Research Methods in Psychology

Paul G. Nestor, PhD, is professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and assistant professor in psychology in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. A summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Boston University, he earned his MA and PhD in clinical psychology from The Catholic University of America, and was a postdoctoral fellow in the National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Research Training Program at Harvard Medical School. His peer-reviewed publications cover a variety of areas in behavioral science, including neuropsychology, structural and functional neuroimaging, attention, memory, personality, forensic psychology, and schizophrenia. He has authored or co-authored over one-hundred peer-reviewed articles in some of the most prominent journals. His research has been federally supported by competitive grants from both the National Institute of Mental Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs. He is a past recipient of a Veterans Administration Merit Review Award, “Cognitive Neuroscience Studies of Schizophrenia.” He is also the past recipient of the University of Massachusetts, Boston Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Scholarship for his research in psychology. His teaching has been recognized by the University of Massachusetts, Boston College of Arts and Sciences’ Outstanding Faculty Achievement Award. Nestor also has experience in media presentation for both television and radio, including having his research featured on the Discovery Channel and on WUMB. He is a licensed psychologist in Massachusetts, specializing in clinical psychology, neuropsychology, and forensic psychology.Russell K. Schutt, PhD, is professor emeritus of sociology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he received the 2007 Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Service and taught from 1979 to 2022. He is also a Clinical Research Scientist I at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a Lecturer (part-time) in the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. He completed his BA, MA, and PhD degrees at the University of Illinois at Chicago and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Sociology of Social Control Training Program at Yale University. In addition to ten editions of Investigating the Social World: The Process and Practice of Research and seven editions of Making Sense of the Social World, with Daniel F. Chambliss, PhD, as well as coauthored versions for criminal justice, psychology, and education, his other books include Homelessness, Housing, and Mental Illness (2011), Social Neuroscience: Brain, Mind, and Society (coedited, 2015), and Organization in a Changing Environment (1986). He has authored and coauthored more than 70 peer reviewed journal articles, as well as more than 30 non-refereed articles and book chapters on social support, mental and physical health, health services, organizations, homelessness, law, and teaching research methods. His research has been funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the National Science Foundation, the Veterans Health Administration, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health, the Fetzer Institute, and state agencies. Details are available at https://blogs.umb.edu/russellkschutt/.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorsPART I. RESEARCH FUNDAMENTALSChapter 1. Uncommon Sense and the Scientific MethodBiases in ThinkingThe Scientific MethodPsychological Research in the Public SquareConclusionChapter 2. The Research ProcessCan Money Buy You Happiness?Research ApproachResearch ToolboxEvaluating and Critiquing ResearchConclusionChapter 3. Literature Review in ResearchThe Brain on MarijuanaLiterature Review in ResearchFramework for Literature ReviewAdvanced Literature ReviewsConclusionChapter 4. Ethics in Behavioral ResearchHistorical BackgroundEthical PrinciplesThe Institutional Review BoardConclusionChapter 5. Conceptualization and MeasurementWhat Is Happiness?Theoretical ConstructsLevels of MeasurementThe Special Case of PsychometricsEvaluating MeasuresThe Logic of Measurement ValidityConclusionChapter 6. Samples and GeneralizationsSample PlanningSampling MethodsSampling DistributionsConclusionPART II. RESEARCH DESIGNSChapter 7. Considering Correlation: Are You a Maximizer or a Satisficer?Are You a Maximizer or a Satisficer?Correlational ResearchCorrelation, Confounds, and Control VariablesDecision-Making Strategies in a College Student Sample: Maximizer or Satisficer?ConclusionChapter 8. In Search of Causality: True ExperimentsMental Calisthenics for the Brain?Single-Factor ExperimentTheater of Independent VariablesMeasurement and ControlValidity in ExperimentsCan Causality Be Established?ConclusionChapter 9. Experimental Design and Hypothesis TestingDoes Exercise Make You Smarter?Basic Experimental DesignsTwo Options in Assigning ParticipantsNull Hypothesis Significance TestingConclusionChapter 10. Complex Research DesignsMultifactorial DesignsWithin-Subjects ExperimentBetween-Subjects ExperimentConclusionChapter 11. Quasi-Experimental and Nonexperimental DesignsThe Good and the Bad of Media MultitaskingQuasi-Experimental DesignsNonequivalent-Control-Group DesignsBefore-and-After DesignsQuasi-Experiments of Media MultitaskingQuasi-Experiments of 9/11 MemoriesQuasi-Experimental Research of Culture and CognitionDevelopmental StudiesNonexperimental ResearchConclusionChapter 12. Small-N and Single-Subject DesignsFoundations of Small-N DesignsMeasuring Targets of InterventionTypes of Small-N and Single-Subject DesignsAnalyzing Small-N and Single-Subject DesignsInternal ValidityGeneralizabilityConclusionChapter 13. Survey ResearchHow Happy Are You?Considering SurveysWriting Survey QuestionsCombining Questions in Indexes and ScalesDesigning QuestionnairesOrganizing SurveysAnalyzing SurveysConclusionChapter 14. Qualitative MethodsFundamentals of Qualitative ResearchMethods for Collecting Qualitative DataQualitative InterviewingParticipant ObservationSystematic ObservationFocus GroupsQualitative Data AnalysisEthical Issues in Qualitative ResearchConclusionPART III. RESEARCH PRODUCTSChapter 15. Quantitative Data AnalysisDoes Needing Help = Getting Help?Statistical ApproachUnivariate DistributionsDescriptive StatisticsInferential StatisticsThe Ethics of StatisticsConclusionChapter 16. Essentials of APA Report WritingAPA FormatReport Organization in APA FormatLiterature ReviewPoster PresentationSample PaperConclusionAppendix A: Summaries of Frequently Cited Research ArticlesAppendix B: Questions to Ask About a Research ArticleAppendix C: How to Read a Research ArticleAppendix D: Proportions of Area Under Standard Normal CurveAppendix E: Critical Values for t DistributionAppendix F: Critical Values of FAppendix G: Critical Values of Chi-SquareAppendix H: Critical Values of the Correlation CoefficientAppendix I: Table of Random NumbersGlossaryReferencesIndex