Research Methods for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

Bart L. Weathington, PhD, is a UC Foundation Associate Professor of Psychology at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is an industrial-organizational and sport psychology researcher, teacher, and consultant on applied psychological issues. Christopher J. L. Cunningham, PhD, is a UC Foundation Assistant Professor of Psychology at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is actively engaged in industrial-organizational and occupational health psychology research, teaching, and consulting.David J. Pittenger, PhD, is Dean of the¿College of¿Liberal Arts¿at Marshall University. His primary research interests and publications focus on the partial reinforcement extinction effect, psychometric properties of personality inventories, the coping strategies of caregivers, and ethical issues related to the behavioral sciences.

• Preface xvAcknowledgments xixPart I Overview of the Research Process 1Chapter 1 Research and the Social Sciences 3Introduction 3Why Is Understanding Research Methods So Important? 6The Role of Science in Everyday Life 6The Scientific Method 8Brief History of the Science of Behavior 8Bacon’s Legacy 13Other Important Historical Figures 13Assumptions of Science 16Requirements for Scientific Research 17Research in Action: The Case of Facilitated Communication 23Chapter Summary 26Chapter Glossary for Review 29Chapter References 30Chapter 2 Ethics and Research 32Introduction 32What Is Ethics? 34Approaches to Ethical Analysis 36Making Ethical Decisions 41The Ethical Code of the American Psychological Association 42Seeking Approval for Research: The Institutional Review Board 44Milgram’s Experiment Revisited 52Research with Animals 56Research in Action: Ethical Dilemmas 58Chapter Summary 62Chapter Glossary for Review 64Chapter References 64Chapter 3 The Foundations of Research 66Introduction 66The Hypothesis in Research 67Types of Hypotheses 72Measurement 78Reliability of Measurement 84Validity of Measurement 87Populations and Samples 90Research in Action: Measuring Sexism 94Chapter Summary 96Chapter Glossary for Review 97Chapter References 100Chapter 4 An Overview of Empirical Methods 101Introduction 101Internal, Statistical Conclusion, and External Validity 102Survey of Empirical Methods 113Intact Groups Designs and Quasi-Experimental Studies 117Surveys 120Correlational Studies 121Single-Participant Research Methods 122Meta-Analysis 124Computers and Statistics 126Research in Action: Effectiveness of Psychotherapy 128Chapter Summary 133Chapter Glossary for Review 135Chapter References 137Part II Nuts and Bolts of Research 139Chapter 5 Writing the Research Report 141Introduction 141What Do Readers Appreciate in Good Writing? 143Elements of APA Style 143Special Grammatical Issues 147Academic Integrity 152Parts of the Research Report 156Proofreading 173Chapter Summary 174Chapter References 174Chapter 6 Reviewing the Literature and Forming Hypotheses 175Introduction 175Bibliographic Research 175The Internet 179Developing a Search Strategy 181Searching the Literature: The Library 182Research in Action: Does Listening to Mozart Make You Smarter? 186Statistical Inference and Testing Hypotheses 190Chapter Summary 193Chapter Glossary for Review 194Chapter References 194Chapter 7 Sampling: The First Steps in Research 196Introduction 196The Nature of Samples 197Probability Sampling 199Sampling Methods 201Nonprobability Sampling 205Central Limit Theorem 207Applications of the Central Limit Theorem 211Sources of Bias and Error: A Reprise 217Research in Action: Trends in HIV-Related Risk Behaviors 220Chapter Summary 224Chapter Glossary for Review 225Chapter References 227Chapter 8 Creating and Using Assessments, Surveys, and Objective Measures 228Introduction 228Purpose of Measurement 228Caveat Assessor 229Creating a Measurement Scale and Developing a Data Collection Strategy 231Interviews, Questionnaires, and Attitude Surveys 232Question Response Formats 236Writing Good Questionnaire and Survey Items 241Determining the Sample Size for a Survey 246Naturalistic Observation 249Research in Action: Analysis of Assaults 255Chapter Summary 260Chapter Glossary for Review 261Chapter References 262Chapter 9 A Model for Research Design 265Introduction 265A Model for Research Design 266What Is the Independent Variable? 272What Is the Dependent Variable? 274Are There Any Confounding Variables? 277What Are the Research Hypotheses? 279Mathematical Hypotheses 280Evaluating Hypotheses 282Evaluating Hypotheses: Practical Matters 284Research in Action: Sex Differences and Memory for Emotional Events 289Research in Action: Changing Attitudes by Writing Essays 290Chapter Summary 291Chapter Glossary for Review 293Chapter References 295Part III Common Research Designs 297Chapter 10 Correlational Research 299Introduction 299Conceptual Review of Correlation 300Pearson’s r 302Interpreting the Correlation Coefficient 302Factors That Corrupt a Correlation Coefficient 304Sample Size and the Correlation Coefficient 308Applications of the Correlation Coefficient 310Regression Analysis 315Introduction to Mediation and Moderation 317Regression to the Mean 318Research in Action: Searching Short-Term Memory 321Statistics behind the Research 323Chapter Summary 331Chapter Glossary for Review 333Chapter References 334Chapter 11 Between-Subjects Designs 335Introduction 335Student’s t-Ratio for Independent Groups 336Review of Hypothesis Testing 338Testing Statistical Hypotheses 340Common Errors in the Interpretation of p 348The Power of a Test 350Estimating Sample Size 355Research in Action: Word Meaning and Memory 357Statistics behind the Research 359Chapter Summary 368Chapter Glossary for Review 369Chapter References 369Chapter 12 Single-Variable Between-Subjects Research 371Introduction 371Independent Variable 372Cause and Effect 374Gaining Control over the Variables 375The General Linear Model 379Components of Variance 382The F-Ratio 384H0 and H1 387F-Ratio Sampling Distribution 388Summarizing and Interpreting ANOVA Results 389Effect Size and Power 391Multiple Comparisons of the Means 392Research in Action: Detecting Lies 396Statistics behind the Research 398Chapter Summary 403Chapter Glossary for Review 404Chapter References 406Chapter 13 Between-Subjects Factorial Designs 407Introduction 407The Logic of the Two-Variable Design 408Advantages of the Two-Variable Design 409Factorial Designs: Variables, Levels, and Cells 413Examples of Factorial Designs 414Main Effects and Interaction 418Designing a Factorial Study 426Identifying Samples and Estimating Sample Size 429Interpreting the Interaction: Advanced Considerations 431Research in Action: Reinforcing Creativity 432Statistics behind the Research 434Chapter Summary 441Chapter Glossary for Review 441Chapter References 442Chapter 14 Correlated-Groups Designs 443Introduction 443Logic of the Correlated-Groups Research Design 444Repeated-Measures Design 445Matched-Groups Design 455Mixed-Model Design 460Research in Action: Memory for Related Words 461Statistics behind the Research 463Chapter Summary 465Chapter Glossary for Review 468Chapter References 469Part IV Special Research Designs 471Chapter 15 Single-Participant Experiments, Longitudinal Studies, and Quasi-Experimental Designs 473Introduction 473Single-Participant Experiments 475Research in Action: Treatment for Panic Disorder 484Longitudinal Designs 487Research in Action: Onset of Bulimia 491Quasi-Experiments 493Research in Action: Traffic Laws and Safety 496Chapter Summary 498Chapter Glossary for Review 499Chapter References 499Chapter 16 Research with Categorical Data 502Introduction 502Goodness-of-Fit Test 504x2 Test of Independence 508x2 Test of Homogeneity 511Further Analysis of the x2 513McNemar Test 516Research in Action: Long-Term Effects of Childhood Abuse 519Chapter Summary 522Chapter Glossary for Review 523Chapter References 523Chapter 17 Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Research 525Introduction 525Qualitative versus Quantitative Research 526Theory and Perspectives Guiding Qualitative Research 527Mixing Methods: Quantitative and Qualitative Combined 528Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Data Collection and Analysis 530Benefits and Challenges of Mixed-Methods Research 537Sources of Published Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Research 541Research in Action: Gender- and Job-Based Differences in Work Stress 542Chapter Summary 545Chapter Glossary for Review 545Chapter References 546Appendix A Statistics behind the Research or, “What Was I Supposed to Remember from My Statistics Class Anyway?” 548Appendix B Statistical Tables 566Appendix C Answers to Knowledge Check Questions 606Author Index 637Subject Index 641