Conducting Psychology Research in the Real World

The development of ____________ has provided a new level of advantage for gathering information from research participants at specific times, often randomly selected, throughout a given day

smartphones

Dru is reading about the different types of research. If he reads, "This type of research has the primary advantage of allowing a scientist to determine cause and effect relationships," what kind of research method is he studying?

a laboratory experiment

The advantage of a field study over laboratory study

increased external validity

When researchers take special care to include and control for every possible variable, the study is likely to have high __________, even though the results may not generalize to a more realistic situation

internal validity

When a study uses the __________ method of data collection, participants complete a questionnaire about their thoughts, feelings, and behavior at the end of each day.

Experience sampling

The ability to arrive at broad conclusions based on smaller ones is known as __________. It requires that the sample under investigation be representative of the larger population from which it is drawn.

Generalizability

Which of the following is the best statement regarding the relationship between different forms of validity in psychology research?

It is difficult to achieve high levels of both internal and external validity in the same research study.

Dr. Sharma wants to study the extent to which stress is related to suicidal ideation in people who suffer from depression. She gathers information about the level of stress, depressive symptoms, and suicidal thoughts a set of participants experience the day after they attend the funeral of a loved one. Because this study is assessing people under conditions that are not typical of everyday life, it is lacking in __________ validity.

external

Dr. Tylka is conducting research about the risk of developing eating disorders in adolescent boys. She concludes that her findings apply not only to the sample of high school boys she studied, but to other males in other settings and contexts. In this regard, Dr. Tykla is stating that her findings have high _________ validity.

external

For your senior project, you want to learn more about the effect of brain damage on an individuals ability to learn a new language. You really dont have the time or resources to observe or interview and talk to people with brain damage. Ethically, you can't manipulate the independant variable. You need something that is quick and easy so you can turn your project in on time. Based on what you know about different research methods and designs, which approach to research would you use?

survey

What kind of research is traditionally considered to be "gold standard" in psychology research?

the laboratory experiment

Dr. Hart is interested in the role of relationships in preventing heart disease. As her patients come into her office in Bluebell, Alabama, she asks them two questions: Are you in a relationship? Have you experienced any heart problems in the past 8 years? Based on her findings, she concludes that relationship cause cardiovascular (heart) problems. One issue with her methodology is that the results are not generalizable. What does this mean?

Her results may not be true for the entire population

Imagine that researchers were interested in learning about public support for gay marriage. If the researchers analyzed Facebook posts regarding the acceptance or rejection of homosexuality (via opinions in status updates, article posts, or groups they officially like(, they would be:

studying online behavior