Types of Research

There are three types...

1. Descriptive

2. Correlational

3. Experimental

Descriptive: any research that observes and records

• does not talk about relationships; it just describes
  

Types of Descriptive Research....

1. Case Study: 1 type of observational data collection technique in which individuals are studied in-depth in order to identify behavioral, emotional, and/or cognitive qualities that are universally true, on average of others.
2. Survey Method: most common type of study used in psychology which measures correlation, it's cheap and fast, and some ways to do surveys are by interview, over the phone, email, mail, etc.
• Random Sampling: identifying the populations you want to study while letting the sample be a representative of the population of what you want to study.

Why do we sample?

• False Consensus Effect: the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors.

Why are some bad?

• Low response rate
• People lie or just misinterpret themselves
• Wording effects

  3. Naturalistic Observation: watching subjects in their naturals environments without interfering with their habitat.

Hawthorne Effect: just the fact that you know you're an experiment can cause change in the experiment

Correlational Method: Correlation expresses a relationship between two variables

• Does not show causation

Correlation Coefficient: used to measure correlation

• ranges from +1 to -1
• the relationship gets weaker the closest you get to zero

2 Types...

Positive: variables go in SAME direction

Negative: variables go in OPPOSITE direction

Experimental Research: must show relationship that shows cause and effect

Experimental Group: doesn't know they're receiving treatment

Control Study: knows they're receiving treatment.

Blind Study: subjects are unaware if assigned to experimental or control group

Double-Blind Study: neither subjects nor experimenters know which group is controlled nor experimented

Inferential Statistics: used to make a inference or draw a conclusion beyond the inference or draw a conclusion beyond the raw data

Measure of Variation: 

• Mean: the average
• Mode: most often
• Range: subtract the smallest from the largest
• Median: middle number when lined up from greatest to least or least to greatest
• Standard Deviation: a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean

*High standard deviation means scores are spread out, and low standard deviation means scores are clustered together*

Methods to Research

• Barnum Effect
• people's tendency to believe that vague, stock descriptions about personality actually fits them

Hindsight Bias

• the tendency to believe that after knowing the outcome, you tend to believe you knew it all along.

Overconfidence

We tend to think we know more than we actually do

Applied vs. Basic Research

Applied: has clear practical applications that you can use

Basic: explores questions that you may be curious about, but not intended to be immediately used.

Operational Definitions

• how the variable will be measure in real life terms

Hypothesis

expressing a relations between 2 variables 

A variable is anything that can vary among participants in a study

Independent Variable: the changing variable; the one that is being manipulated

Dependent Variable: the responding variable; the one that is being measured

Disorders

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) used to be known as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). A person has several rather than one integrated personalities. People with DID commonly have a history of child abuse or trauma. We've all experience mild dissociation before which is like daydreaming, and getting lost in the moment. However, dissociative identity disorder is a severe form of dissociation, a mental process, which produces a lack of connection in a person's thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity. Along with DID comes:

• Mood swings
• Psychotic-like symptoms (including auditory and visual hallucinations)
• Suicidal tendencies
• Anxiety, panic attacks, and phobias (flashbacks, reactions to stimuli or "triggers")
• Eating disorders
• Depression
• Alcohol and drug abuse
• Compulsions and rituals
• Sleep disorders (insomnia, night terrors, and sleepwalking)

Bipolar depression also know as  manic depression causes serious shifts in mood, energy, thinking, and behavior—from the highs of mania on one extreme, to the lows of depression on the other. Bipolar disorder involves periods of depression and manic episodes. Manic episodes involve feelings of high energy. During a manic episode, a person might impulsively quit a job, charge up huge amounts on credit cards, or feel rested after sleeping two hours. Depression episodes involves feelings of low energy. During a depressive episode, the same person might be too tired to get out of bed, and full of self-loathing and hopelessness over being unemployed and in debt.

Personality Tests

After taking the Jung's Typology Test on http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp, I found out I'm an ENJF-

Extravert- 11%

INtuitive- 12%

Feeling-25%

Judging- 56%

I have slight preference of extroversion over introversion. I have slight preference on intuition over sensing. I have moderate preference of feeling over thing. Lastly, I have moderate preference of judging over perceiving.