Research Methods for Social Psychology

Dana S. Dunn is Professor of Psychology at Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA. Among other works, he is the author of Statistics and Data Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2001), and A Short Guide to Writing about Psychology (2004), as well as several works currently in preparation, including Best Practices for Teaching Critical Thinking in Psychology (with Randolph Smith and Jane Halonen; 2009), Psychology Applied to Modern Life: Adjustment in the 21st Century, 9th edition (with Wayne Weiten and Margaret A. Lloyd; 2009), and the second edition of The Practical Researcher: A Student Guide to Conducting Psychological Research (Wiley Blackwell; 2010). Dana Dunn is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) and a charter member of the American Psychological Society (APS).

• Preface to the Second Edition xiAcknowledgments xivAbout the Author xv1 Studying Social Psychology 1Introducing and Defining Social Psychology 1Establishing Causality: The Importance of Experimentation in Social Psychology 3Levels of Explanation: Social Psychology’s Relation to Other Fields of Inquiry 5Personality Psychology’s Relation to Social Psychology 7The Scientific Method: Doing Social Psychology 8Why? Social Psychology is Social 11Social Thought 12Social Influence 12Social Connections 12Where? The Lab and the Field 13The Lab 13The Field 13One More Distinction: Basic and Applied Research 15Social Psychologists Today 16Active Learning Exercise 1A: Learning About Active Social Psychologists 16Learning Research Methods for Social Psychology 18Active Learning Exercise 1B: Planning a Research Project in Social Psychology 18Exercises 192 Developing Research Topics in Social Psychology 20The Scope of Social Psychology 22Traditional Topics and New Avenues for Research 23Extending Earlier Research 26Finding a Research Question 26Self-Reflection 26Explore but Verify Hindsight 27Your Campus 27Your Community 28Look to the Media 29The Wider World 29Ask an Expert 30The World Wide Web 30Watch Other People 31Other Sources for Research Ideas 31Active Learning Exercise 2A: Developing Topic Ideas by Brainstorming 32Active Learning Exercise 2B: Keeping a Social Psychology Log 33Searching the Social Psychological Literature 34Searching Databases 36Searching the Library Catalog 39Seeking Help: Speak to Reference Professionals 39Active Learning Exercise 2C: Maintaining a Bibliography and Organizing Sources 40Reading Social Psychology Research 41Borrowing Ideas from Published Social Psychology Experiments 43Exercises 443 Ethical Issues in Social Psychological Research 45Milgram’s Obedience Research 47Other Ethically Challenging Examples 50The Problem of Deception in Social Psychology Experiments: Balancing Benefits and Costs 51Arguments for Using Deception: Some Benefits 53Arguments Against Using Deception: The Costs 55The Special Role of Confederates 56Labels Do Matter: Participants, Not Subjects 57Institutional Review Boards 59Active Learning Exercise 3A: Forming an In-Class IRB 61Active Learning Exercise 3B: Completing an IRB Form 62Informed Consent is Essential 63Confidentiality 64Obtaining Informed Consent 65Active Learning Exercise 3C: Creating an Informed Consent Form for Your Project 66Ethical Issues and Field Research 68Shared Virtues: Ethical Treatment, Education, and Science 69A Last Word on Ethics? 70Exercises 714 Basic Experimental Design 72The Logic of Experimentation 73The Advantages of Experiments 76Why Experiments Matter in Social Psychology 77Turning a Research Question into a Hypothesis 77Operational Definitions in Social Psychological Research 78Active Learning Exercise 4A: Writing an Operational Definition 80Independent and Dependent Variables 81Active Learning Exercise 4B: Identifying Independent and Dependent Variables in Social Psychology Experiments 82Doing Randomization in Social Psychology Experiments 83Issues of Error 83Sampling and Randomization 87Active Learning Exercise 4C: Performing Random Assignment and Random Selection 89Common Experimental Designs in Social Psychology 92Between-Subjects Research Designs 92Within-Subjects Research Designs 98Active Learning Exercise 4D: Recognizing Main Effects and Interactions 99Joining Between- and Within-Subject Variables: Mixed Designs 104Design Matters 104Exercises 105Active Learning Exercise 4B Answers 105Table 4.6 Answers 1055 Alternatives to Experimental Research in Social Psychology 106Leaving the Comfort of the Lab: Problems and Prospects 109Observational Research 110Active Learning Exercise 5A: Designing and Conducting an Observational Study 111Correlational Approaches 112Active Learning Exercise 5B: Conducting a Correlational Study on Personality 115Quasi-Experimental Research Designs 117Nonequivalent Group Designs 118Time Series Designs 120Survey Research 123Approaches to Surveying Opinion 123Experience Sampling Methods and Diary Approaches 124Active Learning Exercise 5C: Conducting an ESM Study 125Dear Diary: An Example 126Internet-Based Research 127Internet Ethics 128Time, Participant Loss, and Sampling Issues 129An Internet-Based Example: Online Character Pre- and Post-September 11, 2001 131Archival Research and Meta-Analysis 133Summarizing Studies of Social Behavior: Meta-Analysis 138Conclusions 140Exercises 1406 Developing Questionnaires and Surveys 142Caveat Emptor: Let the (Jam) Buyer Beware 143The Obvious Advantage of Asking Questions 145Sampling Issues 146Probability and Nonprobability Samples 147Scales of Measurement 149Nominal Scales 150Ordinal Scales 151Interval Scales 151Ratio Scales 151Types of Questions: Open-Ended and Close-Ended 152Open-Ended Questions 152Close-Ended Questions 154The Most Common and Useful Numerical Scale: The Likert Scale 155Writing Clear Questions 157Phrasing 158Sequencing Questions 163Being Sensitive 165Last Words on Wording for Questionnaires and Surveys 165Active Learning Exercise 6A: Writing and Revising Questions 166Active Learning Exercise 6B: Pilot Testing Questions 167Social Desirability Concerns, Halo Effects, and Yea-Saying 167We Like to be Liked 167Likes or Dislikes Can Matter 169Yes, Yes, A Thousand Times, Yes 170Anonymity or Identity? 171A Brief Word on Survey Data Collection 171Questionnaires and Surveys as Precursors to Experiments 172Exercises 1737 Introducing a Difference: Independent Variables 174Conceiving Independent Variables 176Types of Independent Variables 178Can One Operationalization of an Independent Variable Represent All Possibilities? 180Providing Context for the Independent Variable: Instructions 181Plan for Piloting 182Delivering the Independent Variable 182Delivery via Authority: The Experimenter 183Personal Delivery: Confederates and Peers 184Written Delivery 185Other Forms of Delivery 185One More Time: Instruct, Repeat, and Probe 186Active Learning Exercise 7A: Developing Independent Variables 187How Many Independent Variables? A Reprise 188Individual Differences as Independent Variables: Prospects and Problems 188Verifying Cause and Effect: Manipulation Checks 189Active Learning Exercise 7B: Developing a Manipulation Check 191The Best Laid Plans (and Independent Variables) 192Perform an Internal Analysis 193Ask Participants But be Wary 194Impact: Increase Obviousness 194Reconsider the Hypothesis 195Keep a Causal Focus 196Exercises 1968 Measuring What Happens: Dependent Variables 198Behavioral Dependent Measures 199Measuring What People Do 202Measuring Intentions and Future Commitments 205Behavioral Measures in Disguise: Unobtrusive Measures 206Active Learning Exercise 8A: Creating Creative Dependent Measures 208Verbal Measures 209Varieties of Verbal Measures Revisited 210Some Additional Verbal Dependent Measures 214Other Types of Dependent Measures 216Nonverbal Measures 216Implicit Measures 216Physiological Measures 217False Physiological Feedback: The Bogus Pipeline 219Narrative Approaches 219Some Practical Issues for Administering Dependent Variables 219Active Learning Exercise 8B: Developing Dependent Variables by Looking to the Literature 221Reliability and Dependent Variables 222Exercises 2239 Validity and Realism in Research 224Trusting Research Evidence: Demonstrating Internal Validity 226General Threats to Internal Validity 228Reprise: Ways to Enhance a Study’s Internal Validity 231Generalizing to Other Settings: External Validity 231External Validity via Replication 232College Sophomores as Threats to External Validity 233Context Matters 234Enhancing External Validity 235In Praise of External Invalidity 236The Social Psychologist’s Challenge: Trade-Offs Between Internal and External Validity 237Active Learning Exercise 9A: Evaluating Your Project’s Internal and External Validity 238Making It Real: Mundane, Experimental, and Psychological Realism 239Active Learning Exercise 9B: Enhancing Mundane and Experimental Realism 242(Re)Considering Construct Validity 243Beyond Construct Validity 244Validity and Realism via Replication 244Exercises 24510 Conducting Social Psychology Experiments: Practical Matters 246Setting the Stage 248Deception Revisited: Think Carefully Before You Decide to Deceive Participants 249Recruiting Participants 250Active Learning Exercise 10A: Participant Pools, Sign-up Sheets, and Giving Credit 250Demand Characteristics 253Reducing Experimenter Biases 254Active Learning Exercise 10B: Writing a Script for Your Study 257Record Keeping 259Active Learning Exercise 10C: Creating a Data Record Sheet 260Conducting a Postexperimental Interview 262On The Rare Occasion When Deception Is Necessary 263Active Learning Exercise 10D: Crafting a Debriefing Protocol 263Active Learning Exercise 10E: Writing a Debriefing Sheet 265Closing Thoughts: Pilot Testing and Long-Term Change 266Exercises 26711 Data Analysis 268Basic Statistics 270Mean, Mode, and Median 271Variance and Standard Deviation 273Correlation: A Reprise 274Some Brief Comments on Statistical Power and Effect Size—and a Caveat 274The Role of Data Analysis in Social Psychological Research 276Plan Analyses In Advance 277Active Learning Exercise 11A: Planning Data Analyses and Selecting the Proper Statistical Test(s) 278Interpreting and Reporting Results 281Stereotype Threat Revisited 282Active Learning Exercise 11B: Putting Results into Words 284Learning from Success, Learning from Failure 287Exercises 28712 Presenting Social Psychological Research 288Persuasive Communication 289Who 289What 290Whom 290Writing Like a Social Psychologist: A Matter of (APA) Style 291Sections Found in APA-Style Papers 292Title 295Author Note 296Abstract 296Introduction 297Method 300Results 302Discussion 303References 305Tables and Figures 307Appendix 308Additional Formatting Guidelines 308Active Learning Exercise 12A: Drafting an APA-Style Lab Report of Your Social Psychology Project 309Seeking Feedback on Your Writing 311Preparing a Poster Summary 312Active Learning Exercise 12B: Making a Poster 314Enter Talking: Preparing and Delivering Oral Research Presentations 314Preparing a Talk 315Evaluating a Talk 317Active Learning Exercise 12C: Giving Social Psychology Away via Audience Handouts 318Active Learning Exercise 12D: Host a Paper or Poster Session 318Parting Thoughts 319Exercises 320Appendix A Major Journals in Social Psychology 321Appendix B Reading Journal Articles in Social Psychology 322Appendix C Student Research Paper 325References 338Author Index 361Subject Index 371