An up-to-date, contemporary review of research methods in Social Psychology. This engaging text teaches students to think like an experimental social psychologist. Striking a balance between theoretical sophistication and hands-on activities and exercises, the book offers a friendly approach to methodology anda successful means of motivating students to design and execute their own social psychological research. INDICE: Preface.1. Studying Social Psychology.Introducing and defining social psychology.Levels of Explanation: Social Psychologys Relation to Other.Fields of Inquiry.The Scientific Method: Doing Social Psychology.Why? Social Psychology is Social.Where? The Lab and the Field.Social Psychologists Today.Learning Research Methods for Social Psychology.Exercises.2. Developing Research Topics in Social Psychology.The Scope of Social Psychology.Finding a Research Question.Searching the Social Psychological Literature.Reading Social PsychologyResearch.Exercises.3. Ethical Issues in Social Psychological Research.Milgrams Obedience Research.The Problem of Deception in Social Psychology Experiments:.Balancing Benefits and Costs.Labels do Matter: Participants, Not Subjects.Institutional Review Boards.Informed Consent is Essential.Ethical Issues and Field Research.Shared Virtues: Ethical Treatment, Education, and Science.Exercises.4. Basic Experimental Design.The Logic of Experimentation.Turning a ResearchQuestion into a Hypothesis.Independent and Dependent Variables.Doing Randomization in Social Psychology Experiments.Common Experimental Designs in Social Psychology.Design Matters.Exercises.5. Alternatives to Experimental Research inSocial Psychology.Leaving the Comfort of the Lab: Problems and Prospects.Observational Research.Correlational Approaches.Quasi-Experimental Research Designs.Survey Research.Experience Sampling Methods and Diary Approaches.Internet-Based Research.Archival Research and Meta-Analysis.Conclusions.Exercises.6. Developing Questionnaires and Surveys.Caveat Emptor: Let the (Jam) Buyer Beware.The Obvious Advantage of Asking Questions.Sampling Issues.Scales of Measurement.Types of Questions: Open-Ended and Close-Ended.Writing Clear Questions.Social Desirability Concerns, Halo Effects, and Yea-Saying.Questionnaire and Surveys as Precursors to Experiments.Exercises.7. Introducing a Difference: Independent Variables.Conceiving Independent Variables.Providing Context for the Independent Variable: Instructions.Delivering the Independent Variable.How Many Independent Variables? A Reprise.Individual Differences as Independent Variables: Prospects and Problems.Verify Cause and Effect: Manipulation Checks.The Best Laid Plans (and Independent Variables).Keep a Causal Focus.8. Measuring What Happens: Dependent Variables.Behavioral Dependent Measures.Verbal Measures.Other Types of Dependent Measures.Some Practical Issues for Administering Dependent Measures.Reliability and Dependent Variables.Exercises.9. Validity and Realismin Research.Trusting Research Evidence: Demonstrating Internal Validity.Generalizing to Other Settings: External Validity.The Social Psychologists Challenge: Trade Offs Between Internal and External Validity.Making It Real: Mundane, Experimental, and Psychological Realism.(Re)Considering Construct Validity.Validity and Realism via Replication.Exercises.10. Conducting Social Psychology Experiments: Practical Matters.Setting the Stage.Recruiting Participants.DemandCharacteristics.Reducing Experimenter Biases.Record Keeping.Conducting a Post-Experimental Interview.Closing Thought: The Important Role of Pilot Testing.Exercises.11. Data Analysis.Basic Statistics.The Role of Data Analysis in Social Psychological Research.Interpreting and Reporting Results.Learning from Success, Learning from Failure.Exercises.12. Presenting Social Psychological Research.Persuasive Communication.Writing Like a Social Psychologist: A Matter of (APA) Style.Preparing a Poster Summary.Enter Talking: Preparing and Delivering Oral Research Presentations.Parting Thoughts.Exercises.Appendix A - Journals in Social Psychology.Appendix B Reading Journal Articles in Social Psychology.Appendix C Annotated Student Research Paper.References.Author Index.Subject Index
- ISBN: 978-1-4051-4980-8
- Editorial: Blackwell
- Encuadernacion: Cartoné
- Páginas: 384
- Fecha Publicación: 04/07/2008
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: Inglés