Why do we need to talk about Methodology?
That’s a very good question. As with any academic discipline the purpose of conducting research is to gain knowledge. In Social Psychology researchers are interested in a wide variety of topics. You were introduced to some of them in Chapter 1, but that was only a small sample. You will be learning about many more as you work through the course, and at first glance most of the individual studies discussed will seem to be basically unrelated to one another. Of course they all share some things in common. They are all related to learning about social influence, and they are all (or almost all) conducted using a set of scientific principles that ensure the quality of the work, and ensure that the results of the studies are interpreted properly. Remember that Social Psychologists often study how the situation can influence how people construe reality. Ironically, even the interpretation of a scientific study is subject to possible differences in how the researchers themselves construe the results. For this reason, Social Psychologists use that set of scientific principles that I just mentioned. A really “good” experiment is designed and conducted in such a way as to remove most of the interpretation that can lead to different construals of the results. This is an oversimplification, and certainly there are many theories of Social Psychology that are still debated even after many studies have been conducted, but it does stand as a basic goal of research design.
In this Chapter we will be talking about, “How do we gain knowledge?” We will briefly examine three basic forms of research design (Observational Research and Correlational Research in this section, and Experimental Research in the second part of the chapter). We will also discuss “How do we share knowledge?” and finally “What do we do with knowledge?”
Before we move on, watch the video Research Methods. Go to the CourseCompass website. Click on Course Documents, then click on Student Learning Resources and click on the link for the video. The three types of research are briefly introduced.
The first thing to keep in mind is that ideas can be tested scientifically. It’s possible to imagine a Physicist carefully conducting an experiment on particle acceleration in a laboratory. They would set up their apparatus with very exact specifications in order to ensure that they are only measuring what they want to measure, and that they are controlling the influence of other extraneous influences. Social Psychologists conduct their experiments with the same goals in mind. The first step is to ask a question, called a hypothesis. The origin of a hypothesis can be based on a number of things, including previous personal experience or knowledge of existing theories. Whatever hypothesis the researcher develops, the next step is to choose an experimental method for testing that hypothesis. There are entire courses devoted to research methods, and to the statistics that are used to analyze the data from these various research designs. We will be covering this information only at an introductory level.
Trained observers are sent out to various public locations: shopping malls, downtown street corners, restaurants, bars, etc. They carefully and unobtrusively record the frequency with which people in small groups of 2 to 5 people make physical contact. The observers record the time when they start observing the group, the time when each incidence of contact occurs, and if the group is 3 or more people, they record who makes contact with whom. After the data are collected they are analyzed to find an average number of contacts, and the average time between contacts.
The above example of a possible observational study makes mention of several important points. First, the observers need to keep a very careful record of the data that they are collecting. One way to improve the accuracy of the data would be to have several observers watching the same group at the same time. Later, they could compare their findings, and make sure that each observer saw the same things as every other observer. Also, much of this type of research is conducted without the participants’ knowledge. Social Psychologists are very much aware that if people know their behavior is being observed, they might be motivated to change their behavior to make themselves look better to the researcher.
Another form of observational research is called Ethnography. This type of observational research involves observers entering into a particular culture and becoming part of the group being studied. The culture could be an actual society, or it could be simply a group of people who work together, or live together. Ethnographies are most often found within the discipline of Anthropology, but occasionally Social Psychologists employ these methods. For example, let’s say that a researcher had the same question about physical contact as above, but they were specifically interested in this phenomenon for people who work at public relations firms.
Trained observers are sent to work within several public relations companies. While working at the firms, they carefully and unobtrusively record the frequency with which people in small groups of 2 to 5 people make physical contact. The observers record the time when they start observing the group, the time when each incidence of contact occurs, and if the group is 3 or more people, they record who makes contact with whom. After the data are collected they are analyzed to find an average number of contacts, and the average time between contacts for people in the public relations profession.
The same type of information is collected, but this time the observers are embedded within the culture of interest. This has the advantage of being able to gain the trust of the participants, and thus being more likely to record accurate information.
The last type of observational research that we need to consider is called Archival Analysis. Simply put, archival analysis involves examining the accumulated documents of a culture. This could involve reading newspapers, magazines, and books, and could even include watching movies or television. All of these forms of media serve as a reflection of society, so they can offer some insight into social behavior. For example, imagine again that the question of interest has to do with physical contact, but now the researcher wants to see if there has been any change over time in the frequency with which these things happen.
Trained observers gather a sample of movies made in the 1940’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and since 2000. They carefully watch and record the frequency with which the people portrayed in these movies make physical contact. The observers record the time when they start observing the group, the time when each incidence of contact occurs, and if the group is 3 or more people, they record who makes contact with whom. After the data are collected they are analyzed to find an average number of contacts, and the average time between contacts for each of the seven decades.
One advantage of this form of observational study is that there is no need to worry about being unobtrusive. This form of analysis also provides the only way we can “go back in time” to see what life was like. On the other hand, movies (or any form of document) can only provide a very limited snapshot of what life was like at that time.
The word correlation has been used for some time in common language to mean that a relationship exists between two things. When we talk about correlations in social psychology we are actually referring to a mathematical relationship called the “Pearson Correlation Coefficient R”. If you take a statistics course you will learn about the actual mathematical formula for calculating the “Pearson R”, but since this isn’t a stats course you just need to keep a couple things in mind.
The Correlation Coefficient can have a value from -1 to +1. There are two pieces of information that the value can tell you. First, the sign (either negative or positive) tells you the direction of the relationship. A positive (+) correlation indicates that as one variable of interest increases the other increases. For example, GNP (Gross National Product) and mortality are positively correlated. In other words, countries that are wealthier tend to have people that live longer. A negative (-) correlation indicates that as one variable increases the other decreases. For example, GNP (Gross National Product) is negatively correlated with birth rate. Wealthier countries, with higher GNPs, tend to have populations that have fewer children per household. The other thing to keep in mind about the Pearson R is the size of the relationship. We need to ignore the sign, and just look at the absolute value (usually written like this ½R½). In cases where the absolute value is close to zero, then the relationship between the two variables is very weak. If the absolute value is close to one, then the relationship is very strong.
Often, the point of doing correlational research is to find out if two or more variables are related to each other. If they are related, then the question moves to the nature of the relationship. “Is there a relationship between watching violent television and aggressive behavior?” If it turns out that there is no relationship between these things (finding a correlation that is equal to zero), then that’s the end of it. If it turns out that there is a correlation between these things then the strength and direction of this relationship can be important. Even when a strong correlation between variables is found we must be careful when we interpret the relationship. The phrase, “Correlation does not equal causation” is important. Just because we know that two concepts are related, we cannot (based on correlational research design) make any claims about which variable causes the other.
You are now ready to read pages 29 through 41 in your textbook. After you have read the Assignment, go to the Quiz 2 Part 1 on the ANGEL account and take the quiz. When you are done with the reading and the quiz go to “Pre-Reading Commentary 2 Part 2”.