Preview

Social Psychology: An Empirical Science

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1096 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Social Psychology: An Empirical Science
Scientific Method

METHODOLOGY
Social Psychology: An Empirical Science

Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a specific prediction about how one variable is related to another.
Must be falsifiable. Must be operationally defined.
Stated in observable, measurable terms. Allows for replication.

Types of Research Strategies
The Observational Method: Describing Social Behavior
Researchers measure and record observable behavior of participants as it occurs in its natural state or habitat. Can obtain data about a natural behavior, rather than about a behavior that is a reaction to an artificial experimental situation. It is important to establish interjudge reliability, which is the level of agreement between two or more people who independently observe and code a set of data. Archival Analysis
A form of the observational method in which the researcher examines accumulated documents (archives).

Types of Research Strategies
Limits of the Observational Method
Certain kinds of behavior are difficult to observe because they occur only rarely or only in private. With archival analysis, the original writers may not have included all the information researchers would later need. Social psychologists want to do more than just describe behavior. They want to predict and explain it.

Types of Research Strategies
The Correlational Method: Predicting Social Behavior The researcher does not manipulate any variable but observes and measures two or more variables to find relationships (i.e., how much one can be predicted from the other) between them. If there is a correlation between two variables, a change in one variable is accompanied by a change in another.
A positive correlation is one in which the two variables move in the same direction. A negative correlation is one in which the two variables move in opposite directions.

Correlation does not imply causation.
Does not tell us in any direct way whether a change in one variable is the cause of change in another.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Correlational studies show relationships between variables. If high scores on one variable predict high scores on the other variable, the correlation is positive. If high scores on one variable predict low scores on the other variable, the correlation is negative.…

    • 404 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Social psychology can be defined as social influence. Such influence could impact the beliefs, values, behavior or feelings of others. People influence others or are influenced by them. Professional social psychologists study and conduct research and experiments to further understand the nature of this influence and to understand the human social behavior. Unlike professional social psychologists, armature social psychologists - and people as a whole – tend to think they comprehend, predict or speculate how people would act or behave as they overestimate their power of prediction; the hindsight bias. While in fact, their hypotheses of most basic and simple social experiences’ outcomes are wrong. Similarly, in the experiment where experimenters found that people tend to desire more the forbidden behavior after being severely threatened, while armature social psychologists thought they would, reasonably enough, that subjects wouldn’t engage in that forbidden behavior. Therefore, professional social psychologists can based upon evidence and detailed data taken from maintained and controlled experiment draw more precise conclusions and analysis of human social behavior and how influence contributed to that behavior. Social psychology showed with concrete evidence that people who act crazy are not necessarily crazy. People when put in intense situations and undergo social influence that might trigger an abnormal behavior were merely responding to that influence.…

    • 245 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Social Psychology

    • 2355 Words
    • 10 Pages

    In social psychology there are many researchers who investigated and challenged different theories within including well respected psychologists including; Sheriff(1935); Jenness(1932); Asch(1951); Crutchfield(1955) and Mann(1969). The aim of the study was; guessing how many sweeties were in the jar in a competition fashion and testing if the participants conformed to their guesses. The hypothesis was ' people would conform under group pressures of the pre-set guesses. The null hypothesis was that people would not conform under group pressures unless due to extraneous variables. The experiment was a field experiment using the techniques of independent groups design. The experiment was dressed as a competition based on the following three conditions; high pre-set; control pre-set and low pre-set guesses. The group used random selection in three math classes with the senior pupils of three different levels (higher, intermediate one and intermediate two). The IV (independent variable) that was used was the pre-set guesses and the DV (dependent variable) was the level of conformity performed by the participants. The conclusion of the results showed that 31.25% of the high pre-set guesses conformed (in the reign of 40+), 23.33% of the low pre-set guesses conformed (in the reign of -30) and 43.48% of the control pre-set guesses conformed (within the reign of 25-45). The breakdown of the analysis for instance the mean of all conditions and overall, the range of all conditions and control(appendix 13). After the group completed the experiment thought was put into how testing conformity could be continued. The ideas from the experiment could lead to testing the intelligence levels of people who conform and test is this level of intelligence has an effect on the level of conformity.…

    • 2355 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    individual behavior, and has been used as a basis for many different types of research…

    • 217 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    and in some cases enlist the help of a “confederate”, someone who appears to be a naïve part of…

    • 3843 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Psychology Outline

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages

    One of the oldest methods of research is the case study, in which psychologist study one or more individuals in great depth with the hope of an accomplishment of revealing true to all persons. Sigmund Freud came up with his theory of personality from a series of case studies. Case studies can be misleading, unrepresented knowledge of the individual can lead to a false conclusion.…

    • 808 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The two most common methods of research that are used to do so are qualitative research and quantitative research. Qualitative research puts a greater focuses on the meaning and characteristics of a given event or set of events. Determining the type of personality that might fit a crime or string of crimes is an example of qualitative research called profiling. Quantitative research is a much less personable type of research. This kind of research collects information using science. Cross referencing a DNA sample, collecting geological information from trace evidence, and even performing ballistics studies on weapons and ammunition are all prime examples of the quantitative research…

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Darley and Latane determined that for obvious reasons they would not be able to reproduce the events of the Genovese murder but needed a situation that would approximate a true emergency in order for the bystanders to be observed. Darley and Latene told students taking an introductory psychology class at New York University a covers story stating, that they were conducting a study on how students adjust to university life in a competitive, urban environment and the types of personal problems they were experiencing. They told the students they would be in separate rooms to avoid any discomfort. The students were then asked to take turns talking to one…

    • 1160 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The type of observational method I will be employing will be non participant observation. This is when the sociologist does not join the group that they have chosen to observe.…

    • 1395 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Social Psychology

    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Social psychology tells us that daily behaviors and attitudes stem from the influences of social factors on the individual. In other words, all of our daily actions are fueled from social influences in our daily lives. Social psychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how social phenomena influence us and how people interact with others. There are some basic aspects of social behavior that play a large role in our actions and how we see ourselves. There have been many different theorists who have attempted to explain and understand this idea. After studying and learning about most the theories and ideas, I have come to the conclusion along with the author Kenneth Allan that George Herbert Mead is the only true social psychological theorist.…

    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Social psychology is the understanding of an individual’s behavior in a social context. It is the scientific field that focuses on the nature and causes of that individual’s behavior in social situations. It looks at the human behavior that has been influenced by others and in the social context with which it occurred. Social psychology pays attention to how feelings, thoughts, beliefs, intentions, and goals are constructed and how these factors influence our behavior and interactions with others. This paper will examine the principles of social psychology and help us to understand how these factors lead us to behave a certain way in the presence others (McCleod, 2007).…

    • 3173 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    What is social psychology? According to your textbook, what are some big ideas in social psychology? What effect do these ideas have on behavior? Remember to include a citation and reference in your response.…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sociological Imagination

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Tying into all of this is the four research methods that are used for social problems, the survey, which asks individuals for an answer. There’s the observation that watches individuals to get a conclusive answer. There’s experiment that the researcher gives false answer to see if the participate is influenced by certain factors. Finally there’s the secondary analysis where the research is taken further to get new information aside from the…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are four different research methods. There is the scientific method, descriptive research method, experimental…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This research methodology involves determining the strength of the relationship between two or more variables (e.g. are violent video games correlated with aggression in children).…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays