|
General Psychology |
||||||||||||||||
|
Home > Exam Review > Research Methods Research Methods |
||||||||||||||||
|
Main Ideas: Concept and Operational definition * Breaking apart a concept in subdimensions * Developing different kinds of scales and measures Main Idea: different kinds of studies give you different kinds of
information.
Analyzing group differences -- different vs. better/worse, remember the
individual Other: Random assignment, random sampling, Independent variable, Dependent
variable Methods - Example QuestionsBrad and Max are interested in studying the effects of Running Start
programs on kid's academic success later in life. They record whether or not
each kid has been in the program, and what their grades are over the next 5
years. 7. Pick
one of the following concepts and do (a) and (b) with it: Chunking
(p. 220-223) Primary
or secondary appraisal of a stressor (p. 535-537) Altruism
(p. 677-678) Introversion
– Extroversion as a part of personality (p. 481-483) Pick
one defense mechanism (p. 485-489 and 550-554) The
dissonance (2nd) stage of identity development (p.353-359, esp.
354, 357) (a) Describe
what the concept is and describe a related concept that is similar, but not
the same (not another concept from this list). Like we did with the parts of creativity. (b) Describe
two different operational definitions, one for each of the two similar
concepts: one way to measure
it. Include specific questions
(like survey questions) or kinds of observations or an experiment to measure
it. For example, creativity
might be measured by giving everyone a curved a line and giving them 5
minutes to make a drawing out of it; then you judge the creativity of the
drawing. Notes: for (a)
it’s like with creativity, when we talk about the different parts/dimensions
of it. The related concept for
creativity might be artistic skill. 1. Make
up a scale for one of the variables in your research project: describe the
concept and the operational definition.
Break it into parts (dimensions), like we did with creativity
(original, thoughtful, etc.)
List out the scale (from low to high, from 1 to 9) and give both
descriptions and example behaviors/thoughts/feelings for 3 parts of the
scale. Notes:
for part (a) it’s like with creativity, when we talk about the different
parts/dimensions of it. The
related concept for creativity might be artistic skill. 2.
For the project described below, identify the
following: the variable that they are studying the effect on – describe the
concept and give an operational definition for it. Name one variable they are studying that affects the first
variable you mentioned. Again,
describe the concept and give an operational definition for it. Choose one type of study (experiment,
correlational, naturalistic observation, case) and describe how you would do
a study for this topic. For our
research project we will be looking at the effects of sleep deprivation on
humans. We intend to show,
through research, the effects sleep deprivation has on several different
physical as well as psychosocial factors. We intend to focus on the effect sleep deprivation has on
cognition, personal and public safety, as well as overall health for the
individual as well as the community as a whole. We expect to find that those who are sleep deprived are at
much greater risk for collisions, poor grades in school, poor performance on
the job, have weaker immune systems, and have an overall poorer quality of
life than those who get an adequate amount of sleep. Notes:
for good conceptual definition, review information in the textbook on that
topic. 7 Name a variable and give an example of 2 different operational
definitions for it. 3. Pick one of the following concepts and do (a) and (b) with it: Describe what the concept is and describe a related concept that is
similar, but not the same (not another concept from this list). Like we did
with the parts of creativity. 2. I am doing a report on the stress of teens that come from a single
parent home vs. a two-parent home. In Socioeconomic perspectives the lower
class tend to have different and more stress that the middle class family.
The lower class has pressure over paying bill and feeding their children and
the middle class can do those things so they don't stress about it. In the
Gender perspective the males and females have very different coping
strategies. Females can talk about their stress by going to a friend where
males feel as though that is a sign of weakness. My hypothesis is that males
that come from a single parent home will have more stress because they feel
the need to contribute to the family. I believe this is what the outcome of
my project will be because single parent homes are more likely to be
low-income families. Children that come from homes like this witness their
parents struggle whereas the children from a two-parent home never have to
worry about how the bill will be paid or where there next meal is coming
from. For this project, identify the following: the variable that they are
studying the effect on , describe the concept and give an operational
definition for it. One variable they are studying that affects the first
variable you mentioned. Again, describe the concept and give an operational
definition for it. Choose one type of study (experiment, correlational,
naturalistic observation, case) and describe how you would do a study for
this topic. Veasna and Sarah believe that people who use the right hemisphere of their
brain more are more creative. As it turns out, some kinds of math like geometry
are processed more in the right hemisphere (seeing things in space), while
other kinds of math like algebra are processed more in the left hemisphere.
So they ask 50 people which type of math was easier, algebra or geometry, and
ask them to draw a picture. Veasna and Sarah decide how creative it is by
judging how different it is from other things they've seen using the scale
below:
Hypotheses: Study: We recruit 60 people. For each person, we read the story of two
people going on a date to them (see p. 223 for story). We randomly choose 30
people and ask them how their day was, what happened, how they felt, etc. (to
get them thinking about themselves) for three minutes. Then we ask them nine
questions about the story, such as "what time did John arrive?" and
"What part of the date did Mary like best?" For the other 30 people,
we ask them to sing the "ABC" song (specific non-autobiographical
thing) for three minutes. 3. Design your own study. Here's a hypothesis: people who actively chunk
material while they are learning it remember more than those who don't
actively chunk the material. Design a case study or naturalistic observation
to study this hypothesis. Be sure to name which type of study and a couple of
variables, including how they are operationally defined. Hypotheses: Children who see cooperative role models, (TV shows like
"Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" or "Barney") behave in more
cooperative ways. Children's environment affects their behavior. Study: Researcher go to playgrounds in different elementary schools and
study whichever kids are on the playground those days. They compare children
that appear to be the same age. They note any comments from particular
programs (e.g. the Barney song) as a measure of which shows kids watch. They
notice what types of games kids play, how they are started, cooperative
behavior (e.g. giving ball to next kid, setting up order or lineup for turns)
and uncooperative behavior (pushing, shoving, taking extra turns). They note
how many teachers are present, how much and what types of interaction
teachers have with kids. They look at the size of playground, types of
equipment, and how they are arranged (e.g. many small activity areas to one
big toy). They compare to see which types of playground settings promote most
cooperative behavior. Use the above example for the next 2 questions. |
|
|||||||||||||||