1 - The Research Process

Psychologists use the scientific method to conduct research. The Scientific Method is a standardized way of making observations, gathering data, forming theories, testing predictions, and interpreting results.

When planning research we use the Research Process to describe the different stages a psychologist will take, in order, to make sure their investigation is as scientific as it can be!

TLDR: The more scientific the approach, the more reliable the results!

Psst! We use an 8 step process but you might see variations with more or less steps. THIS IS THE ONE WE USE!

ACTIVITY...

REMEMBER! We need to be able to describe the stages of the research process. Take a blank piece of paper (or slide) and draw the research process above. Make sure to leave space between or around each of the boxes so that you can describe and explain what a psychologist does at each stage

1 - CHOOSE A TOPIC

Choosing on a topic or area is the first step of the research process… you need to decide what it is you want to study, even if you don't specifically know what you're looking for yet. Research areas are nearly inexhaustible but could include topics such as sleep & dreams, conformity & obedience, prejudice, personality, aggression, mental health, etc, etc!

At this stage the psychologist might ask themselves "WHAT BEHAVIOUR DO I FIND INTERESTING?"

Review the literature is just a fancy way of saying ‘what’s the current thinking on this?’ or ‘what are the main theories?’. Chances are that someone has already researched our topic so it makes sense to check what they did, how they did it, and what they found.

When we review the literature we look at past information and results (from previous studies) which in turn help us to a) get a background on the topic and b) figure out our own hypothesis or research questions which we will aim to answer

2 - REVIEW LITERATURE

Typically, a psychologist would look at journal articles and research papers, not blogs and wikipedia! However (and despite what other tutors may have told you) Wikipedia is an excellent 'starting point' for your background research. Also, the references section might give you some really good leads to follow up on.

3 - FORM A HYPOTHESIS

A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a precise, testable statement of what the researchers predict will be the outcome of the study.

This usually involves proposing a possible relationship between two variables: the independent variable (what the researcher changes) and the dependant variable (what the research measures).

At this stage, the psychologist considers "Based on my literature review, what relationship do I expect to see between my variables?"

Understanding what a variable is and how to form a hypothesis can be tricky business but it's really important you know this before moving on.

To help us create a hypothesis, we can use a couple of prompts.

A simple way to state your hypothesis is to say "There will be an effect of ______ on ______" where the first blank is your independent variable (the one that changes) and the second blank is your dependent variable (the one you measure)

Examples:

Aim: To investigate the effect of alcohol on memory

Hypothesis: There will be an effect of BLOOD ALCOHOL CONTENT (mmol/l) on NUMBER OF WORDS RECALLED IN MEMORY TEST

Aim: To investigate the effect of age on conformity

Hypothesis: There will be an effect of AGE (in years) on LEVEL OF CONFORMITY

*** The above hypotheses are what we call non-directional. They say there will be an effect but not which DIRECTION that effect will be in. For instance, in the first example, we might assume that memory should get worse the more alcohol someone has in their blood ***

A more difficult but far better way to state your hypothesis is using the “If…, then… , because…” format. Let's re-do the first example with this new format

Hypothesis: If BLOOD ALCOHOLO CONTENT (mmol/l) increases then RECALL SCORES will fall because ALCOHOL IMPAIRS COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS

ACTIVITY

For the following 'Aims' , see if you can

a) say what the independent variable is (and suggest a unit of measurement IF APPROPRIATE)

b) state what the dependent variable is an suggest how this might be measured

c) create a hypothesis (make some non-directional and some directional)

AIM 1: To investigate the effect of age on self-confidence

AIM 2: To investigate the effect of sleep on memory

AIM 3: To investigate the effect of task difficulty on stress

Once you’ve established what your research question is and what variables you’re hoping to investigate, it’s time to design your study.

In this stage, the psychologist decides on all the practical elements of their study - how will they test their idea? What equipment is needed? Who will they recruit to take part and how? Have they made sure they aren't breaching any ethical guidelines

This can be one of the most time-consuming parts of the research process, including all of the following:

Choosing a methodology: Experimental, non-experimental or quasi-experimental
Choosing an appropriate design: Repeated measures, independent groups or matched participants
Controls, conditions
Sampling method
Ethical considerations
Equipment / materials needed

WE'LL LOOK AT SOME OF THESE IN DETAIL BUT IF YOU ARE GIVEN A Q ASKING YOU TO DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENS DURING A CERTAIN STAGE OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS YOU DON'T NEED TO GO INTO DETAIL. SIMPLY STATE WHAT CONSIDERATIONS A RESEARCHER HAS AT THE STAGE (NOT SPECIFICS)

4 - DESIGN STUDY

5 - COLLECT DATA

Woohoo, you’ve chosen a topic, reviewed the current thinking and designed a study… now you need to actually record your data in an appropriate format. In traditional experimental research, data collection is usually repeated multiple times to increase the validity of any findings.

It's an exciting time during a research project but the psychologist needs to constantly check they are following their procedure and recording data properly.

Data by itself is fairly meaningless… we have to conduct analysis on it to calculate measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) and distribution. It also helps to put your data in a format which makes sense ‘at a glance’ to observers and helps up decide whether or not our hypothesis is supported

At this point in the research process, the researcher has to consider "What statistical methods are appropriate for analysing my data?"

6 - EXAMINE DATA

7 - REACH A CONCLUSION

You’ve conducted your experiment, collected and analysed your data… what now? Numbers alone aren’t very helpful, arguably the most important part of the research process is being able to EXPLAIN what the data actually shows.

At this point, the researcher considers "What do my findings mean in behavioural terms?" and "How might the findings be applied in everyday life?" They relate the results of their data analysis back to their hypothesis and consider WHETHER THEIR HYPOTHESIS AND BACKGROUND RESEARCH HAS BEEN SUPPORTED OR NOT

Finally, the psychologist has to write up their research findings in a report. If you do higher psychology (exam route) next year, you'll have to do this!

The American Psychological Association (APA) has guidelines on what should go into a psychology report. This means that most journal articles all follow the same format making it easy to quickly find the information we need when reading it.

At this stage, the researcher needs to consider who to report the findings back to as well as discussing the implications of the research for further studies.

8 - REPORT FINDINGS

ACTIVITY

Complete 'Research Methods One - The Research Process' on Google Classroom to show your understanding of the research process in psychology.

Research Process

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