August 28: Research Methods

In-Class Activities:

1) Neuron Note. You read responses from last class' questions and you asked new questions in regards to the reading.

2) We spent the entire class taking notes about different research techniques and working with our naturalistic observation data.

First, we brainstormed different human behaviors that make us curious. This is what research psychologists do, spend their days ask questions, using the scientific method to find answers to those questions, refining their questions, and doing more studies.

Then you shared with class where you observed.

We took notes over Description Research methods of surveys, naturalistic observation, interviews, case studies and all of pros and cons for using them.

You got back together with your naturalistic observation partner and you made a list of interesting behaviors you observed.

Then we took notes over Correlational Research or Non-Experimental Research and how it is used to find associations between variables. We discussed when and why it is used.

You got back together with your partner and developed hypotheses based on the interesting behaviors.

Then we took notes over Experimentation and analyzed the five basic parts of an experiment: Hypothesis, Independent Variable, Dependent Variable, Experimental Group, and Control Group. You heard about Theresa Amabile's experiment examining creativity and competitive rewards. We dissected her experiment into the five basic elements. We also discussed operational definitions, confounding variables, random assignment, lab vs. field experiments, and replication.

You got back together with your partner and tried to operationally define your hypotheses from your observation and determine a plan for trying to do more research on your prediction.

Assignments:

1) Read Chapter 1 pp. 41-47

2) Psych Sim on Descriptive Statistics and Correlation. Use the textbook's website and complete the two simulations. Then practice what you learned with this handout.