Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences - Softcover

Stangor, Charles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0840031971 ISBN 13: 9780840031976

Publisher: Cengage Learning, 1980

Synopsis

This book offers comprehensive coverage of both experimental and non-experimental methods. The author provides succinct explanations for a full range of methods, including descriptive, correlational, experimental, and quasi-experimental research designs. Practical tips and applications integrated throughout the book allow users to make real-world connections that encourage them to master the material.

About this title

Review

1. Introduction to Research. Behavioral Research. Everyday Science Versus Empirical Research. Relying on Our Intuition. Discovering the Limitations of Using Intuition. The Scientific Method. Values Versus Facts in Scientific Research. Basic and Applied Research. The Importance of Studying Research Methods. Evaluating Research Reports. Conducting Research. Thinking Critically About Research. Research Designs: Three Approaches to Studying Behavior. Descriptive Research: Assessing the Current State of Affairs. Correlational Research: Seeking Relationships Among Variables. Experimental Research: Understanding the Causes of Behavior. The Selection of an Appropriate Method. Current Research in The Behavioral Sciences: Preferences For Brands That Contain The Letters Of Our Own Name. 2. Developing the Research Hypothesis. Getting Ideas. Solving Important Real-World Problems. Using Observation and Intuition. Using Existing Research. Doing a Literature Search. Locating Sources of Information. Conducting the Search. Formalizing Ideas into Research Hypotheses. Laws. Theories. The Research Hypothesis. 3. Ethics in Research. What Is Ethical Research? Protecting Research Participants from Physical and Psychological Harm. Types of Threats. The Potential for Lasting Impact. Providing Freedom of Choice. Conducting Research Outside the Laboratory. Securing Informed Consent. Weighing Informed Consent Versus the Research Goals. Maintaining Awareness of Power Differentials. Avoiding Abuses of Power. Respecting Participants' Privacy. Honestly Describing the Nature and Use of the Research. When Deception Is Necessary. Simulation Studies: An Alternative to Deception. The Consequences of Deception. Debriefing. Using Animals as Research Participants. Ensuring that Research Is Ethical. The Institutional Review Board. The Researcher's Own Ethics. Correctly and Honestly Reporting Research Results. PART II: MEASURING AND DESCRIBING. 4. Measures. Fundamentals of Measurement. Operational Definition. Converging Operations. Conceptual and Measured Variables. Nominal and Quantitative Variables. Measurement Scales. Self-Report Measures. Free-Format Self-Report Measures. Fixed-Format Self-Report Measures. Reactivity as a Limitation in Self-Report Measures. Behavioral Measures. Nonreactive Measures. Psychophysiological Measures. Choosing a Measure. Current Research in The Behavioral Sciences: The Hillyer-Jones Kinematics Scale Of Locomotion In Rats With Spinal Injuries. 5. Reliability and Validity. Random and Systematic Error. Reliability. Test-Retest Reliability. Reliability as Internal Consistency. Interrater Reliability. Construct Validity. Face Validity. Content Validity. Convergent and Discriminant Validity. Criterion Validity. Improving the Reliability and Validity of Measured Variables. Comparing Reliability and Validity. Current Research in The Behavioral Sciences: Using Multiple Measured Variables To Assess The Conceptual Variable Of Panic Symptoms. 6. Surveys and Sampling. Surveys. Interviews. Questionnaires. Use of Existing Survey Data. Sampling and Generalization. Definition of the Population. Probability Sampling. Sampling Bias and Nonprobability Sampling. Summarizing the Sample Data. Frequency Distributions. Descriptive Statistics. Sample Size and the Margin of Error. Current Research in The Behavioral Sciences: Assessing Americans' Attitudes Toward Healthcare. 7. Naturalistic Methods. Naturalistic Research. Observational Research. The Unacknowledged Participant. The Acknowledged Participant. Acknowledged and Unacknowledged Observers. Case Studies. Systematic Coding Methods. Deciding What to Observe. Deciding How to Record Observations. Choosing Sampling Strategies. Archival Research. Current Research in the Behavioral Sciences: Detecting Psychopathy From Thin Slices of Behavior. PART III: TESTING RESEARCH HYPOTHESES. 8. Hypothesis Testing and Inferential Statistics. Probability and Inferential Statistics. Sampling Distributions and Hypothesis Testing. The Null Hypothesis. Testing for Statistical Significance. Reduction of Inferential Errors. Type 1 Errors. Type 2 Errors. Statistical Power. The Tradeoff Between Type 1 and Type 2 Errors. Statistical Significance and the Effect Size. Practical Uses of the Effect Size Statistic. 9. Correlational Research Designs. Associations Among Quantitative Variables. Linear Relationships. Nonlinear Relationships. Statistical Assessment of Relationships. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient. The Chi-Square Statistic. Multiple Regression. Correlation and Causality. Interpreting Correlations. Using Correlational Data to Test Causal Models. When Correlational Designs Are Appropriate. Current Research In The Behavioral Sciences: Moral Conviction, Religiosity, and Trust in Authority. 10. Experimental Research: One-Way Designs. Demonstration of Causality. Association. Temporal Priority. Control of Common-Causal Variables. One-Way Experimental Designs. The Experimental Manipulation. Selection of the Dependent Variable. Variety and Number of Levels. Analysis of Variance. Hypothesis Testing in Experimental Designs. Between-Groups and Within-Groups Variance Estimates. The ANOVA Summary Table. Repeated-Measures Designs. Advantages of Repeated-Measures Designs. Disadvantages of Repeated-Measures Designs. When to Use a Repeated-Measures Design. Presentation of Experiment Results. When Experiments Are Appropriate. Current Research In The Behavioral Sciences: Does Social Exclusion "Hurt?" PART IV: DESIGNING AND INTERPRETING RESEARCH. 11. Experimental Research: Factorial Designs. Factorial Experimental Designs. The Two-Way Design. Main Effects. Interactions and Simple Effects. The ANOVA Summary Table. Understanding Interactions. Patterns of Observed Means. Interpretation of Main Effects When Interactions Are Present. More Factorial Designs. The Three-Way Design. Factorial Designs Using Repeated Measures. Comparison of the Condition Means in Experimental Designs. Pairwise Comparisons. Complex Comparisons. Current Research in the Behavioral Sciences: Post-decisional Dissonance Reduction in Canadian and Japanese Samples. 12. Experimental Control and Internal Validity. Threats to the Validity of Research. Experimental Control. Extraneous Variables. Confounding Variables. Control of Extraneous Variables. Limited-Population Designs. Before-After Designs. Matched-Group Designs. Standardization of Conditions. Creation of Valid Manipulations. Impact and Experimental Realism. Manipulation Checks. Confound Checks. How to Turn Confounding Variables into Factors. Pilot Testing. Threats to Internal Validity. Placebo Effects. Demand Characteristics. Experimenter Bias. Random Assignment Artifacts. Current Research in the Behavioral Sciences: Testing the "Romantic Red" Hypothesis. 13. External Validity. Understanding External Validity. Generalization. Generalization Across Participants. Generalization Across Settings. Replications. Exact Replications. Conceptual Replications. Constructive Replications. Participant Replications. Summarizing and Integrating Research Results. Research Programs. Review Papers. Meta-Analysis. Interpretation of Research Literatures. Current Research in The Behavioral Sciences: A Meta-Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Contemporary Treatment Approaches For Withdrawal From Tranquilizer Addictions. 14. Quasi-Experimental Research Designs. Program Evaluation Research. Quasi-Experimental Designs. Single-Group Design. Comparison-Group Design. Single-Group Before-After Design. Comparison-Group Before-After Design. Regression to the Mean as a Threat to Internal Validity. Time-Series Designs. Participant-Variable Designs. Demographic Variables. Personality Variables. Interpretational Difficulties. Single-Participant Designs. Current Research in the Behavioral Sciences: Damage to the Hippocampus Abolishes the Cortisol Response to Psychosocial Stress in Humans. APPENDIX A: REPORTING RESEARCH RESULTS. Communication of Scientific Knowledge. Face-to-Face Contact. Publication in Scientific Journals. The Research Report. Headings in APA Format. Title Page. Abstract. Introduction. Method. Results. Discussion. References. Footnotes and Author Notes. Tables and Figures. Tips on Writing the Research Report. Sample Research Report. APPENDIX B: DATA PREPARATION AND UNIVARIATE STATISTICS. Preparing Data for Analysis. Collecting the Data. Analyzing the Data. Entering the Data into the Computer. Checking and Cleaning the Data. Dealing with Missing Data. Deleting and Retaining Data. Transforming the Data. Conducting Statistical Analysis. Descriptive Statistics, Parameters, and Inferential Statistics. Statistical Notation. Computing Descriptive Statistics. Frequency Distributions. Measures of Central Tendency. Measures of Dispersion. Computer Output. Standard Scores. The Standard Normal Distribution. Working with Inferential Statistics. Unbiased Estimators. The Central Limit Theorem. The Standard Error. Confidence Intervals. APPENDIX C: BIVARIATE STATISTICS. The Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Calculating r. Obtaining the p-value. Contingency Tables. The Chi-Square Test for Independence. Kappa. Bivariate Regression. The Regression Equation. The Regression Line. Partitioning of the Sum of Squares. One-Way Analysis of Variance. Computation of a One-Way Between-Participants ANOVA. APPENDIX D: MULTIVARIATE STATISTICS Multiple Regression. Regression Coefficients. The Multiple Correlation Coefficient(R). Hierarchical and Stepwise Analyses. Multiple Regression and ANOVA. Loglinear Analysis. Means Comparisons. A Priori Contrast Analysis. Post Hoc Means Comparisons. Multivariate Statistics. Coefficient Alpha. Exploratory Factor Analysis. Canonical Correlation and MANOVA. Structural Equation Analysis. How to Choose the Appropriate Statistical Test. APPENDIX E: STATISTICAL TABLES. Statistical Table A: Random Numbers. Selecting a Random Sample. Selecting Orders for Random Assignment Conditions. Statistical Table B: Distribution of z in the Standard Normal Distribution. Statistical Table C: Critical Values of t. Statistical Table D: Critical Values of r. Statistical Table E: Critical Values of Chi Square. Statistical Table F: Critical Values of F. Statistical Table G: Statistical Power. APPENDIX F: USING COMPUTERS TO COLLECT DATA. Glossary. References. Index.

About the Author

Charles Stangor is professor of psychology in the social psychology area at the University of Maryland, and has also taught at the University of T?bingen in Germany. He received his B.A. from Beloit College in 1973, and his Ph.D. from New York University in 1986. Dr. Stangor's research interests concern the development of stereotypes and prejudice, and their influences upon individuals who are potential victims of discrimination. He is a charter fellow of the American Psychological Society, and currently serves as a member of the executive committee of the Society for Experimental Social Psychology.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cengage Learning
• Publication date: 1980
• ISBN 10: 0840031971
• ISBN 13: 9780840031976
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 4
• Number of pages: 442