Introducing Research and Data in Psychology

A Guide to Methods and Analysis

Ann Searle

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Topic: Psychology
• eBook ISBN:
  9781000142983
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Introducing Research and Data in Psychology shows how research design and data analysis are attainable and useful skills. It introduces both experimental and non-experimental methods of research and the analysis of data using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The uses, interpretation and calculation of common two sample statistical tests are explained. This comprehensive textbook includes the following designed features to help with technique:

• Practice exam answers to show how to achieve a higher grade



• Chapter summaries



• Glossary



• Case studies and examples



• Exercises and a full bibliography.

Contents

1. Acknowledgements
2. Introduction
3. Section One
   1. Preliminaries
   2. Psychology and common sense explanation
   3. Choosing a research question, aims and hypotheses
   4. Hypotheses
      1. Which hypotheses are you expected to include when writing a report?
      2. Points on the wording of hypotheses
      3. Some further examples
      4. Why do we have all these types of hypotheses?
      5. Directional and non-directional hypotheses
   5. Independent and dependent variables
4. Section Two
   1. Preliminaries
   2. The experimental method
      1. Laboratory experiments
      2. Field experiments
   3. Natural experiments and quasi-experiments
      1. Natural experiments
      2. Quasi-experiments
   4. Introduction to non-experimental methods
   5. Observational methods
      1. Naturalistic observation
      2. Participant observation
      3. Controlled observations
      4. Recording and interpreting data from observational studies
   6. Content analysis
   7. Case studies
      1. Conducting a case study
   8. Interviews
   9. Correlational research
      1. Common uses of the correlational method
   10. Summary table of methods of investigation
   11. Qualitative and quantitative methods

1. Section Three
   1. Designs used in research
   2. The advantages and disadvantages of different experimental designs
      1. Independent groups design
      2. Repeated measures design
      3. Matched pairs design
      4. Single participant design
   3. Design of studies in developmental psychology
      1. Longitudinal studies
      2. Cross-sectional studies
      3. Cohort studies
2. Section Four
   1. Sampling
      1. Methods of choosing a sample
      2. Sample size
3. Section Five
   1. The experiment as a social situation
      1. Experimenter-bias
      2. Participant expectations and demand characteristics
   2. Reducing bias

1. Section Six
   1. Reliability
      1. Methods of measuring reliability
   2. Validity
      1. Internal validity
      2. External validity
      3. Test validity
2. Section Seven
   1. Controlling variables
      1. Standardisation of procedures in research
   2. Counterbalancing
   3. Confounding variables
      1. Constant errors
      2. Random errors
3. Section Eight
   1. Ethnocentric, cultural and androcentric biases
   2. Ethical issues in research
      1. The deception dilemma
      2. Research on non-human animals
4. Section Nine
   1. Presentation of data in repo...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Section One
• Psychology and common sense explanation
• Choosing a research question, aims and hypotheses
• Which hypotheses are you expected to include when writing a report?
• Points on the wording of hypotheses
• Some further examples
• Why do we have all these types of hypotheses?
• Directional and non-directional hypotheses
• Independent and dependent variables
• Section Two
• The experimental method
• Laboratory experiments
• Field experiments
• Natural experiments and quasi-experiments
• Quasi-experiments
• Introduction to non-experimental methods
• Observational methods
• Naturalistic observation
• Participant observation
• Controlled observations
• Recording and interpreting data from observational studies
• Content analysis
• Case studies
• Conducting a case study
• Interviews
• Correlational research
• Common uses of the correlational method
• Summary table of methods of investigation
• Qualitative and quantitative methods
• Section Three
• Designs used in research
• The advantages and disadvantages of different experimental designs
• Independent groups design
• Matched pairs design
• Single participant design
• Cross-sectional studies
• Cohort studies
• Section Four
• Methods of choosing a sample
• Sample size
• Section Five
• Experimenter-bias
• Participant expectations and demand characteristics
• Reducing bias
• Section Six
• Reliability
• Validity
• Test validity
• Section Seven
• Standardisation of procedures in research
• Confounding variables
• Random errors
• Section Eight
• Ethnocentric, cultural and androcentric biases
• Ethical issues in research
• The deception dilemma
• Research on non-human animals
• Section Nine
• Presentation of data in reports
• Tables of scores
• Graphical representation
• Line graphs
• Histograms and bar charts
• Pie charts
• General points on drawing graphs
• Stem and leaf diagrams
• Box and whisker plots
• Scattergrams or scattergraphs
• Correlation coefficients
• Measures of central tendency
• The median
• The mode
• Distribution curves
• Normal distributions
• Skewed distributions
• Bimodal distributions
• The range
• The semi-interquartile range
• Standard deviation (SD)
• Standard scores and z-scores
• Section Ten
• Data at the nominal level
• Data at the interval level
• Why is knowledge of levels of measurement important?
• Section Eleven
• Different types of statistical tests
• When do you use a parametric or non-parametric test?
• Parametric tests
• Non-parametric tests
• Comparison of parametric and non-parametric tests
• Tests for a difference between two sets of scores
• Tests for correlation
• Summary
• Section Twelve
• Chi-square test
• Some controversies over the use of chi-square
• Sign test
• Two sample tests for data at the ordinal level
• Ranking
• The Mann-Whitney test
• Wilcoxon signed ranks test
• Two sample tests for data fulfilling the requirements for the use of parametric tests
• The t-test for unrelated data
• The t-test for related data
• Tests for correlation
• Spearman's rank order correlation coefficient
• Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient
• Section Thirteen
• Interpreting the results of a statistical test
• At what level of significance can we accept the alternative hypothesis?
• Type I and Type II errors
• At what point in the research do you set the level of significance that you will accept?
• Conclusion
• Section Fourteen
• Interpreting qualitative research
• Reliability and validity
• Interpreting observational studies
• Content analysis
• Discourse analysis
• Interpreting interviews
• Conclusion
• Section Fifteen
• Title
• Method
• Results
• Conclusion
• References
• Section Sixteen: Study aids
• Sample exam questions
• Appendix: Critical value tables
• Glossary
• Bibliography
• Answers to exercises
• Index