Contents

22 PART I: General IssuesTABLE 1.1STEPS OF THE RESEARCH PROCESSStep How? ChapterDevelop a research question. • Be aware of ethnocentrism. 1• Gain personal experiences doing research. 1• Read psychological literature. 1, 13Generate a research hypothesis. • Read psychological theories on your topic. 1, 2• Consider personal experience, think of 1exceptions, and notice inconsistencies inprevious research.Form operational definitions. • Look to previous research to see how 2others have defined the same or similarconstructs.• Identify the variables you will examine. 2Choose a research design. • Identify a sample of participants. 4, 5• Decide whether your research question 2seeks to describe, allow prediction, oridentify causal relationships.➤ Choose observational and correlational 4, 5designs for description and prediction.➤ Choose an experimental design for 6, 7, 8a causal research question.➤ Choose a single-case design when 9seeking to understand and treat a smallgroup or one individual.➤ Choose a quasi-experimental design for 10a causal research question in settingswhere experimental control is less feasible.Evaluate the ethics of your • Identify the potential risks and benefits 3research.of the research and the ways in whichparticipants’ welfare will be protected.• Submit a proposal to an ethics review 3committee.• Seek permission from those in authority. 3, 10Collect and analyze data; • Get to know the data. 11form conclusions. • Summarize the data. 11• Confirm what the data reveal. 12Report research results. • Present the findings at a psychology 13conference.• Submit a written report of the study 13to a psychology journal.the variables I wish to investigate? How do I find reliable and valid measures ofbehavior? What is the research method best suited to my research question? Whatkinds of statistical analyses will be needed? Do the methods I choose meet acceptedmoral and ethical standards?” These and other steps associated with the scientificprocess are illustrated in Table 1.1. Don’t be concerned if the terms in these questionsand in Table 1.1 are unfamiliar. As you proceed through this text on researchmethods in psychology, you will learn about these steps of the research process.Table 1.1 will be a useful guide when you begin conducting your own research.This text introduces you to the ways in which psychologists use the scientificmethod. As you know, psychology is a discipline with many areas of study