Research Methods in Psychology

Sandy MacRae, Helen Welford

ISBN 10: 0956392202 / ISBN 13: 9780956392206

Published by StatBasics 00/t /01 O

Shipped within 24 hours from our UK warehouse. Clean, undamaged book with no damage to pages and minimal wear to the cover. Spine still tight, in very good condition. Remember if you are not happy, you are covered by our 100% money back guarantee. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780956392206

Synopsis:

This friendly but authoritative text covers all the principles of scientific reasoning and data collection in psychology. It is enlivened by many cartoons relating to its topics and the style throughout is cheerful. It is ideal for GCSE psychology but has a firm concepual basis that makes it suitable for more advanced learners too. It has inset boxes with Self-assesment questions, "Something to try" and regular summaries. Contents: Chapter 1 - Asking answerable questions; Absolutes and relatives; Types of conclusion; Examples. Chapter 2 - What are models for? Laws of nature are models; Devising and testing models; Seeking data to contradict a model; Unfalsifiable models are weak. Chapter 3 - Measurement; Models to make calculation possible; Scales as measuring instruments; Nominal scales; Ordinal (rank-order) scales; Interval scales; Ratio scales; Absolute scales; What level of measurement have we achieved? Arguing from the normal curve; The importance of scale type. Chapter 4 - Observation, experiment or survey? Two words of warning; Ways to obtain data; Comparison of methods; Anecdotal evidence; Limits of experimentation; Surveys; Field and laboratory studies. Chapter 5 - Problems in all data collection; Objectivity; Reactivity; Placebos and placebo groups; Control groups; Blind and double-blind trials; Sampling; Biased samples; Minimizing bias; Quota samples; Random samples; What can be done if a sample is biased? Chapter 6 - Identifying causes; Confounded variables; Independent, dependent and nuisance variables; Measuring subjective attributes; Minimizing order effects; Chance as a possible explanation; The null hypothesis; Designing good studies. Glossary. Answers to self-assessment questions.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Research Methods in Psychology
Publisher: StatBasics 00/t /01 O
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Very Good