designed to find ways to solve specific social problems.
CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH

Cross-Cultural Research
Research conducted with members of different cultures, to
see whether the psychological processes of interest are
present in both cultures or whether they are specific to the
culture in which people were raised.
TO BE NOTED:

• The Role of Mediating Variables


• Meta-Analysis: Assessing a Body of Knowledge
B. THE ROLE OF THEORY IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
C. THE QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE AND THE RIGHTS OF
INDIVIDUALS: SEEKING AN APPROPRIATE BALANCE

The Ethics of Research:

• Deception efforts by researchers to withhold or conceal information about the purposes of a study from participants.

Noted:

• First, deception should never be used to persuade people to take part in a study; withholding information about what will happen in an experiment or
providing misleading

• Second, most social psychologists agree that temporary deception may sometimes be acceptable provided two basic safeguards are employed. Those
are:

 informed consent—giving participants as much information as possible about the procedures to be followed before they make their decision
to participate. This is the opposite of withholding information in order to persuade people to participate.

 Debriefing—providing participants with a full description of the purposes of a study after they have participated in it, including an explanation
of any deception used, and why it was necessary to employ it.
The guiding principles for all researchers planning to use deception should be the
following:
(1) Use deception only when it is absolutely essential to do so—when no other means for
conducting the research exists;
(2) always proceed with caution; and
(3) make certain that every possible precaution is taken to protect the rights, safety, and
well-being of research participants.
AND IT’S A WRAP!

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