What ethical guidelines should researchers follow when conducting research? Modern psychological research in the West needs to follow ethical guidelines set out by research organisations such as the American Psychological Association (APA) or the British Psychological Society (BPS). These are important guidelines that ensure the human and animal rights to subjects involved in psychological research. Considerations when studying humans: Informed consent …
Introduction to Experimental Research Methods
Quantitative methods in psychology are those that deal with quantitative data; in other words they deal with numbers and statistics. The most common form of quantitative research is the experimental method. All the topics of study in this unit will help you build the skills and knowledge that are needed for you to complete the Internal Assessment, where you get …
Quantitative Research Methods Glossary
The following list is a pretty comprehensive list of key terms for research methods in psychology. Please post a comment/question if you notice double-ups, errors and/or omissions. “True” Experiment: this is an experiment that takes place in a controlled environment and the researcher/s manipulate the independent variable to create conditions (e.g. treatment and control groups) to measure the dependent variable. …
Evaluating Case Studies
GLT: Evaluate the use of case studies in qualitative research Here is a document that has links to information about 5 different famous case studies. We will use this in class to learn about case study methodology. Basically, in order to evaluate the use of case studies, you need to be able to: Define the term “case study” Describe …
Lesson Idea: Understanding Observation Methods (HL – Qualitative)
What you need to know… In order to complete this activity you need know about the different observation methods. You can read more about those observations here. It is important for Paper 3 answers that you can apply your knowledge to examples of research. This is a difficult critical thinking skill and is what separates good answers from excellent ones. …
Brain Imaging: All About MRI
Background Information The MRI was invented in 1977 and was a major breakthrough in brain research. MRIs can be used for any part of the body and you may have even had one yourself if you’ve suffered from an injury. However, in psychology they are used to study the brain and this is what our focus will be on. MRIs …
HM and his Hippocampus
Here’s an example SAQ that explains HM’s Case Study. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHrmiy4W9C0&w=560&h=315] You can find more information here… Here’s a wonderfully melo-dramatic re-creation video that tells the story of HM from before his operation to the conclusions of the case study on HM: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mvx-mAUJL8&w=560&h=315] Here is a link to a website that you might find interesting. It is to do with …
Lesson Idea: Understanding the Approaches
This post is adapted from an earlier post. If you’re adopting a thematic approach to the IB Psychology course, you might be wondering: “won’t students get confused about what studies go with each topic?” It’s easy to think this since at first glance the thematic approach appears to be jumbled. But in this post I’ll outline a couple of very …
Exam Tips: Research methods in the biological approach
Understanding research methodology in psychology can be difficult. Hopefully this post will help make things a little clearer. When understanding any topic in psychology, I like to use a basic “What-How-Why” approach. This works particularly well for research methods. Read more: Exam Tips: How to write a research methods essay Lesson idea: Understanding research methods (with worksheet) Biological Approach Research …
Genetics and Ethics
Make sure you have the key questions, learning targets and glossary for this topic. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS Whenever you are asked to discuss ethical considerations of any study, you should first remember the APA guidelines we covered during our research work. These are ethical issues when studying humans such as: deception, informed consent, debriefing, confidentiality and right to withdraw. (For genetics …