Focusing on experimental methods, authors Anne Myers and Christine Hansen lead students step-by-step through
the entire research process, from generating testable hypotheses to writing the research report. The major sections
of the book parallel the major sections of the research report (Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion),
giving students the skills they'll need to design and conduct an experiment, analyze and interpret the research
findings, and report those findings. Although the main focus is on experimentation, alternative approaches are
discussed as important complements.
Benefits :
Statistical material is included to help students interpret research findings. The results section of the text
provides students with a conceptual overview of the process of statistical inference and step-by-step instructions
for selecting and carrying out some of the tests commonly used in simple experiments.
Examples are drawn from a variety of research areas to emphasize the importance of experimental procedures
throughout psychological research. The examples, both classic and current, provide clear, concrete illustrations
of the concepts under discussion. The eclectic choice of examples gives instructors freedom to supplement the text
with content-oriented readings in areas of their choice.
A detailed chapter on report writing includes a sample journal article to illustrate the most current reporting
conventions. (To aid students in producing an APA style report, the manuscript version of this article is reproduced
in Appendix C).
NEW! A new Critical Thinking Feature has been added to the end of each chapter. This feature has the student
think critically about a given research topic.
NEW! A new On-Line Resources section has been added to the end of each chapter. This section lists specific
websites with short annotations on those websites.
NEW! Chapter 2 presents extensive coverage of research ethics and includes broadened coverage of informed consent,
consent forms, and scientific misconduct.
NEW! Chapter 5 teaches students the basics of formulating a hypothesis. It now includes expanded coverage of
meta-analysis the use of computer databases for literature searches.
NEW! An interesting new case study on OCD and increased discussion of mail and internet surveys have been added
to the nonexperimental approaches discussed in Chapter 3.
Table of Contents
1. EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY AND THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD.
The Need for Scientific Methodology.
The Characteristic of Modern Science.
The Tools of Psychological Science.
Scientific Explanation in Psychological Science.
The Organization of the Text. Summary.
Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
Online Resources.
2. RESEARCH ETHICS.
Research Ethics.
The American Psychological Association Guidelines.
Protecting the Welfare of Animal Subjects.
Fraud in Science.
Plagiarism. Summary.
Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
Online Resources.
3. ALTERNATIVES TO EXPERIMENTATION: NONEXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS.
Describing Research Activities.
Nonexperimental Approaches.
Sampling. Summary.
Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise. Online Resources.
4. ALTERNATIVES TO EXPERIMENTATION: CORRELATIONAL AND QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS.
Correlational Designs.
Quasi-Experimental Designs.
Summary.
Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
Online Resources.
5. FORMULATING THE HYPOTHESIS.
The Characteristics of an Experimental Hypothesis.
The Inductive Model.
The Deductive Model.
Combining Induction and Deduction.
Building on Prior Research.
Serendipity and the Windfall Hypothesis.
Intuition.
When All Else Fails.
Searching the Research Literature.
Summary.
Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
Online Resources.
6. THE BASICS OF EXPERIMENTATION.
Independent and Dependent Variables.
Operational Definition.
Evaluating Operational Definitions.
Evaluating the Experiment: Internal Validity.
Planning the Method Section.
Summary.
Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
Online Resources.
Physical Variables.
Social Variables.
Personality Variables.
Context Variables.
Summary. Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
Online Resources.
8. BASIC BETWEEN - SUBJECTS DESIGNS.
Selecting and Recruiting Subjects.
One Independent Variable: Two Group Designs.
Two Independent Groups.
Two Matched Groups.
Multiple Groups.
Summary Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
Online Resources.
9. BETWEEN - SUBJECTS FACTORIAL DESIGNS.
More Than One Independent Variable.
Laying Out a Factorial Design.
A Research Example.
Choosing a Between - Subjects Design.
Summary. Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
Online Resources.
10. WITHIN - SUBJECTS DESIGNS.
Within - Subjects Experiment: Perceptual Bias for Forward Motion.
Within - Subjects Factorial Designs.
Mixed Designs.
Advantages of Within - Subjects Designs.
Disadvantages of Within - Subjects Designs.
Controlling Within - Subjects Designs.
How Can You Choose a Design?
Summary.
Key Terms. Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
Online Resources.
11. WITHIN SUBJECTS DESIGNS: SMALL N.
Small N Designs.
ABA Designs.
Multiple Baseline Design.
Discrete Trials Designs.
When to Use Large N and Small N Designs.
Summary.
Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
12. WHY WE NEED STATISTICS.
Weighing the Evidence.
Statistical Inference: An Overview.
Applying Statistical Inference: An Example.
The Odds of Finding Significance.
Test Statistics.
Organizing and Summarizing Data.
Summary.
Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
Online Resources.
13. ANALYZING RESULTS: TWO GROUP EXAMPLES.
Which Test Do I Use?
The Chi Square Test.
The t Test. Summary.
Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
Online Resources.
14. ANALYZING RESULTS: MULTIPLE GROUPS AND FACTORIAL EXPERIMENTS.
Analysis of Variance.
Sources of Variability.
A One-Way Between-Subjects Analysis of Variance.
One-Way Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance.
Analyzing Data from a Between-Subjects Factorial Experiment.
A Two-Way Analysis of Variance.
Repeated Measures and Mixed Factorial Designs.
Summary.
Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
Online Resources.
15. DRAWING CONCLUSIOS: THE SEARCH FOR THE ELUSIVE BOTTOM LINE.
Evaluating the Experiment from the Inside: Internal Validity.
Taking a Broader Perspective: The Problem of External Validity.
Handling a Nonsignificant Outcome.
Summary Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
Online Resources.
16. WRITING THE RESEARCH REPORT.
The Written Report: Purpose and Format.
Major Sections.
Looking at a Journal Article.
Preparing Your Manuscript: Procedural Details.
Making Revisions.
Summary.
Key Terms.
Review and Study Questions.
Critical Thinking Exercise.
Online Resources.
Appendix A: Computational Formulas.
Appendix B: Statistical Tables.
Appendix C: A Journal Article in Manuscript Form.
Glossary.
References.
Index.
