PSY 360 Exam1 Study
Guide
Chapter 2
Beginning the Research Process:
★ Hypothesis - an explicit, testable prediction about the conditions under which an event
will occur.
○ Formulating a hypothesis is a critical step toward planning and
conducting research
★ Theory - an organized set of principles used to explain observed phenomena.
○ The goal is to explain these findings, to articulate the connection between the
variables that are studied, and to predict thereby and more completely understand
our social worlds.
★ Basic Research - seeks to increase our understanding of human behavior and is often
designed to test a specific hypothesis from a theory.
★ Applied Research - making applications to the world and contributing to the solution of
social problems.
Defining and Measuring Social Psy Variables:
★ Conceptual Variables - variables that are abstract (mood, helpfulness, love, or prejudice)
★ Operational Definition - the specific procedures for manipulating or measuring a
conceptual variable
★ Construct validity - the extent to which the measures used in a study measure the
variables they were designed to measure and the manipulations in an experiment
manipulate the variables they were designed to manipulate
○ How well researchers manipulate and measure their variables
★ Self-Reports - in which participants disclose their thoughts, feelings, desires, and actions
○ A set of questions that measure a single conceptual variable
○ Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale developed by Morris Rosenberg in the 1960s =
has good construct validity
○ Gives access to an individual's beliefs and perceptions, but not always accurate
○ Wording or context matters when it comes to self-reporting
(Dominik Mischowski, 2019, Petition for Enhanced Interrogation
Experiment)
★ Observations - observing people’s actions in simple or elaborate ways
○ Actions speak louder than words
○ Can become biased if participants know they are being observed
★ Interrater reliability - the level of agreement among multiple observers of the same
behaviors (only when different observers agree can the data be trusted)
1
, Research Designs:
★ Descriptive research (DR)- research that is designed to describe people and their
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
○ Methods of DR: observing people, studying records of past events and behaviors,
surveying people)
○ Observational Studies: Observing game footage
○ Archival Studies - examining existing records of past events and
behaviors (newspaper articles, medical records, retweets on Twitter)
■ Observing behavior second-hand ensures researchers did not influence the
behaviors by their presence
○ Surveys: asking people questions about their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors
■ Identify the population of interest
■ Select a sample of individuals from said population (must be similar to
or representative of the population on important characteristics like age,
gender, race, income, education, and cultural background
● Use Random Sampling - a method of selection in which everyone
in a population has an equal chance of being selected for the
sample
★ Correlational Research - measures the relationship between different variables. The
extent to which variables relate to each other can suggest how similar or distinct two
different measures are and how well one variable can be used to predict another.
○ Variables are not manipulated just measured
○ Correlation Coefficients - a statistical measure of the strength and direction
of the association between two variables
■ Ranges from +1.0 to -1.0
■ Absolute value - the number without a + or -, indicates how strongly the
two variables are associated, higher = stronger
■ + and - signs are the direction of the relationship between two variables
● positive correlation = as one variable increases so does the other
● negative correlation = variables go opposite directions
○ Advantages: studies the associations of naturally occurring variables that cannot
be manipulated or induced and examines phenomena that would be difficult to
unethical to create for research purposes
○ Disadvantages: CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION
■ Never a specific causal pathway from one variable to another
■ A could cause B, B could cause A, or C could cause both A and B
★ Experiments - best for cause & effect research, random assignment to conditions, and
control over the events that occur
○ Random assignment - means that participants are not assigned to a condition on
anything other than random chance
2
Guide
Chapter 2
Beginning the Research Process:
★ Hypothesis - an explicit, testable prediction about the conditions under which an event
will occur.
○ Formulating a hypothesis is a critical step toward planning and
conducting research
★ Theory - an organized set of principles used to explain observed phenomena.
○ The goal is to explain these findings, to articulate the connection between the
variables that are studied, and to predict thereby and more completely understand
our social worlds.
★ Basic Research - seeks to increase our understanding of human behavior and is often
designed to test a specific hypothesis from a theory.
★ Applied Research - making applications to the world and contributing to the solution of
social problems.
Defining and Measuring Social Psy Variables:
★ Conceptual Variables - variables that are abstract (mood, helpfulness, love, or prejudice)
★ Operational Definition - the specific procedures for manipulating or measuring a
conceptual variable
★ Construct validity - the extent to which the measures used in a study measure the
variables they were designed to measure and the manipulations in an experiment
manipulate the variables they were designed to manipulate
○ How well researchers manipulate and measure their variables
★ Self-Reports - in which participants disclose their thoughts, feelings, desires, and actions
○ A set of questions that measure a single conceptual variable
○ Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale developed by Morris Rosenberg in the 1960s =
has good construct validity
○ Gives access to an individual's beliefs and perceptions, but not always accurate
○ Wording or context matters when it comes to self-reporting
(Dominik Mischowski, 2019, Petition for Enhanced Interrogation
Experiment)
★ Observations - observing people’s actions in simple or elaborate ways
○ Actions speak louder than words
○ Can become biased if participants know they are being observed
★ Interrater reliability - the level of agreement among multiple observers of the same
behaviors (only when different observers agree can the data be trusted)
1
, Research Designs:
★ Descriptive research (DR)- research that is designed to describe people and their
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
○ Methods of DR: observing people, studying records of past events and behaviors,
surveying people)
○ Observational Studies: Observing game footage
○ Archival Studies - examining existing records of past events and
behaviors (newspaper articles, medical records, retweets on Twitter)
■ Observing behavior second-hand ensures researchers did not influence the
behaviors by their presence
○ Surveys: asking people questions about their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors
■ Identify the population of interest
■ Select a sample of individuals from said population (must be similar to
or representative of the population on important characteristics like age,
gender, race, income, education, and cultural background
● Use Random Sampling - a method of selection in which everyone
in a population has an equal chance of being selected for the
sample
★ Correlational Research - measures the relationship between different variables. The
extent to which variables relate to each other can suggest how similar or distinct two
different measures are and how well one variable can be used to predict another.
○ Variables are not manipulated just measured
○ Correlation Coefficients - a statistical measure of the strength and direction
of the association between two variables
■ Ranges from +1.0 to -1.0
■ Absolute value - the number without a + or -, indicates how strongly the
two variables are associated, higher = stronger
■ + and - signs are the direction of the relationship between two variables
● positive correlation = as one variable increases so does the other
● negative correlation = variables go opposite directions
○ Advantages: studies the associations of naturally occurring variables that cannot
be manipulated or induced and examines phenomena that would be difficult to
unethical to create for research purposes
○ Disadvantages: CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION
■ Never a specific causal pathway from one variable to another
■ A could cause B, B could cause A, or C could cause both A and B
★ Experiments - best for cause & effect research, random assignment to conditions, and
control over the events that occur
○ Random assignment - means that participants are not assigned to a condition on
anything other than random chance
2
