Republic of the Philippines

BATANGAS STATE UNIVERSITY JPLPC-Malvar

Malvar, Batangas
Tel. Nos.: (043) 778-2170/ (043) 406-0830 loc. 124
Website Address: http://www.batstate-u.edu.ph

Course Code PSY 315

Course Description Field Methods in Psychology
Week 3

MODULE 2: RESEARCH IDEAS AND HYPOTHESIS

Module Introduction
In this module, we discuss different ways to use background literature to find a new
research idea, and finally we outline the process of forming a hypothesis and turning an idea into
a specific plan for a new research study. The goal for this module is to make you familiar with
the process of finding ideas for research and to provide you with the skills to make initial plans
for your own research study.

Intended Learning Objectives

At the end of the lesson, the student should be able to:
1. Identify possible sources and use them to identify a topic area for research.
2. Explain the process of conducting a literature search.
3. Describe the characteristics of a good hypothesis and identify examples of good and bad
hypotheses.

Module Content
2.1 GETTING STARTED: IDENTIFYING A TOPIC AREA

The first step in the research process is to find an idea for a research study. That first step
actually consists of two distinct parts. First, you need to identify a general topic area that is
interesting to you. Second, you must explore previous research in that topic area to find a
specific research idea or question. Therefore, the product of the first part is to come up with a list
of words or phrases. In the second part, the previous research in that topic area is examined in a
way to identify not only what we know in that area but also to identify what research questions
still remain.

Common Sources of Research Topics

A. Personal Interests and Curiosities
Feel free to look for research topics based on your own interests and concerns. What
interests you? What makes you curious? One way to find out is to think about the courses you
have taken. Which courses were your favorites? Within courses, what were your favorite units or
classes? Think about the people and behaviors that interest you. Think about the issues that
concern you.

B. Casual Observation
Watching the behavior of people or animals you encounter daily can be an excellent
source of topics. If you simply watch, you will see people getting angry, laughing at jokes, lying,

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insulting each other, forming friendships and relationships, eating, sleeping, learning, and
forgetting. In addition, you can monitor your own behavior, attitudes, and emotions. Any
behavior that attracts your attention and arouses your curiosity can become a good research
topic.

C. Reports of Others’ Observations

The reports of observations made by other people are another good source of research
ideas. These can include informal sources, such as news reports of current events, reports of
recent research results, or even topics introduced in novels and television programs. Research
topics do not come exclusively from serious reports. Gossip columns, personal ads, comics,
political cartoons, and advertising can stimulate research questions. Keep in mind the fact that
published information, especially in nonscientific sources, is not necessarily true and does not
always tell the whole story.

D. Practical Problems or Questions

Occasionally, topics for research will arise from practical problems or questions you
encounter in your daily life, such as issues from your job, your family relationships, your
schoolwork, or elsewhere in the world around you. For example, you may want to develop a
more efficient set of study habits. Should you concentrate your study time in the morning, in the
afternoon, or at night? Should you spend a 2-hour block of study time working exclusively on
one subject, or should you distribute your time so that each of five different courses gets some
attention? Or suppose that you want to simplify the audio controls in your car. What is the best
placement of buttons and dials to minimize distraction while driving? Any of these problems
could be developed into a research study.
Research that is directed toward solving practical problems is often classified as applied
research; in contrast, studies that are intended to solve theoretical issues are classified as basic
research.

E. Behavioral Theories
Watch for theories that offer explanations for behavior or try to explain why different
environmental factors lead to different behaviors. In addition to explaining previous research
results, a good theory usually predicts behavior in new situations. Can you think of a way to test
the explanations or evaluate the predictions from a theory? Look closely at the different variables
that are part of the theory (the factors that cause behavior to change), and ask yourself what
might happen if one or more of those variables were manipulated or isolated from the others.
Testing the predictions that are part of a theory can be a good topic area for research.
Occasionally, you will encounter two different theories that attempt to explain the same
behavior. When two opposing theories make different predictions, you have found a good
opportunity for research.

2.2 SEARCHING THE EXISTING RESEARCH LITERATURE IN A TOPIC AREA

There are hundreds of research journals and thousands of books devoted just to the field
of psychology and thousands more for the rest of the behavioral sciences. This mass of
published information is referred to as the literature. Your job is to search the literature to find a
handful of items that are directly relevant to your research idea. This may, at first, appear to be
an overwhelming task; fortunately, however, the literature is filled with useful aids to guide your
search. Specifically, all the individual publications are interconnected by cross-referencing, and
there are many summary guides providing overviews that can send you directly to specific topic
areas. By following the guides and tracing the interconnections, it is possible to conduct a
successful literature search without undue pain and suffering.

Primary and Secondary Sources

Individual items in the literature can be classified into two broad categories: primary
sources and secondary sources.
 A primary source is a firsthand report in which the authors describe their own
observations. Typically, a primary source is a research report, published in a scientific

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 journal or periodical, in which the authors describe their own research study, including
why the research was done, how the study was conducted, what results were found, and
how those results were interpreted. Some examples of primary sources include (1)
empirical journal articles, (2) theses and dissertations, and (3) conference presentations of
research results. In contrast, a secondary source is a secondhand report in which the
authors discuss someone else’s observations.
 Some examples of secondary sources are (1) books and textbooks in which the author
describes and summarizes past research, (2) review articles or meta-analyses, (3) the
introductory section of research reports, in which previous research is presented as a
foundation for the current study, and (4) newspaper and magazine articles that report on
previous research.

The Purpose of a Literature Search

Throughout the process, remember that a literature search has two basic goals: (1) to gain
a general familiarity with the current research in your specific area of interest, and (2) to find a
small set of research studies that will serve as the basis for your own research idea.
Ultimately, your goal in conducting a literature search is to find a set of published
research reports that define the current state of knowledge in an area and to identify an
unanswered question—that is, a gap in that knowledge base—that your study will attempt to fill.
Eventually, you will complete your research study and write your own research report. The
research report begins with an introduction that summarizes past research (from your literature
search) and provides a logical justification for your study.
Thus, the purpose of your literature review is to provide the elements needed for an
introduction to your own research study. Specifically, you need to find a set of research articles
that can be organized into a logical argument supporting and justifying the research you propose
to do.

Conducting a Literature Search

Take notes of the following items, each of which can serve as an excellent starting point
when you begin to search for primary sources (empirical journal articles) relevant to your topic:
 Subject words: Make a list of the correct terms, or subject words, used to identify and
describe the variables in the study and the characteristics of the participants.
Researchers often develop a specific set of terms to describe a topic area, and it is much
easier to locate related research articles if you use the correct terms. Most databases have
a thesaurus or similar feature that will translate a common term such as foster homes into
the accepted term foster care.
 Author names: Commonly, a small group of individual researchers is responsible for
much of the work being done in a specific area. If you repeatedly encounter the same
names, make a note of these individuals as the current leading researchers in the area.

Using Online Databases

A typical database contains about 1 million publications, or records, that are all cross-
referenced by subject words and author names. Some databases are full text, which means that
each record is a complete, word-for-word copy of the original publication. Other databases
provide only a brief summary of each publication.
Because a full-text database requires more space to store each item, it often contains
fewer items than other databases. As a result, a database that is not full text tends to provide
more complete coverage of a topic area and, therefore, increases the likelihood that you will find
publications related to your research topic. If you are still having trouble finding relevant
publications, it may be wise to change to a different database in a related area.

Screening Articles during a Literature Search

Here are some suggestions to help make the selection/weeding process more efficient:
1. Use the title of the article as your first basis for screening. Based only on the titles, you
probably can discard about 90% of the articles as not directly relevant or interesting.

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 2. Use the abstract of the article as your second screening device. If the title sounds
interesting, read the abstract to determine whether the article itself is really relevant.
Many of the articles that seemed interesting (from the title) get thrown out at this stage.
3. If you are still interested after looking at the title and the abstract, look for a full-text
version of the article, or request an interlibrary loan if full text is not available on your
library’s system. Once you find the article, first skim it, looking specifically at the
introductory paragraphs and the discussion section.
4. If it still looks relevant, then read the article carefully and/or make a copy for your
personal use.
5. Use the references from the articles that you have already found to expand your literature
search. Although the list of references will contain “old” research studies published years
earlier, they may introduce new author names or subject words for your search.

Ending a Literature Search

Theoretically, you should continue a literature search until you reach a point at which you
no longer find any new items. Realistically, however, you must decide when to call off the
search. At some point, you will realize you are not uncovering new leads and that you should
proceed with the items you have found. Throughout the process, keep in mind that the purpose of
a literature search is to gain a general familiarity with the current research in your specific area
of interest and find a small set of research studies that will serve as the basis for your own
research idea. When you feel comfortable with your knowledge about the topic area and have
found a few recent research studies that are particularly relevant to your own interests, then you
have completed a successful search.

2.3 USING A RESEARCH IDEA TO FORM A HYPOTHESIS AND CREATE A

RESEARCH STUDY

Characteristics of a Good Hypothesis

Although you will need to make additional decisions about the details of the study, the
basic framework is established in the statement of the hypothesis. Therefore, it is essential that
you develop a good hypothesis. The following four elements are considered to be important
characteristics of a good hypothesis.
A. Logical
A good hypothesis is usually founded in established theories or developed from the
results of previous research. Specifically, a good hypothesis should be the logical conclusion of a
logical argument.

B. Testable
In addition to being logical, a good hypothesis must be testable; that is, it must be
possible to observe and measure all of the variables involved. In particular, the hypothesis must
involve real situations, real events, and real individuals. You cannot test a hypothesis that refers
to imaginary events or hypothetical situations.

C. Refutable
One characteristic of a testable hypothesis is that it must be refutable; that is, it must be
possible to obtain research results that are contrary to the hypothesis. For example, if the
hypothesis states that the treatment will cause an increase in scores, it must be possible for the
data to show no increase. A refutable hypothesis, often called a falsifiable hypothesis, is a critical
component of the research process. Remember, the scientific method requires an objective and
public demonstration. A non-refutable hypothesis, one that cannot be demonstrated to be false, is
inappropriate for the scientific method.

D. Positive
A final characteristic of a testable hypothesis is that it must make a positive statement
about the existence of something, usually the existence of a relationship, the existence of a
difference, or the existence of a treatment effect.

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Using a Hypothesis to Create a Research Study
The next steps in the research process will transform the general hypothesis into a
specific research study. Step 3 specifies how the variables will be defined and measured and Step
4 identifies the individuals who will participate in the study, describes how they will be selected,
and provides for their ethical treatment. As a result, the hypothesis is converted into a specific
research predication that can be verified or refuted by direct observation.
Note that each research study applies the hypothesis to a concrete situation that can be
observed. In general, there are many different ways to convert a hypothesis into a specific
research study. The method you select depends on a variety of factors, including the set of
individuals you want to study and the measurement techniques that are available. However, each
of the many possible research studies should provide a direct test of the basic hypothesis.
As a final note, the fact that several different research studies can be created from the
same general hypothesis gives you one more technique for creating a new research study.

End of Module Assessment

Online Activities/Assignments – These are integral part of the course. This may come in
various tasks such as group work, individual activity, research work, extended reading and the
like. This will provide opportunities for the students to transfer the concepts they have learned in
class to a more concrete situation and to equally participate in class discussion.

Learning Reference

Gravetter, F.J. & Forzano, L.B. (2018). Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences, (6th Ed.).
Boston, MA, USA: Cengage.

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