Research Methods in Psychology, 9th Edition (English Edition)

Author: Larry Christensen (USA)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: This book is an introductory reading on research methods in psychology, which clearly introduces the fundamental principles of psychological research through examples. It introduces basic scientific methods, discusses the characteristics and purposes of scientific methods; discusses ethical norms involved in psychological research involving humans and animals; discusses the validity of experimental research; discusses control techniques to derive effective causal relationships from data provided by experiments; introduces the design principles of experimental research, quasi-experimental research, and single-case research; introduces how to collect data, statistical analysis, and how to organize these analytical results in research reports. To facilitate the introduction of the fundamental principles of psychological research, the content of this book is organized according to the steps of research. Chapter introduces basic scientific methods, discussing the characteristics and purposes of scientific methods. The purpose of this chapter is to guide students to understand science—letting them recognize the differences between information obtained through scientific investigation and that obtained through non-scientific investigation. Then, the nature of science is discussed to enable students to correctly evaluate the two different research processes of quantitative and qualitative research, recognizing the differences between experimental and non-experimental quantitative research processes. Next, it introduces how to confirm research questions, helping students find a good research idea, with a focus on the necessity of literature retrieval and using databases to find relevant literature.