HOW TO GENERATE RESEARCH IDEAS:

LECTURE 04/09/01

INDUCTIVE TECHNIQUES:

CASE STUDIES: CAN BE USED TO EITHER TEST OR GENERATE HYPOTHESES
TRYING TO ACCOUNT FOR PARADOXICAL INCIDENTS (PUZZLING OR NONSENSICAL OBSERVATIONS)
ANALYZING THE PRACTITIONER’S RULE OF THUMB: ANALYZING THINGS THAT EXPERTS IN A PARTICULAR AREA DO TO ACHIEVE CERTAIN OUTCOMES
SERENDIPITY (GOOD LUCK OR FORTUNE) PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN MOST OF SKINNER’S BIG DISCOVERIES

DEDUCTIVE TECHNIQUES:

REASONING BY ANALOGY: I.E., BIOLOGICAL RESISTANCE TO DISEASE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL RESISTANCE TO PERSUASION.
APPLYING A FUNCTIONAL OR ADAPTIVE ANALYSIS TO A PARTICULAR RESEARCH QUESTION: ASK YOURSELF WHAT BASIC QUESTIONS ABOUT WHAT ORGANISMS HAVE TO DO TO SUCCESSFULLY MASTER THEIR ENVIRONMENTS
HYPOTHETICO-DEDUCTIVE METHOD: BEGIN WITH A FEW GUIDING PRINCIPLES AND DERIVE SPECIFIC HYPOTHESES BY COMBINING THE PRINCIPLES TOGETHER IN NOVEL WAYS
ACCOUNT FOR CONFLICTING RESULTS: STRUGGLING TO FIT CONTRADICTORY THEORIES TOGETHER IN A MORE COMPREHENSIVE THEORY
ACCOUNT FOR EXCEPTIONS: TO WELL-ESTABLISHED PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. GOAL TO DETERMINE WHEN (OR FOR WHOM) A GIVEN PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLE IS TRUE

THE FIVE OR SIX R’S OF BEING A SUCCESSFUL RESEARCHER:

READING: LITERATURE SEARCHES
KEEPS YOU FROM REPEATING THE RESEARCH THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN COMPLETED
GET A SENSE OF INTERESTING AND IMPORTANT THINGS LIKE WHETHER RESEARCHERS AGREE ABOUT WHAT THEORIES BEST ACCOUNT FOR THE PHENOMENOM IN WHICH YOU ARE INTERESTED
UNINTERESTING BUT IMPORTANT THINGS LIKE HOW BIG THE EFFECT IS THAT YOU’RE AFTER (HOW MANY SUBJECTS WILL YOU NEED), WHAT KIND OF EQUIPMENT WILL YOU NEED?
CAN FIND OUT ABOUT MISTAKES THAT OTHERS HAVE MADE AND DON’T REPEAT THEM

RULES FOR WRITING SURVEY QUESTIONS:

WRITING:
MAKE SURE THAT THE WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS THAT YOU GIVE TO YOUR RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS MAKE SENSE AND QUESTIONS THAT MAKE UP YOUR DEPENDENT MEASURES MAKE SENSE AS WELL

RULE ONE: THINK CAREFULLY ABOUT THE ORDER OF YOUR QUESTIONS: DO THINGS GRADUALLY (SENSITIVE SURVEY QUESTION)
RULE TWO: USE INFORMAL LANGUAGE
BEST TO USE PROPER AND GRAMMATICAL BUT RELATIVELY INFORMAL LANGUAGE. NO PSYCHOLOGICAL JARGON OR CATCHPHRASES

RULE THREE: BE CLEAR AND CONCISE
RULE FOUR: AVOID DOUBLE-BARRELED QUESTIONS
RULE FIVE: ASK SENSITIVE QUESTIONS SENSITIVELY
RULE SIX: STATE THINGS IN THE AFFIRMATIVE
RULE SEVEN: AVOID QUESTIONS THAT NO ONE OR EVERYONE WILL ENDORSE
RESTRICTION OF RANGE: AVOID BOTH "FLOOR EFFECTS" AND "CEILING EFFECTS"
FLOOR EFFECTS: OCCUR WHEN ALMOST EVERYONE IN A SAMPLE RESPONDS AT THE SAME LOW LEVEL ON A QUESTION OR DEPENDENT MEASURE (EVERYONE ANSWERS ONE ON A SEVEN POINT SCALE)
CEILING EFFECTS: THE OPPOSITE OF THE ABOVE. OCCURS WHEN ALMOST EVERYONE IN A SAMPLE RESPONDS AT THE SAME HIGH LEVEL ON A QUESTION OR DEPENDENT MEASURE

RULE EIGHT: AVOID VAGUE NUMERICAL REFERENCES (GIVE #S)
RULE NINE: AVOID LEADING QUESTIONS AND ANCHORING OR FRAMING EFFECTS
RULE TEN: MAKE SURE YOUR QUESTIONS ARE RELEVANT TO EVERYONE IN YOUR STUDY
MAKE SURE YOUR QUESTIONS MAKE SENSE TO YOUR ENTIRE SAMPLE. IF YOU ARE STUDYING CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS, YOU SHOULD NOT ASSUME THAT YOUR SAMPLE IS HETEROSEXUAL – SHOULD BE GENDER NEUTRAL

WRITING INSTRUCTIONS:

GIVE YOUR PARTICIPANTS SOME IDEA OF EXACTLY WHY THEY ARE TAKING PART IN YOUR STUDY AND EXACTLY WHAT THEY WILL BE DOING (THERE IS A LITTLE BIT OF ROOM FOR A LITTLE DECEPTION)
WANT TO ORIENT THEM TO THE TASK AT HAND
RESPONSES IN THE STUDY ARE PRIVATE AND ANONYMOUS – ESPECIALLY ON SENSITIVE SUBJECTS
INCLUDE SOME REDUNDANCY IN YOUR INSTRUCTIONS

PILOT STUDY:

PRACTICE:

REPLICATING:

RESEARCH PUBLICATION ISSUES:

PLAGERISM = PRESENT SUBSTANTIAL PORTIONS OR ELEMENTS OF ANOTHER’S WORK OR DATA AS THEIR OWN
PUBLICATION CREDIT = AUTHORSHIP AND PUBLICATION CREDIT FOR ONLY WORK ACTUALLY PERFORMED
PARTIAL PUBLICATION = PUBLICATION OF SEVERAL ARTICLES BASED ON ONE LARGE SET OF DATA
DUAL PUBLICATION = PUBLISHING THE SAME DATA AND RESULTS IN MORE THAN ONE JOURNAL AND PUBLICATION

FINANCIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

DEVELOPMENT OF APA ETHICAL PRINCIPLES IN THE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH WITH HUMAN PARTICIPANTS:

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES:

PRINCIPLE A:
IN PLANNING A STUDY, THE INVESTIGATOR HAS THE RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE A CAREFUL EVALUATION OF IT’S ETHICAL ACCEPTABILITY
PRINCIPLE B:
DETERMINE DEGREE OF RISK TO SUBJECT (DECEPTION, STRESSFUL CONDITIONS, OR TAKE MEDICATION)
PRINCIPLE C:
INVESTIGATOR ALWAYS RETAINS RESPONSIBILITY FOR ETHICAL PRACTICE
PRINCIPLE D:
PRIOR TO CONDUCTING RESEARCH, THE INVESTIGATOR MUST DISCLOSE OBLIGATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF BOTH SUBJECT AND INVESTIGATOR (INFLUENCE WILLINGNESS TO PARTICIPATE)
NOT FOR: ANONYMOUS SURVEYS OR NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
PRINCIPLE E:
IF DECEPTION IS GOING TO BE USED:

DETERMINE IF JUSTIFIED,
IDENTIFY ALTERNATIVES TO DECEPTION IF ANY,
ENSURE PARTICIPANTS ARE PROVIDED WITH SUFFICIENT EXPLANATION AS IMMEDIATE AS POSSIBLE

PRINCIPLE F:
INVESTIGATOR RESPECTS INDIVIDUAL’S FREEDOM TO DECLINE AT ANY TIME DURING THE COURSE OF EXPERIMENT
PRINCIPLE G:
INVESTIGATOR PROTECTS PARTICIPANT FROM PHYSICAL AND MENTAL DISCOMFORT, HARM, AND DANGER THAT MAY ARISE FROM RESEARCH PROCEDURES
PRINCIPLE H:
AFTER COLLECTION OF DATA, RESEARCHER PROVIDES PARTICIPANT WITH INFORMATION ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE STUDY (DEBRIEFING)
PRINCIPLE I:
IF RESEARCH PROCEDURES RESULT IN UNDESIRABLE CONSEQUENCES FOR INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR HAS RESPONSIBILITY TO DETECT AND REMOVE OR CORRECT THESE CONSEQUENCES (LONG-TERM)
PRINCIPLE J:
INFORMATION OBTAINED ABOUT RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS DURING THE COURSE OF AN INVESTIGATION IS CONFIDENTIAL UNLESS OTHERWISE AGREED UPON IN ADVANCE

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