naturalistic observation, correlational approaches, experimental method, single-subject design, longitudinal research, epidemiological research, and behavioral genetics designs. Logic can help us answer questions of inference, which is the process by which we look at the evidence available to us and then use our powers of reasoning to reach a conclusion. Logical procedures are also important for helping us understand the accuracy or validity of our ideas and research.
Increased certainty is a large part of the experimental process. Scientists increase certainty by creating an artificial situation—the experiment—in which important factors can be controlled and manipulated. Through control and manipulation, participant variables may be examined in detail, and the influence of one variable on another may be determined with certainty. There are four steps to the experimental process, which reflect the evolutionary nature of science: (1) the development of the hypothesis, (2) the translation of this hypothesis into a research design, (3) the running of the experiment, and (4) the interpretation of the results. Researchers take the results and interpretations of their studies and create new research studies that refine the previous hypotheses, and the cycle begins anew.
One goal of experimental research is to determine the relation between the IV and the DV. It is the task of the experiment to reduce extraneous factors not related to the IV that can influence the DV. Additional factors critical to sound inference are participant selection and assignment, the design of the experiment, and the interpretation of the relationship of the IV to the DV. The experimenter considers three hypotheses in interpreting whether the DV is related to the IV: the null hypothesis, confound hypothesis, and research hypothesis. Both statistical significance and clinical significance are important in interpreting research results. Replication of studies in different locations with different participants increases the certainty that the results found reflect the true nature of what is being studied. Meta-analysis is a statistical technique for combining a number of studies to improve the reliability of the results. Of course, if the data from relevant studies has not been published—the so-called “file drawer problem”—the meta-analysis would be biased.
Ethical considerations of psychological experimentation have at their heart the idea that people participating in research should not be harmed. In addition, research participants have a right to privacy including the right to a private personality. To protect those rights, participants must be informed of the experiment’s purpose and its potential risks (informed consent) and then voluntarily agree to participate in the experiment (voluntary participation). Confidentiality and anonymity are two additional considerations that are part of the scientist’s responsibility to the participant. Guidelines for reconciling conflicts between the rights of the participant to pursue happiness and the rights of the scientist to pursue knowledge are provided by such resources as the APA, the U.S. National Research Act, the Belmont Report, and IRBs.
Study Resources
Review Questions
1 What does the author mean by “science is a combination of interaction with the world and logic”? What key role does doubt play in the process of science?
2 Why can’t you design “the one perfect study”? What trade-offs do you need to consider in designing an experimental study in the real world? What can you do to improve the quality of your study?
3 Your research group has been asked by the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop a research program to study anxiety in children around the world using multiple research methodologies. Taking into consideration the characteristics of each of the following methods, what is a research question you could study using each approach?Case studyNaturalistic observationCorrelational approachExperimental approachSingle-subject designLongitudinal researchEpidemiological researchTwin study
4 How is a scientist conducting psychopathology research like a detective solving a mystery? How are they different?
5 If we think about psychopathology research as an ethical problem, what are the rights of the research participant, and what are the responsibilities of the experimenter in ensuring the protection of those rights? What legal and ethical resources are available to guide this effort?
For Further Reading
Kandel, E. (2006). In search of memory: The emergence of a new science of mind. New York, NY: Norton.
Kuhn, T. (1970). The structure of scientific revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Sacks, O. (1985). The man who mistook his wife for a hat and other clinical tales. New York, NY: Summit Books.
Thomas, L. (1979). The Medusa and the snail: More notes of a biology watcher. New York, NY: Viking.
Key Terms and Concepts
adoption study 110
anonymity 116
behavioral genetics 109
blind controls 97
case study 86
clinically significant 111
confidentiality 116
confound 102
confound hypothesis 100
confounding variables 94
control group 93
correlation coefficient 89
correlational approach 89
covary 94
demand characteristics 97
dependent variable (DV) 93
dizygotic (DZ) twins 110
double-blind experiment 97
doubt 85
effect size 111
empiricism 86
epidemiology 107
ethics 113
experimental group 93
experimental method 92
experimenter effects 97
external validity 96
facts 85
falsification 85
gene by environment correlations 110
gene by environment interaction 109
generalizability 96
hypothesis 85
incidence 109
independent variable (IV) 93
inference 95
inferential statistics 101
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