Contents

Preface xiiimuch information that need not be repeated herein. In addition, previous userswill also notice the following:• Minor changes have been made in sentence wording and paragraph structurein an effort to make it easier for students to understand concepts.• Several major new research examples have been added (and older onesreplaced). We have attempted to show students the “latest” in psychologicalresearch findings and, most importantly, to introduce studies that arerelevant to today’s students and also help teach clearly the methodologyillustrated in the examples. For example, in Chapter 1 we discuss the recentcriticism leveled against practitioners of clinical psychology by Baker,McFall, and Shoham (2009). These psychologists, clinicians themselves,argue that clinical psychologists fall short in their application of scientificfindings when treating clients. What better way to begin a research methodstextbook than challenging students to apply what they learn shouldthey enter the field of clinical psychology or make use of mental healthprofessionals? New research examples also are found in other chapters.• We have kept some older examples because they not only remain relevantbut have become “classics” as well. For example, we continue to includethe well-known Rosenhan (1973) study using participant observation, aswell as critiques of this research by others in the field. We also have keptthe Langer and Rodin (1976) study of care in nursing homes (Chapter 10),which Zimbardo (2004) labeled a “classic” in the field of social psychology.This study, too, is a wonderful example of a particular research methodology,in this case, the nonequivalent control group design.• Following the suggestion of users of our textbook, and as part of oureconomizing in this edition, we joined two chapters from earlier editions,Observation (Chapter 4) and Unobtrusive Measures of Behavior (previouslyChapter 6), in a new Chapter 4. This required us to reduce the amount ofspace given to unobtrusive measures, but we continue to discuss this topicto show students creative applications of the multimethod approach.• Changes, too, have been made in some of the “Stretching Exercises” andBoxes that appear across chapters in order to bring attention to timely psychologicalresearch. A favorite of ours is a study employing urine-sniffingdogs to detect cancer in individuals (see Chapter 2). As readers will see, theClever Hans effect is alive and still with us!• The American Psychological Association has placed strict limitationson the use of material from the most recent edition (6th) of the APAPublication Manual (2010). Therefore, previous users of our textbook willfind substantially less specific information regarding the preparationof research manuscripts “according to APA style.” The new PublicationManual is more compact than its predecessor and some instructors maywish to require students to purchase it. An introduction to APA style,including a free tutorial as well as a sample manuscript, can be found atwww.apastyle.org. The information found there may be sufficient for studentsto complete a class assignment. Although we continue to provide an