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Chapter 3. Psychological Science

three.1 Psychologists Use the Scientific Method to Guide Their Research

Learning Objectives

1. Depict the principles of the scientific method and explain its importance in conducting and interpreting inquiry.
2. Differentiate laws from theories and explain how enquiry hypotheses are developed and tested.
3. Discuss the procedures that researchers apply to ensure that their enquiry with humans and with animals is upstanding.

Psychologists aren't the only people who seek to sympathise human behaviour and solve social problems. Philosophers, religious leaders, and politicians, amidst others, also strive to provide explanations for human behaviour. Simply psychologists believe that research is the best tool for understanding man beings and their relationships with others. Rather than accepting the claim of a philosopher that people exercise (or do not) have free will, a psychologist would collect information to empirically test whether or not people are able to actively control their own behaviour. Rather than accepting a politician's contention that creating (or abandoning) a new centre for mental health volition better the lives of individuals in the inner urban center, a psychologist would empirically assess the furnishings of receiving mental wellness treatment on the quality of life of the recipients. The statements made by psychologists are empirical, which means they are based on systematic collection and analysis of data.

The Scientific Method

All scientists (whether they are physicists, chemists, biologists, sociologists, or psychologists) are engaged in the basic processes of collecting data and drawing conclusions well-nigh those data. The methods used by scientists have developed over many years and provide a mutual framework for developing, organizing, and sharing information. The scientific method is the set of assumptions, rules, and procedures scientists use to conduct research.

In addition to requiring that science be empirical, the scientific method demands that the procedures used be objective, or free from the personal bias or emotions of the scientist. The scientific method proscribes how scientists collect and clarify data, how they draw conclusions from data, and how they share data with others. These rules increase objectivity by placing data nether the scrutiny of other scientists and even the public at large. Considering information are reported objectively, other scientists know exactly how the scientist nerveless and analyzed the data. This ways that they do non have to rely only on the scientist's own interpretation of the data; they may depict their own, potentially different, conclusions.

Most new enquiry is designed to replicate — that is, to repeat, add to, or modify — previous inquiry findings. The scientific method therefore results in an accumulation of scientific knowledge through the reporting of research and the addition to and modification of these reported findings by other scientists.

Laws and Theories as Organizing Principles

One goal of inquiry is to organize information into meaningful statements that tin can exist applied in many situations. Principles that are so general every bit to apply to all situations in a given domain of inquiry are known as laws. In that location are well-known laws in the physical sciences, such as the law of gravity and the laws of thermodynamics, and there are some universally accepted laws in psychology, such equally the police force of effect and Weber's law. But because laws are very general principles and their validity has already been well established, they are themselves rarely directly subjected to scientific test.

The next footstep down from laws in the hierarchy of organizing principles is theory. A theory is an integrated set of principles that explains and predicts many, but not all, observed relationships within a given domain of enquiry. One example of an important theory in psychology is the stage theory of cognitive development proposed by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. The theory states that children laissez passer through a series of cognitive stages as they grow, each of which must be mastered in succession before movement to the next cognitive stage can occur. This is an extremely useful theory in human development considering it can be applied to many different content areas and tin exist tested in many different ways.

Practiced theories have 4 important characteristics. Start, good theories are general, significant they summarize many different outcomes. Second, they are parsimonious, meaning they provide the simplest possible business relationship of those outcomes. The phase theory of cognitive development meets both of these requirements. It can business relationship for developmental changes in behaviour across a broad variety of domains, and yet information technology does so parsimoniously — by hypothesizing a simple set of cognitive stages. Tertiary, good theories provide ideas for future research. The stage theory of cognitive development has been practical not merely to learning about cognitive skills, only likewise to the study of children's moral (Kohlberg, 1966) and gender (Ruble & Martin, 1998) development.

Finally, proficient theories are falsifiable (Popper, 1959), which means the variables of interest can be adequately measured and the relationships betwixt the variables that are predicted by the theory can be shown through research to be incorrect. The stage theory of cognitive development is falsifiable because the stages of cognitive reasoning tin can exist measured and considering if research discovers, for example, that children learn new tasks before they take reached the cerebral phase hypothesized to be required for that task, then the theory will be shown to be wrong.

No single theory is able to account for all behaviour in all cases. Rather, theories are each limited in that they make accurate predictions in some situations or for some people only not in other situations or for other people. As a result, there is a constant exchange betwixt theory and data: existing theories are modified on the basis of collected data, and the new modified theories then make new predictions that are tested by new information, and then along. When a amend theory is plant, it will supercede the former one. This is function of the accumulation of scientific cognition.

The Inquiry Hypothesis

Theories are normally framed also broadly to be tested in a unmarried experiment. Therefore, scientists use a more precise argument of the presumed relationship betwixt specific parts of a theory — a research hypothesis — as the ground for their research. A research hypothesis is a specific and falsifiable prediction about the relationship between or among two or more variables, where a variable is any attribute that tin can presume different values amid different people or across different times or places. The research hypothesis states the existence of a relationship between the variables of interest and the specific direction of that human relationship. For example, the research hypothesis "Using marijuana will reduce learning" predicts that there is a relationship between 1 variable, "using marijuana," and another variable called "learning." Similarly, in the research hypothesis "Participating in psychotherapy will reduce anxiety," the variables that are expected to exist related are "participating in psychotherapy" and "level of anxiety."

When stated in an abstract manner, the ideas that form the basis of a inquiry hypothesis are known every bit conceptual variables. Conceptual variables are abstract ideas that class the basis of research hypotheses. Sometimes the conceptual variables are rather simple — for instance, age, gender, or weight. In other cases the conceptual variables correspond more complex ideas, such as anxiety, cognitive evolution, learning, self-esteem, or sexism.

The first step in testing a research hypothesis involves turning the conceptual variables into measured variables, which are variables consisting of numbers that represent the conceptual variables. For case, the conceptual variable "participating in psychotherapy" could exist represented as the measured variable "number of psychotherapy hours the patient has accrued," and the conceptual variable "using marijuana" could be assessed by having the research participants rate, on a calibration from 1 to 10, how frequently they use marijuana or by administering a blood exam that measures the presence of the chemicals in marijuana.

Psychologists utilise the term operational definition to refer to a precise argument of how a conceptual variable is turned into a measured variable. The human relationship between conceptual and measured variables in a enquiry hypothesis is diagrammed in Effigy 3.1. The conceptual variables are represented in circles at the top of the figure (Psychotherapy and anxiety), and the measured variables are represented in squares at the bottom (number of hours the patient has spent in psychotherapy and feet concerns every bit reported by the patient). The ii vertical arrows, which pb from the conceptual variables to the measured variables, stand for the operational definitions of the 2 variables. The arrows indicate the expectation that changes in the conceptual variables (psychotherapy and anxiety) will cause changes in the corresponding measured variables (number of hours in psychotherapy and reported feet concernts). The measured variables are then used to draw inferences about the conceptual variables.

Figure 3.one. Research Hypothesis. In this enquiry hypothesis, the conceptual variable of attention psychotherapy is operationalized using the number of hours of psychotherapy the client has completed, and the conceptual variable of anxiety is operationalized using self-reported levels of anxiety. The inquiry hypothesis is that more psychotherapy will be related to less reported feet.

Tabular array three.1 lists some potential operational definitions of conceptual variables that accept been used in psychological enquiry. As y'all read through this list, note that in dissimilarity to the abstruse conceptual variables, the measured variables are very specific. This specificity is important for 2 reasons. First, more than specific definitions mean that there is less danger that the collected information will be misunderstood by others. Second, specific definitions volition enable future researchers to replicate the research.

Table 3.1 Examples of the Operational Definitions of Conceptual Variables that Have Been Used in Psychological Research

[Skip Table]
Conceptual variable	Operational definitions
Assailment	Number of presses of a button that administers shock to some other student Number of seconds taken to honk the horn at the car ahead after a stoplight turns green
Interpersonal attraction	Number of inches that an individual places his or her chair away from another person Number of millimeters of pupil dilation when one person looks at another
Employee satisfaction	Number of days per calendar month an employee shows up to work on time Rating of job satisfaction from ane (not at all satisfied) to 9 (extremely satisfied)
Decision-making skills	Number of groups able to correctly solve a group performance task Number of seconds in which a person solves a problem
Depression	Number of negative words used in a creative story Number of appointments made with a psychotherapist

Conducting Ethical Research

I of the questions that all scientists must address concerns the ethics of their research. Physicists are concerned about the potentially harmful outcomes of their experiments with nuclear materials. Biologists worry about the potential outcomes of creating genetically engineered human being babies. Medical researchers agonize over the ethics of withholding potentially beneficial drugs from control groups in clinical trials. Likewise, psychologists are continually because the ethics of their research.

Research in psychology may cause some stress, impairment, or inconvenience for the people who participate in that research. For example, researchers may require introductory psychology students to participate in research projects and then deceive these students, at least temporarily, nearly the nature of the research. Psychologists may induce stress, anxiety, or negative moods in their participants, expose them to weak electrical shocks, or convince them to behave in ways that violate their moral standards. And researchers may sometimes apply animals in their research, potentially harming them in the process.

Decisions about whether research is ethical are made using established ethical codes developed by scientific organizations, such every bit the Canadian Psychological Association, and federal governments. In Canada, the federal agencies, Health Canada, and the Canadian Institute for Health Inquiry provide the guidelines for ethical standards in research. Some research, such equally the research conducted by the Nazis on prisoners during World War II, is perceived as immoral by almost everyone. Other procedures, such as the use of animals in research testing the effectiveness of drugs, are more controversial.

Scientific research has provided information that has improved the lives of many people. Therefore, it is unreasonable to argue that because scientific research has costs, no research should be conducted. This argument fails to consider the fact that there are significant costs to non doing research and that these costs may be greater than the potential costs of conducting the enquiry (Rosenthal, 1994). In each example, before outset to bear the enquiry, scientists have attempted to decide the potential risks and benefits of the enquiry and have come to the determination that the potential benefits of conducting the inquiry outweigh the potential costs to the research participants.

Characteristics of an Ethical Enquiry Project Using Human Participants

• Trust and positive rapport are created between the researcher and the participant.
• The rights of both the experimenter and participant are considered, and the relationship between them is mutually benign.
• The experimenter treats the participant with concern and respect and attempts to make the inquiry experience a pleasant and informative ane.
• Before the research begins, the participant is given all information relevant to his or her decision to participate, including whatever possibilities of concrete danger or psychological stress.
• The participant is given a chance to have questions about the process answered, thus guaranteeing his or her gratuitous choice about participating.
• After the experiment is over, any charade that has been used is made public, and the necessity for it is explained.
• The experimenter carefully debriefs the participant, explaining the underlying research hypothesis and the purpose of the experimental process in item and answering any questions.
• The experimenter provides information nearly how he or she can be contacted and offers to provide data about the results of the research if the participant is interested in receiving it. (Stangor, 2011)

This listing presents some of the virtually important factors that psychologists take into consideration when designing their enquiry. The about straight upstanding concern of the scientist is to forbid harm to the inquiry participants. One example is the well-known enquiry of Stanley Milgram (1974) investigating obedience to dominance. In these studies, participants were induced by an experimenter to administer electric shocks to another person and then that Milgram could study the extent to which they would obey the demands of an authority figure. Nearly participants evidenced high levels of stress resulting from the psychological conflict they experienced between engaging in aggressive and unsafe behaviour and following the instructions of the experimenter. Studies such as those past Milgram are no longer conducted because the scientific community is now much more sensitized to the potential of such procedures to create emotional discomfort or impairment.

Another goal of upstanding research is to guarantee that participants take free option regarding whether they wish to participate in research. Students in psychology classes may exist allowed, or even required, to participate in research, simply they are also ever given an choice to choose a different study to be in, or to perform other activities instead. And once an experiment begins, the inquiry participant is always free to exit the experiment if he or she wishes to. Concerns with gratuitous selection likewise occur in institutional settings, such as in schools, hospitals, corporations, and prisons, when individuals are required by the institutions to take sure tests, or when employees are told or asked to participate in research.

Researchers must besides protect the privacy of the research participants. In some cases data can be kept bearding by non having the respondents put any identifying information on their questionnaires. In other cases the information cannot be bearding because the researcher needs to continue rails of which respondent contributed the data. In this case, ane technique is to take each participant use a unique lawmaking number to identify his or her data, such as the last four digits of the student ID number. In this way the researcher tin keep track of which person completed which questionnaire, but no i volition be able to connect the data with the individual who contributed them.

Peradventure the most widespread ethical business organisation to the participants in behavioural research is the extent to which researchers employ deception. Charadeoccurs whenever enquiry participants are not completely and fully informed most the nature of the research project before participating in it. Deception may occur in an active manner, such as when the researcher tells the participants that he or she is studying learning when in fact the experiment really concerns obedience to potency. In other cases the deception is more passive, such as when participants are not told about the hypothesis being studied or the potential utilize of the information being nerveless.

Some researchers have argued that no deception should e'er be used in whatsoever research (Baumrind, 1985). They debate that participants should ever be told the complete truth about the nature of the research they are in, and that when participants are deceived at that place will be negative consequences, such as the possibility that participants may arrive at other studies already expecting to be deceived. Other psychologists defend the use of charade on the grounds that it is needed to get participants to human activity naturally and to enable the study of psychological phenomena that might not otherwise go investigated. They debate that it would be impossible to study topics such equally altruism, aggression, obedience, and stereotyping without using deception considering if participants were informed ahead of time what the study involved, this knowledge would certainly change their behaviour. The codes of ethics of the Canadian Psychological Association and the Tri-Council Policy Statement of Canada's 3 federal research agencies (the Canadian Institute of Health Research [CIHR], the Natural Sciences and Applied science Research Council of Canada [NSERC], and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [SSHRC] or "the Agencies") allow researchers to utilise charade, but these codes also require them to explicitly consider how their research might be conducted without the utilise of deception.

Ensuring that Research Is Upstanding

Making decisions about the ideals of enquiry involves weighing the costs and benefits of conducting versus not conducting a given enquiry project. The costs involve potential damage to the research participants and to the field, whereas the benefits include the potential for advancing cognition well-nigh human behaviour and offering various advantages, some educational, to the private participants. Most generally, the ethics of a given research projection are determined through a cost-benefit analysis, in which the costs are compared with the benefits. If the potential costs of the inquiry appear to outweigh whatsoever potential benefits that might come from information technology, so the research should not proceed.

Arriving at a cost-benefit ratio is not simple. For one matter, there is no fashion to know ahead of time what the furnishings of a given procedure will be on every person or animal who participates or what benefit to social club the enquiry is likely to produce. In addition, what is upstanding is defined by the current land of thinking within society, and thus perceived costs and benefits change over time. In Canada, the Tri-Council regulations require that all universities receiving funds from the Agencies prepare upward an Ethical Review Board (ERB) to determine whether proposed research meets department regulations. The ERB is a commission of at least five members whose goal it is to determine the cost-benefit ratio of research conducted inside an institution. The ERB must corroborate the procedures of all the research conducted at the institution before the research can begin. The lath may suggest modifications to the procedures, or (in rare cases) information technology may inform the scientist that the research violates Tri-Council Enquiry Policy Statement and thus cannot exist conducted at all.

Ane important tool for ensuring that research is upstanding is the use of informed consent. A sample informed consent form is shown in Figure 3.ii, Informed consent, conducted earlier a participant begins a research session, is designed to explicate the research procedures and inform the participant of his or her rights during the investigation. The informed consent explains as much as possible about the true nature of the written report, especially everything that might exist expected to influence willingness to participate, only it may in some cases withhold some information that allows the study to piece of work.

Figure iii.ii Sample Research Consent Grade [Long Clarification] (by J. Walinga)

The informed consent form explains the research procedures and informs the participant of his or her rights during the investigation. Informed consent should accost the following issues:

• A very general statement about the purpose of the study
• A brief description of what the participants volition be asked to do
• A brief clarification of the risks, if any, and what the researcher will practice to restore the participant
• A statement informing participants that they may refuse to participate or withdraw at any fourth dimension without being penalized
• A statement regarding how the participant'southward confidentiality will exist protected
• Encouragement to ask questions almost participation
• Instructions regarding whom to contact if in that location are concerns
• Information regarding where the subjects may be informed near the study'due south findings

Because participating in inquiry has the potential for producing long-term changes in the research participants, all participants should be fully debriefed immediately after their participation. The debriefing is a procedure designed to fully explain the purposes and procedures of the enquiry and remove any harmful after-effects of participation.

Research with Animals

Because animals make up an important part of the natural world, and because some inquiry cannot be conducted using humans, animals are likewise participants in psychological inquiry (Figure 3.3). About psychological research using animals is at present conducted with rats, mice, and birds, and the use of other animals in inquiry is declining (Thomas & Blackman, 1992). As with ethical decisions involving human participants, a set of basic principles has been developed that helps researchers make informed decisions about such inquiry; a summary is shown below.

Canadian Psychological Association Guidelines on Humane Care and Employ of Animals in Research

The following are some of the most important ethical principles from the Canadian Psychological Clan'southward (CPA) guidelines on research with animals.

• II.45 Not use animals in their enquiry unless in that location is a reasonable expectation that the research will increment agreement of the structures and processes underlying behaviour, or increase understanding of the item animate being species used in the study, or result eventually in benefits to the health and welfare of humans or other animals.
• Two.46 Use a procedure subjecting animals to pain, stress, or privation merely if an culling procedure is unavailable and the goal is justified by its prospective scientific, educational, or applied value.
• Two.47 Make every effort to minimize the discomfort, illness, and pain of animals. This would include performing surgical procedures just nether appropriate anaesthesia, using techniques to avoid infection and minimize pain during and after surgery and, if disposing of experimental animals is carried out at the termination of the report, doing so in a humane mode. (Canadian Lawmaking of Ideals for Psychologists)
• 2.48 Apply animals in classroom demonstrations only if the instructional objectives cannot exist achieved through the apply of video-tapes, films, or other methods, and if the type of demonstration is warranted by the anticipated instructional gain(Canadian Psychological Association, 2000).

Figure 3.3 Animal Enquiry. Psychologists may use animals in their research, but they make reasonable efforts to minimize the discomfort the animals experience.

Because the use of animals in research involves a personal value, people naturally disagree about this practise. Although many people accept the value of such research (Plous, 1996), a minority of people, including animate being-rights activists, believe that it is ethically wrong to acquit research on animals. This argument is based on the supposition that because animals are living creatures just every bit humans are, no harm should always exist done to them.

Most scientists, however, refuse this view. They argue that such behavior ignore the potential benefits that take come, and keep to come up, from research with animals. For example, drugs that tin can reduce the incidence of cancer or AIDS may first be tested on animals, and surgery that tin can salve human lives may first be practised on animals. Research on animals has also led to a better understanding of the physiological causes of depression, phobias, and stress, among other illnesses. In contrast to animal-rights activists, then, scientists believe that because there are many benefits that accumulate from creature research, such research can and should go along every bit long as the humane treatment of the animals used in the research is guaranteed.

Key Takeaways

• Psychologists use the scientific method to generate, accrue, and written report scientific cognition.
• Basic enquiry, which answers questions virtually behaviour, and practical inquiry, which finds solutions to everyday problems, inform each other and work together to advance scientific discipline.
• Research reports describing scientific studies are published in scientific journals and so that other scientists and laypersons may review the empirical findings.
• Organizing principles, including laws, theories, and enquiry hypotheses, give structure and uniformity to scientific methods.
• Concerns for conducting upstanding research are paramount. Researchers ensure that participants are given free selection to participate and that their privacy is protected. Informed consent and debriefing assistance provide humane treatment of participants.
• A cost-do good analysis is used to make up one's mind what inquiry should and should non exist allowed to go on.

Exercises and Critical Thinking

1. Requite an example from personal experience of how you or someone you know has benefited from the results of scientific inquiry.
2. Discover and talk over a inquiry projection that in your opinion has ethical concerns. Explain why you find these concerns to be troubling.
3. Indicate your personal feelings about the use of animals in inquiry. When should and should not animals be used? What principles have you used to come to these conclusions?

Image Attributions

Figure 3.3: "Wistar rat" by Janet Stephens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wistar_rat.jpg) is in the public domain.

References

Baumrind, D. (1985). Research using intentional deception: Upstanding issues revisited.American Psychologist, xl, 165–174.

Canadian Psychological Association. (2000). Canadian code of ethics for psychologists (third edition) [PDF]. Retrieved July 2014 from http://www.cpa.ca/cpasite/userfiles/Documents/Practice_Page/Ethics_Code_Psych.pdf

Kohlberg, L. (1966). A cognitive-developmental analysis of children's sex activity-role concepts and attitudes. In Eastward. E. Maccoby (Ed.),The development of sex differences. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Milgram, Southward. (1974).Obedience to authority: An experimental view. New York, NY: Harper and Row.

Plous, S. (1996). Attitudes toward the employ of animals in psychological research and education.Psychological Science, 7, 352–358.

Popper, K. R. (1959).The logic of scientific discovery. New York, NY: Basic Books.

Rosenthal, R. (1994). Scientific discipline and ideals in conducting, analyzing, and reporting psychological enquiry.Psychological Science, 5, 127–134.

Ruble, D., & Martin, C. (1998). Gender development. In Westward. Damon (Ed.),Handbook of kid psychology (5th ed., pp. 933–1016). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Stangor, C. (2011).Research methods for the behavioral sciences (fourth ed.). Mount View, CA: Cengage.

Thomas, G., & Blackman, D. (1992). The future of creature studies in psychology.American Psychologist, 47, 1678.

Long Descriptions

Figure 3.2 long clarification: Sample research consent form.

My name is [insert your name], and this research project is part of the requirement for a [insert your degree programme] at [blank] University. My credentials with [bare] academy can exist established by telephoning [insert name and number of supervisor].

This document constitutes an understanding to participate in my research project, the objective of which is to [insert research objectives and the sponsoring organization here].

The research volition consist of [insert your methodology] and its foreseen to concluding [insert corporeality of time]. The foreseen questions will refer to [insert summary of foreseen questions]. In add-on to submitting my terminal written report to [blank] University in fractional fulfillment for a [insert your caste program], I will also be sharing my search findings with [insert your sponsoring organization]. [Disclose all the purposes to which the enquiry data is going to be put, eastward.thousand. journal articles, books, etc.].

Data volition be recorded in hand-written format (or taped/videotaped, etc) and where appropriate, summarized, in anonymous format, in the body of the final written report. At no time will whatsoever specific comments exist attributed to whatever individual unless specific agreement has been obtained beforehand. All documentation volition be kept strictly confidential.

A copy of the final report volition be published. A copy will be housed at [blank] academy, available online through [bare] and will be publicly accessible. Access and distribution will be unrestricted.

[Disclose any and all conflicts of interest and how those will be managed.]

You are not compelled to participate in this research project. If you do choose to participate, you are gratis to withdraw at any time without prejudice. Similarly, if yous cull not to participate in this research projection, this information will also be maintained in confidence.

By signing this letter, yous give free and informed consent to participate in this project.

Proper noun (Please print), Signed: Date: [Return to Figure 3.ii]

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