Pearson BTEC National Applied Psychology Book 1

A2 Key terms used in research Meanings and use of research terminology ● Hypotheses, to include directional, non-directional, alternative, null. ● Sources of data and literature, to include primary and secondary sources. A3 Research process ● Research design: procedures. ● Literature reviews, e.g. internet and library searches, journals, media, statistical information. ● Sources of literature, e.g. primary and secondary, evaluating validity and reliability of literature. ● Academic conventions of reporting research to include presentation conventions, referencing and bibliographies. Specification content Why is it important for a researcher to read about other studies before developing their own research? An issue to consider Assessment practice At the end of learning aim A you must write a report (see pages 83 and 100). This report must be related to a scenario or context: Think again about the stress-at-work project which we began on page 85. One of the general aims of the project is to assess the effectiveness of a stress management programme for employees. To research this using an experiment, you decide to start with a hypothesis. Also, part of your brief is to write a report on the project for the company’s management team. A2.5 Learning aim A2 – Task 5 The next part of your report for learning aim A will be concerned with detailing the way research is organised, which is covered on the previous two spreads, this spread and the next three spreads. 1. Explain what you would include in a literature review for your project report. [Don’t write the literature review itself.] (A.P and A.P ) 2. Explain what your alternative, null and directional hypotheses would be. In doing so you might want to de ne these research methods terms. (A.P ) 3. Assess how your literature review could be used to inform the company’s policy regarding stress at work. (A.M ) 4. Evaluate the importance of formulating hypotheses and writing a literature review for this project. (A.D ) The literature review On the facing page we started with a research question which led to an aim and then to a hypothesis. However, researchers usually have another stage somewhere in the middle, which involves reading about what other researchers have discovered. What is the literature ? The term literature means ‘written work’. In the context of conducting research, literature refers to reports written by scientists about their research. An important part of the scienti c process is that, once a study is completed, researchers publish their study. Reporting a research study The academic conventions for reporting research include: • Literature review of previous studies on a similar topic so you know the background and the reason for the current study. • Aims of the current study and the hypothesis. • Procedures described in detail. It is very important that these are described exactly so that anyone else can follow the same steps to check the ndings of this study (called replication ). This section includes details of who the participants were (called the sample ) and where the study was conducted and how ethical issues were dealt with. • Findings using graphs and other methods of data analysis. • Discussion of what the ndings mean. This is likely to include (1) an interpretation of the ndings in relation to previous research, (2) a consideration of possible weaknesses in the methods that were used and (3) some thoughts about the implications of the study. • Referencing and bibliographies list speci c sources (articles, books, websites, personal communication) and any materials used. Doing a literature review The purpose of the literature review is to put together the current knowledge about your selected topic. It also aims to establish the strengths and weaknesses of this previous research. Start by making notes (e.g. from your textbook, other books, websites) about theories, concepts and studies that are relevant to your research topic. Don’t worry about order or relevance but do keep a note of the source. Put the notes to one side and then construct a logical plan from memory. A literature review is like a funnel – start ‘wide’ with the general area and narrow down to research that is speci cally related to your research question. At this stage you should just have a list of paragraphs. Look back at your notes and see if you want to add key topics. Finally, write each paragraph. That’s funny Here ’ s a question – what makes you smile? Do people smile because they feel happy or do they feel happy because they smiled? Which is cause and which is e ect? A group of psychologists (Strack et al . 1988) designed a study to test this. If you just tell someone to smile then you have alerted them to what you are about to measure – so Strack et al . asked participants to put a pencil in their mouth sideways. This made their face muscles tense up as if they were smiling. While still holding the pencil like this, participants were asked to rate a set of cartoons. This was a way of assessing their happiness levels. For comparison the researchers asked a second group of participants to pucker their lips and hold a pencil that way. Then the second group of participants were also asked to rate the cartoons. The researchers found that the first group rated the cartoons as funnier, suggesting that it is the facial muscles smiling that tells you that you are having fun. Specification terms Alternative hypothesis The hypothesis in a study is sometimes called the alternative hypothesis because it is the alternative to the null hypothesis. In any study we have an alternative and a null hypothesis. Directional and non-directional hypothesis A directional hypothesis states the direction of the hypothesis (!) – whether one thing is more than another, for example saying that one group will do better than another group on a task. A non-directional hypothesis just states there is a difference but not the direction of the difference. Hypothesis A statement of what a researcher believes to be true. In order to test such a statement, it must be clearly operationalised. Literature review A systematic consideration of what other people have written or said about your chosen research topic. The word ‘literature’ refers to books, magazines, websites, TV programmes, etc. Null hypothesis A statement of no difference or no relationship. Writing a hypothesis On the previous spread we looked at research questions, such as ‘Does expensive chocolate taste better than cheap chocolate?’ and ‘What is the best method for revising?’. Research questions are turned into aims, such as ‘To investigate whether expensive chocolate tastes better than cheap chocolate’. And then these aims are formalised as a hypothesis . A hypothesis is a statement, not a question. For an experiment this statement must contain the independent variable (IV) and dependent variable (DV) in an operationalised form. Let’s consider the experiment on the le . • The IV is smile or not smile, which has been operationalised so we can measure it – pencil clenched horizontally in mouth or pencil sticking out of mouth. • The DV is happiness, which has been operationalised as – rating cartoons as funny on a scale of 1 to 5. We can then express the relationship between the IV and DV: Participants who are smiling (pencil clenched horizontally in mouth) rate cartoons as funnier than participants who are not smiling (pencil sticking out). Other kinds of hypothesis The hypothesis above is called an alternative directional hypothesis . It is ‘alternative’ because it is an alternative to the null hypothesis . The null hypothesis states that there is no difference between the two conditions whereas the alternative is to state there is a difference. In our case the null hypothesis would be: There is no difference in the ratings for funniness given by participants who are smiling (pencil clenched horizontally in mouth) compared to participants who are not smiling (pencil sticking out). The original hypothesis is directional because it states the expected direction of the ndings – that one group rates the cartoons as more funny. Alternatively we can state the hypothesis with no direction ( non-directional ): Participants who are smiling (pencil clenched horizontally in mouth) rate cartoons differently from participants who are not smiling (pencil sticking out). In a study using a correlational analysis there are two variables but the variables aren’t IV/DVs so a hypothesis expresses the relationship (not the difference) between the variables. We will look at correlational analysis on page 112. Studies without hypotheses Studies that are just observation or just self-report don’t have IVs and DVs and may not have a hypothesis. They may simply have a research question and possibly a set of aims. Hypotheses and a literature review Learning aim A2: Key terms used in research Zero, zilch, zip, zippo, goose egg, nought, no, nobody, nothing, not anything, nix, nil … NULL. This picture may match your current mood! Understanding research processes takes time. At the beginning you are at the centre of this vortex. But gradually, each time you look at another study or another explanation of an aspect of research, it will become a little clearer. Keep going and you will emerge victorious! DIY T ime to try it yourself. Select one of the biological key studies from Unit 1. Find some other studies on this topic of psychology. You can do this by typing some key words into a search engine (e.g. Google). Use Wikipedia as a starting point to understand the topic but never cite Wikipedia as a source – follow the links to other research. • Just make a pile of notes in no particular order. • Give yourself a day for the information to settle in your head and then write a list of the key points to cover. • Finally put these key points in a sensible order, something like: • Paragraph 1 – a description of the general concept/theory. • Paragraph 2 – describe study 1, include a key strength or weakness. • Paragraph 3 – select another study that follows on from the first study. • And so on. Finish with the aims of your research. ACTIVE GET ea 90 91 Unit 2: Conducting psychological research