Psychology

1. Finding Truth
It is the nature of humans to continue to search for new knowledge and information to improve the quality of life. Science allows man to apply prescriptive practices or systems to be able to predict the answers to many of his questions. As practitioners of behavioral science, psychologists conduct research to open new knowledge in the understanding of human behavior. They use scientific methods as a means to acquire this understanding.

A child discovers that fire is hot because he tries to touch it with his bare hands and gets burned as a result. An adult would know that fire is hot and would use a stick to avoid having to touch it directly. The adult is smarter because he has had experience and learned from other people about the nature of fire. A non-researcher would solve problems the way a child would through trial and error. He may resort to simple guessing and base his solutions from intuition, hearsay or even superstition. These means impose dangers of making a lot of mistakes.

A psychologist researcher would use scientific method to acquire knowledge. Scientific methods are processes that use observable and measurable evidences to solve problems. They are based on principles, theories and empirical knowledge that have been proven by others to be true. The processes have to be systematic, formatted step by step procedures that can be documented for future reference. This way the process of solving problems becomes more efficient with minimal dangers and costs. People will also have more confidence in adopting the solutions proposed.

Scientific method of research begins with the identification of the problem. The problem will have to be relevant to the researchers field so that the assumed solutions will not be rendered useless.

Assumptions are generated from this problem it is scientifically termed hypothesis. The assumptions are the basis for gathering information. To be scientific, a research plan has to be made. This will outline the researchers courses of action in conducting the research. He looks into published works and reviews them if they can add information to enlighten about the subject. This literature review provides that background knowledge. The succeeding processes are done in accordance with rules of discipline and ethical practices among scientific researchers. People will only rely on results if they are truthful and in abeyance with moral standards set by psychological boards.

2. The Ethical Demand
As the world advances in science and technology, the need for more research increases. Because of the volume of studies conducted in the field, scientists had to organize themselves in groups of experts to champion the practices of researchers. All documented researches have to pass through stringent standards set by the association and the other institutional review boards assisting in the monitoring. It establishes ground rules in the practice of professional research.

Part of the ethical standards of conducting research is paying due respect to previously conducted literature. In other words researchers cannot simply copy the works of others and claim ownership. Making quality research project is not just about proving that the researcher is right about an assumption. The test for quality research is not just whether one has come up with strong evidences to back up the assumptions. Sometimes researches end up with weak results sometimes they end up with results that disprove their assumptions. What is important is that the researcher has a relevant solution and that the processes in looking for evidences are done with dignity.

Plagiarism and claiming authorship are simply robbery and grave violations of law. Nobody can feel good about claiming something that is not their own work because deep within, they know it is not theirs. To maintain order in this scientific world, intellectual property rights have to be safeguarded. It is a bit complicated and difficult to control but technology has already developed new programs to protect from stealing researches and plagiarism like, turnitin.com, the GPSD or the Glatt Plagiarism Self Detection program and other newly developing program.

Another important thing to consider is giving due respect to people being involved in the study. Humans are not animals that can just be experimented anytime. It is very critical especially in conducting experiments, to acquire informed consent of the subjects being involved. There should be no deception of any kind and the subjects will have to be informed of everything that will be done in the research.

3. Classifying Variables
Life is full of variables that make it interesting. How can one take life if there is only one gender, one skin complexion, one height, one mental ability for people Or if people behave the same way no matter what. Then, life will lose its spice it would not be life at all. Variables are entities that take on different values. In scientific research, the information or data collected on the process are called observations. These observations are characterized by cause and effect.

Variables are used in psychological researches to determine the cause and effect relationships whether the change of one will lead to the change of the other. In a problem situation, when something is presented with a scenario, how the other reacts would be a discovery worth pursuing. For example, it would be interesting to find out if the response of a student will be the same if his teacher is male or female. The response of the student will then depend whether the teacher is male or female. In this case, we have two kinds of variables that are involved the dependent and the independent variable.
The Independent Variable (IV) is the variable that is constant those that cannot change. For example, gender. A persons gender, female or male will not change. A female cannot change to a male even if she undergoes a lot of surgery same way with males. Therefore gender is considered an independent variable when used in research. In the above example, students response becomes a dependent variable (DV) because it can change if the gender is replaced. Therefore, if a student responds better, worse or just the same, when the teacher is male or female, then the research can make a relevant conclusion to his research problem. Other examples of dependent and independent variables are the effect of music (IV) on the capability of students to memorize (DV) the effect of a school feeding program (IV) on the health of students (DV) will physical exercise (IV) improve the mental capacity of children (DV).

4. Qualitative Data
On the process of retrieving data, the researcher is faced with the dilemma of what kind of data to be processed in order to solve his problem. Will he use qualitative or quantitative data How will he recognize which is qualitative and which is not The main cue in the difference of these data is numbers. When information can be measured in terms of numbers, they are called quantitative data from the root word quantity. Outside these types of data are qualitative data, those that cannot be measured in terms of numbers but rather in terms of their quality, their natural language description.

Qualitative Method is the method used to generate qualitative data. These data are concerned with describing meaning rather than statistical inferences. They provide more in-depth and rich descriptions. Examples of these data are colors, textures, smell, taste, appearance and beauty. When describing a painting, one can say it is old, musty, the texture used brush strokes of oil paint, it depicts country life scenery. The researcher uses coding as a means to classify these inputs. In contrast, quantitative method, which uses statistical processes, would generate data that describe the painting in terms of its size, weight or thickness.

Because qualitative data are subjective, information have the tendency to be biased.  When a person is asked about a painting, he may see it to be more beautiful than the others because he is a relative of the painter or because the painter uses green which happened to be his favorite color. It is therefore important for the researcher to be able to control possible biases in the research. The information must have high percentage of confirm ability to make it useful. The more complicated the processes, the more reason for the researcher to find ways to control if not eliminate all possible kinds of biases. This will increase validity of his results and of course, the trustworthiness of the data.

5. Quantitative Data
Quantitative data are always associated with a scale measure. Examples of these are length, area, weight, height, costs, ages and income. While qualitative data would describe freshmen students as friendly, diligent, civic minded or positive cool spirited, quantitative data would describe them as 150 accelerated in math, 58 are in the deans list, 450 are boys and 578 are girls. Numbers may seem to lack the in-depth description given by qualitative data but these information may be used depending on the need of the research.

There are two types of quantitative data those derived from experimental methods and descriptive methods. Descriptive methods use observational strategies without any attempt to change the behavior or conditions of the subjects. Things are measured as they are. Experimental methods do more than just observe the subjects. They conduct interventions. Subjects are grouped according to control group and the experimental group. They are both measured, compare and analyzed.

Examples of descriptive or non-experimental methods using quantitative data are surveys, case studies and developmental studies. Surveys generate data using questionnaires that are fielded to respondents. These questionnaires usually are answered with limited choices. They are composed in such a way that respondents will be able to fully understand the questions being asked and the respondents will answer them fully and honestly. The success of the research will depend on how well the respondents accomplish the questionnaires. Case studies are similar to surveys but they are more focused on a certain group. Because of this focus, the researcher is able to describe the situation more comprehensively. Developmental studies usually are conducted through changing functions of time. Examples of these are longitudinal studies, where data are generated from subjects for long periods of time.

6. Variable Identification
To be able to operationally define the variables in a proposed problem the effects of inadequate instructions on the level of anger or frustration, the researcher must identify the conditions involved in this problem. The strength of the research will rely much on the validity and reliability of the data generated in this study. Inadequate instructions in this case, is the Independent Variable. The study would want to know whether students fielded with inadequate instructions would resort to anger or frustration. Anger or frustration would be the Dependent Variable.

The researcher has to operationally define the concepts of inadequate instruction and anger or frustration so that all those involved in this research, including the respondentssamples, and the readers will have a common understanding of the parameters involved. Operationalize means put into operation. In other words, the researcher must make sure that the concepts of the variables are clear in the context intended. If inadequate instruction is operationalized, then the researcher must define the boundary between adequate and inadequate. What, when, where, why and how would instruction be considered inadequate. A good operational definition would let everybody else grasp the concept from the mind of the researcher. If anger or frustration is operationalized, then the researcher would make sure he identifies manifestations of anger and frustration. He would distinguish the feeling from other feelings that could possibly confuse the respondents.

The validity and reliability of the research would depend on how well the concepts of the variables are operationally defined. The researcher must be able to eliminate other factors, or extraneous variables that will attempt to confuse or complicate the process. The researcher would have to meticulously control other causes that could be mistaken to result to anger and frustration of the student. Other forces like, family problems, peer relationships, poverty, discrimination, cause students to be angry. They should be efficiently be avoided if not removed from the data and clearly specified in the operational definitions.

7. The Successful Experiment
Control is done to be able to clearly identify the relationship between the Independent Variable and the Dependent Variable. There are factors that a researcher can control when designing a valid study. These are mono operation bias, mono method bias and inadequate pre-operational explication of constructs.
Mono-operation bias is when the design uses only one version of the independent variables and therefore limits the breadth of the study results. The researcher must design the study in such a way that he considers all possible versions of the independent variables to be able to increase the utility of the study.  Another factor is mono-method bias. Here the study uses only one measure or observation of an important concept. To avoid problems and confusions, the researcher must utilize multiple measures of key concepts and even conduct pilot studies so show that the measures are valid. Another factor is the inadequate pre-operational explication of constructs. In other words, it is inability to give a clear concise and comprehensive operational definition. Researcher must make sure key concepts are clearly defined so that the respondents will have no problem understanding them.

There are also factors that the researcher can control to limit the effects that extraneous variables can have on the results of the study. These controls can be made while already on the process of conducting the research. The attitude of the respondents on the research could be controlled. Respondents could be apprehensive for whatever reasons they could also have some expectations or they may just guess their answers. These factors will affect the results. Another factor is the environment during the tests. The changes in environment like weather, power failure, and other unexpected occurrences could significantly affect the responses. It is important that the researcher will have alternative courses of action to control these situations.

8. Threats to Validity
Validity is the strength of the conclusions, inferences and propositions. It answers the question, Are we right Internal validity shows the rightness of the causal relationship between the variables. It confirms the cause and the effect is due to the cause and no other. The relationship confirms that the cause precedes the effect the cause and effect are related and that there are no other alternative explanations for the observed relationship. External validity is when the inferences to the causal relationship between the variables are generalized. The conclusions in the research will hold to other persons, other places and other times.

There are many threats to validity. In other words, there are things that can affect the trustworthiness of the results of the research. Some threats affect the respondents or the samples, and some threats affect the process or the measurements in the conduct of the research. Factors that affect the respondents could be the history of the experiences of the respondents. These are called historical threats. A respondent may have had experiences in the past that could confuse him of his responses to the tests or questions. Another is maturation threats. Some respondents grow up or age during the course of the study and the difference in age could have an effect in their responses. Another factor is respondent apprehension. The respondent may have some fears that would affect his responses to the question.

Threats to validity may affect also the processes or measurements in the research. These include, the way the test was implemented. These are also called instrumentation threats. Sometimes the environment when the test is conducted or the time limit may also affect the responses of the samples in the test. The number of drop outs could also affect the result of the research. When the researcher is unable to control the refusals among the respondents could affect the result of the study. These are also called mortality threats. Another factor is inadequate pre-operational explication of constructs. This is when the concepts are not well defined and therefore confuse the respondents. Researchers have to make sure the concepts are well defined before proceeding to measurements.