E-Book Content
SECOND EDITIO
Hodder & Stought
A MEMBER OF THE HODDER HEADLINE G
Preface to the first edition
xi
Preface to the second edition
xii
PART I Introduction
1
Chapter 1 Psychology and research Scientific research; empirical method; hypothetico-deductive method; falsifiability; descriptive research; hypothesis testing; the null-hypothesis; one- and two-tailed hypotheses; planning research.
3
Chanter 2 Variables and definitions Psychological variables and constructs; operational definitions; independent and dependent variables; extraneous variables; random and constant error; confounding.
22
Chapter 3 Samples and groups Populations and samples; sampling bias; representative samples; random samples; stratified, quota, cluster, snowball, self-selecting and opportunity samples; sample size. Experimental, control and placebo groups.
34
PART ll Methods
47
Chapter ,4 Some general themes Reliability. Validity; internal and external validity; threats to validity; ecological validity; construct validity. Standardised procedure; participant variance; confounding; replication; meta-analysis. The quantitativequalitative dimension.
49
Chapter 5 The experimental method I: nature of the method Expeiiments; non-experimental work; the laboratory; field experiments; quasi-experiments; narural experiments; ex post facto research; criticisms of the experiment.
66
Chapter 6 The experimental method U: experimental designs Repeated measures; related designs; order effects. Independent samples design; participant (subject) variables. Matched pairs. Single participant.
81
Chavter 7 Observational methods Observation as technique and design; participant and non-participant observation; structured observation; controlled observation; naturalistic observation;- objections to structured observation;- aualitative non. participant observation; role-play and simulation; the diary method; participant observation; indirect observation; content analysis; verbal protocols. e
Chapter 8 Asking questions I: interviews and surveys Structure and disguise; types of interview method; the clinical method; the individual case-study; interview techniques; surveys. Chapter 9 Asking questions 11: questionnaires, scales and tests Questionnaires; attitude scales; questionnaire and scale items; projective tests; sociomeny; psychometric rests. Reliability, validity and standardisation of tests. Chapter 10 Comparison studies Cross-sectional studies; longitudinal studies; short-term longitudinal studies. Cross-cultural studies; research examples; indigenous psychologies; ethnicity and culture within one society. Chapter 11 New paradigms Positivism; doubts about positiyism; the establishment paradigm; objections to the traditional paradigm; new paradigm proposals; qualitative approaches; feminist perspective; discourse analysis; reflexivity.
PART Ill Dealing with data
Chapter 12 Measurement Nominal level; ordinal level; interval level; plastic interval scales; ratio level; reducing from interval to ordinal and nominal level; categorical and measured variables; continuous and discrete scales of measurement. Chapter 13 Descriptive statistics Central tendency; mean; median; mode. Dispersion; range; serniinterquartile range; mean deviation; standard deviation and variance. Population parameters and sample statistics. Distributions; percentiles; deciles and q u a d e s . Graphical representation; histogram; bar chart; frequency polygon; ogive. Exploratory data analysis; stem-and-leaf display; box plots. The normal distribution; standard (z-) scores; skewed distributions; standardisation of psychological measurements.
PART IV Using data to test predictions
Section 1 A n intro