Chapter 2: Psychological Research Methods and Statistics (Section 2)

Pre-Research Decisions
● Before ____________ can be collected, a researcher must ask a specific question about a
limited topic or hypothesis.
● Researchers must remember that each topic is ___________________ and the way they
go about collecting data should be different.
● For example, if a social psychologist who is studying the effects of group pressure is
likely to conduct an experiment. A psychologist who is interested in personality might
begin with intensive case studies.

This is Samples
● A sample is the
_____________________________________________________________________,
out of the total number available, that a researcher studies.
● A sample needs to __________________________________________________ that a
researcher is studying.
● A sample must be ____________________________________ rather than
_________________________________. For example, a study about the average height
of American men would become nonrepresentative if professional basketball players
were included in the sample.
Methods of Research
● The goals of research are to _______________________________________, to explain
its causes,
_______________________________________________________________, and to
control certain behaviors.
● There are a number of different ways that psychologists try to accomplish their goals.
Naturalistic Observation
● Naturalistic observation involves a psychologist observing a subject in a
_______________________________________________________________________.
● The reason there is no ___________________ is so that the researchers know that the
behavior of the human or animal subject is __________________ and not a reaction due
to the observer’s presence.
Case Studies
● A case study is __________________________________________________________.
● Case studies occasionalley come under fire due to their
__________________________________________________________.
● The _______________ cannot be __________________________ to anyone else, and
the researcher’s conclusions may not be correct.
● However, case studies provide a lot of information that can be used for future hypotheses.

Surveys
● Surveys are on of the most _________________ ways to gather data on a large group of
people
● A survey can be defined as a practice of obtaining information by asking many
individuals a ______________________________________________________
 ● The one factor of surveys that discourages their use is the fact that behaviors
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.

Longitudinal Studies
● This method invovles a psychologist studying the same group of people at
________________ intervals over a period of ___________________- to determine
whether
________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________.
● A good example of this was the New York Longitudinal Study of infants that determined
children are born with different temperaments.

Cross-Sectional Studies
● This is a research method in which data is collected from
____________________________________________________________ and compared
so that conclusions can be drawn about differences due to age.
● Cross-sectional studies are ___________ expensive than longitudinal studies and reduce
the amount of time necessary for the studies

Correlations and Explanations

● More often, researchers opt to ____________________________________________
between two sets of _________________ rather than simply observing a human or
animal’s behavior.
● Scientists use the term _______________________ to describe the relationship between
___________________________.
● There are both ________________ and ____________________ correlations that depend
on the data being collected.
● The one ___________ to correlations is that it
_______________________________________ between things but it does not
___________________________________________.

Experiments
● A researcher asks a __________________ and then ___________________ what that
answer may be.
● The researcher then conducts an ____________________ in order to try and
___________________ or _____________________ their hypothesis.
● The group that is __________________ to certain variables is called the
________________________________. The participants that don’t receive those
variables is called the ______________________________.
Ethical Issues
● Ethics are the methods of ________________, or standards, for
______________________ and ______________________ behavior.
● In 1992 the _____________________________________________________ published
a set of ethical principles regarding the ________________________,
_________________, and use of psychological data.
● Recently, the use of ________________ in research has caused much concern and
debate. Researchers have attempted to balance the
__________________________________ with the need for
_________________________________________________________.