Unit 2-Research and Methods

AP Psychology College Board Learning Objectives

• Differentiate types of research (e.g., experiments, correlational studies, survey research, naturalistic observations, and case studies) with regard to purpose, strengths, and weaknesses.
• Describe how research design drives the reasonable conclusions that can be drawn (e.g., experiments are useful for determining cause and effect; the use of experimental controls reduces alternative explanations).
• Identify independent, dependent, confounding, and control variables in experimental designs.
• Distinguish between random assignment of participants to conditions in experiments and random selection of participants, primarily in correlational studies and surveys.
• Predict the validity of behavioral explanations based on the quality of research design (e.g., confounding variables limit confidence in research conclusions).
• Distinguish the purposes of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.
• Apply basic descriptive statistical concepts, including interpreting and constructing graphs and calculating simple descriptive statistics (e.g., measures of central tendency, standard deviation).
• Discuss the value of reliance on operational definitions and measurement in behavioral research.
• Identify how ethical issues inform and constrain research practices.
• Describe how ethical and legal guidelines (e.g., those provided by the American Psychological Association, federal regulations, local institutional review boards) protect research participants and promote sound ethical practice.

Unit Study Guide Based on APA National Standards

Use these standards as a checklist to make sure you've mastered this unit.

• Research methods and measurements used to study behavior and mental processes
  • 1.1 Describe the scientific method and its role in psychology.
  • 1.2 Describe and compare a variety of quantitative (e.g., surveys, correlations, experiments) and qualitative (e.g., interviews, narratives, focus groups) research methods.
  • 1.3 Define systematic procedures used to improve the validity of research findings, such as external validity.
  • 1.4 Discuss how and why psychologists use nonhuman animals in research.
• Ethical issues in research with human and non-human animals
  • 2.1 Identify ethical standards psychologists must address regarding research with human participants.
  • 2.2 Identify ethical guidelines psychologists must address regarding research with nonhuman animals.
• Basic concepts of data analysis
  • 3.1 Define descriptive statistics and explain how they are used by psychological scientists.
  • 3.2 Define forms of qualitative data and explain how they are used by psychological scientists.
  • 3.3 Define correlation coefficients and explain they're appropriate interpretation.
  • 3.4 Interpret graphical representations of data as used in both quantitative and qualitative methods.
  • 3.5 Explain other statistical concepts, such as statistical significance and effect size.
  • 3.6 Explain how validity and reliability of observations and measurements relate to data analysis.