TOPIC 2: THE RESEARCH ENTERPRISE IN PSYCHOLOGY

Specific objectives
By the end of this topic, the learners should be able to:
• Describe the important characteristics of the scientific approach and explain how it promotes
critical thinking.
• Demonstrate the limits of everyday intuition and common sense.
• To describe how psychologists use three basic research methods: description; correlation and
experimentation.
• Explain how psychologists use statistics in research.
• Answer some of the commonly asked questions in psychology.

Introduction
Psychology is a science because psychologists rely on formal, systematic observation to explain
behavior (they rely on research to explain behavior).
This helps to avoid incidences like: hindsight bias and overconfidence among others.
Hindsight bias is also known as I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon.
It is the tendency to perceive an outcome that has already occurred as being obvious and pre-
dictable. Hindsight bias often leads us to perceive scientific research results as merely common
sense. However, research has found out that mostly events are far less obvious and predictable
beforehand than in hindsight bias.

Overconfidence is the tendency to think we know more about an issue than we actually do and
to overestimate the accuracy of that information.
It limits our everyday thinking and contaminates our everyday judgment. e.g. students’ predic-
tions of their future behaviors and experts’ prediction of political outcomes.

To achieve their goals, psychologists use:

(a). Theory-Is an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts ob-
servable behaviors/ or is a system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations.

(b). Hypothesis-These are testable predictions that allow a scientist to evaluate a theory or a ten-
tative statement about the relationship between two or more variables.

©. Variables-are any measurable conditions, events, characteristics, or behavior that are con-
trolled or observed in a study (Weiten, 2004)

(d). Operational definitions-Is defining the scientific concepts by stating the specific actions or
procedures used to measure it e.g. ‘hunger’ can be defined as ‘the number of hours of food depri-
vation’.
Such definitions prevent ambiguity by providing an exactness of meaning that allows other sci-
entists to replicate (repeat) the study.
The scientific attitude
The scientific attitude encourages critical thinking in that it reflects a hard-headed curiosity to
explore and understand the world without being fooled by it or fooling it.
Like other scientists, psychologists have to skeptically scrutinize competing claims and this re-
quires humility.
Exercising humility is important because it may mean we may have to reject our own ideas and
adopt the new claims.
The scientific altitude (using the scientific principles) and humility help us to separate sense from
nonsense.
This (critical thinking) gets into the psychologists’ everyday life in which we examine assump-
tions, discern hidden values, evaluate evidence and assess conclusions.

Research strategies: How do psychologists collect information?

The following are some of the strategies used by psychologists:
1. Descriptive strategies
2. Correlation
3. Experiment

Descriptive strategies
They describe behavior
They include naturalistic observation, case study and survey

Naturalistic observation
Involves observing and recording behavior of organisms (animals or people) in their natural set-
ting. The researcher engages in careful observation of behavior without interfering directly with
the subjects. Much information is obtained; hypotheses and questions for additional research are
formed.

Exercise:
What would be the natural setting for if the psychologist wants to study:
- Class two pupils;
- Behavior of children and parents;
- How the older monkeys relate with the young ones considering different aspects of life.

Limitations
Does the presence of human observers in an animal colony affect the subjects’ behavior?

Yes it does and this is one of the major limitations of this method. That behavior of the subject
may be altered by the presence of the observer. There is little or no control can be exercised. Ob-
servations may be biased (observer bias)-that observers see what they expect to see or record
only selected details. Causes of behavior not conclusively identified.(does not establish cause-
and effect relationship)

Case study
Is an in-depth investigation of an individual subject.
In this strategy, psychologists study one /or at times just a few individuals into great depth in the
hope of revealing things (behaviors) true of all of us.
E.g. studying the behavior of one or few human beings and applying to all
Example Jean Piaget studied a few children to come with how human beings develop cogni-
tively.

Limitations
Such results sometimes can be misleading and lead to mistaken judgment and false conclusions

Survey method
Sometimes psychologists would wish to ask everyone in the world a few well chosen questions
to be able to understand a certain behavior of the people!

But is it possible? NO
So what can they do in such a case?

Answer- uses a representative sample.

A representative sample is a small group of subjects that accurately reflects a larger population.
It is in such a way that every one in the entire group has an equal chance of participating. It can
be used at such times like when the researcher is drawing his subjects from wider areas (popula-
tion) like in the case of survey.

Exercise:
What would be the composition of the sample to be said to be representative enough in
carrying out a survey on:
• The attitude of university students in Kenya towards on- campus boarding
• The impact of chapel attendance and ministry on Africa Nazarene university students.

Although we are interested with the entire population, a representative sample enables us to draw
conclusions about the larger group without having to bring in every subject in the population (a
population is the entire group of subjects belonging to a certain category e.g. the entire college
student’s population).
The representative sample is often obtained by randomly selecting who will be included.
The subjects are given well structured questionnaires to report their own behaviors and opinion.
Surveys allow information about large numbers of people to be gathered. Survey can address
questions not answered by other approaches

Some of the limitations include:

• At times it’s difficult to obtain a sample which is representative enough.
• The answers from the subjects may be inaccurate
• People may not do what they say or say what they do (people asked to report their own be-
havior or opinions)
• Since it deals with large groups they don’t study them to great depths like in the case of case
study.
Correlation
Correlation study finds the degree of relationship between two existing traits, behaviors or
events. E.g. anxiety and test performance; ice-cream consumption and temperature; coffee con-
sumption and temperature.
The researcher finds out if there if any relationship and if any, how they are related.
The strength and direction of correlation is summarized by calculating a correlation coefficient(r)
which ranges from +1 to -1. Therefore correlation can be said to be positive or negative and at
times the variables show no correlation at all. Positive correlation occurs where increase in one
variable result to an increase in the other variable or even a decrease in one variable result into a
decrease in the other variable.
A negative correlation occurs where an increase in one variable results to decrease in the other
variable (are inversely related).
Correlation helps us discover relationships; make predictions; and can be used in laboratories,
clinics and natural settings.

Limitations of correlation strategy

• Little or no control is possible
• Relationships may be coincidental
• Cause-and-effect relationships cannot be confirmed

Experiment
Is one of the most powerful research tool. In experiment, the researcher manipulates one variable
and then observes the effects of that manipulation on another variable. The variable manipulated
is called the independent variable (IV) while the one observed is called the dependent variable
(DV) - because it is affected by/ depends on the independent variable. Experiment helps to deter-
mine whether cause-and-effect relationships exist. In experiment the subjects of the representa-
tive sample of the population are mainly divided into two equal groups.
In most cases the groups could be the same in all ways except for the exposure to treatment. The
experiment procedure involves varying the condition the researcher thinks may affect behavior,
then record whether varying the condition has any effect on behavior. The group that receives the
experiment treatment is called the experiment group. The group which receives no treatment is
called the control group.
A control group provides base lines against which to compare the performance of others.
The groups are randomly assigned, but every member in the group should have equal chance of
being chosen for study.

Exercise
If the research topic is: Effect of hunger on memory:
(i). Identify the IV
(ii). Identify the DV

Limitations
• In a sense may be artificial
• Some natural behaviors not easily studied in laboratories although field experiments can be
used.
Statistical reasoning

The gathered data can be organized by using graphs and charts e.g. Bar graphs
Bar graphs permit comparisons between different groups on the same quantitative dimension.
Reducing or expanding the range of the measure can make differences between groups appear
smaller or large/the researcher can design the graphs to make a difference look big or smaller de-
pending on what he wants to emphasizes

In summarizing the data collected, measures of central tendency are used.

There are three measures of central tendency commonly used: they include mode, mean and me-
dian.
Mode is the most frequently occurring score in the distribution.
It is the simplest measure.
Mean is the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing
by the number of the scores.
It is easily affected by extreme scores in a distribution.
Median is the middle score in a distribution when scores are arranged in descending or ascend-
ing order; half the scores are above it and half are below it.
It is also important to know the variation in a data/how similar or diverse the scores are, therefore
measures of variation are used. They include range and standard deviation.
Range of scores- is the gap (difference) between the lowest and highest score. It provides only a
rough estimate of variation.
Standard deviation-is the measure of how scores deviate from one another. Is calculated by ob-
taining how each score deviates from the mean. It better gauges whether scores are packed to-
gether or dispersed, because it uses information from each score.

Think about, ponder the following frequently asked questions in psychology

a) Can laboratory experiments illustrate everyday life?
b) Does behavior depend on one’s culture?
c) Does behavior vary with Gender?
d) Why do psychologists study animals? Is it ethical?
e) Is it ethical to experiment on people?
f) Is psychology free of value judgment?
Psychologists’ values can influence their choice for research topics, their theories and observa-
tions, their levels of behavior, and their professional advice.

Is psychology potentially dangerous?

Knowledge is power that can be used for good or evil. Application of psychology’s principles
has so far been mostly for the good, and psychology addresses some of humanity’s greatest prob-
lems and deepest longings.

Frequently Asked Questions about Psychology

The issue of:
Can laboratory experiments illustrate everyday life?
It spells a concern when labs are used to learn principles of behavior because this does not allow
the realty to be observed.
It also simplifies the reality in that; important features are simulated and controlled.
In this, the investigators purpose is not to recreate the behaviors of everyday life but to test theo-
retical principles/ the general principle that help explain many behaviors.

Does behavior depend on one’s culture?

Culture is the ideas and behaviors shared by a large group of people and passes from one gener-
ation to the next.
Culture shapes our behavior; therefore our cultural experiences affect how we behave.
Although specific attitudes and behavior vary across cultures, the underlying processes are much
the same due to our biological heritage.
That is why studies done in one specific culture can be used to describe people in general even of
other cultures.

Does behavior vary with Gender?

Gender is important to our identity. Though gender issues permeate psychology, we do not have
male psychology and female psychology. This is because both men and women, we have greater
similarities both psychologically and biologically speaking.

Why do psychologists study animals? Is it ethical?

Some psychologists study animals out of an interest in animal behaviors. Others do so because
knowledge of the physiological and psychological processes of animals enables them to better
understand the similar processes that operate in humans.
Although animals rarely experience pain in psychological research, animal rights groups have
raised the important question of whether an animal’s temporary suffering is justified if it leads to
relief of human suffering.
Professional ethical standards urge investigators to obtain informed consent, protect subjects
from harm and discomfort, treat information about individuals confidentially, and fully explain
the research findings.

Is it ethical to experiment on people?

Sometimes researchers may stress or deceive the subjects especially when they believe is justi-
fied e.g. carrying a research on understanding and controlling a violent behavior. They believe
that such experiments would not work if the subjects knew everything about the experiment be-
fore hand.
Ethical principles developed by American Psychological Association (1992) and British Psycho-
logical Society (1993) requires researcher: To obtain the informed consent of potential partici-
pant; to protect them from harm and discomfort; to treat information about individual partici-
pants confidentially; and to fully explain the research afterwards.

Is psychology free of value judgment?

Psychologists’ values can influence their choice for research topics, their theories and observa-
tions, their levels of behavior, and their professional advice.
Is psychology potentially dangerous?
Knowledge is power that can be used for good or evil. Application of psychology’s principles
has so far been mostly for the good, and psychology addresses some of humanity’s greatest prob-
lems and deepest longings.

Exercise
1. Could any of these questions have been one of your concerns?
2. Do you have any other questions /concerns about psychology? List them.

Summary
In this topic, we have discussed:
1. What hinders sound research findings
2. The scientific attitude.
3. Three research strategies: descriptive, correlation and experiment.
4. Statistical reasoning: measures of central tendencies, and measures of variation.
5. Questions frequently asked about psychology.

Sources
Myers, D. G. (2001). Psychology ( 6th ed). Michigan: Worth Publishers.

Weiten, W. (2004). Psychology: Themes and Variations (6th ed.). Belmont, USA: Wadsworth/
Thomson Learning.