Empirical
• Empirical:
• Function: adjective
1 : originating in or based on observation or
experience
2 : relying on experience or observation alone
often without due regard for system and theory
3 : capable of being verified or disproved by
observation or experiment
4 : of or relating to empiricism
• Source: http://www.m-w.com/
Research
• Research:
• Function: noun
1 : careful or diligent search
2 : studious inquiry or examination; especially :
investigation or experimentation aimed at the
discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of
accepted theories or laws in the light of new
facts, or practical application of such new or
revised theories or laws
3 : the collecting of information about a
particular subject
• Source: http://www.m-w.com/
Empirical Research
• Empirical Research:
• Research that uses data drawn from
observation or experience.
• Pre-empirical Research
• Descriptive Methods
• Experimental Methods
• Qualitative Methods
• Evaluation Research (Davis put this in its own
category because its orientation is different. The purpose
of Evaluation Research is decision-making)
Source: John Davis,
http://www.naropa.edu/faculty/johndavis/prm2/index.html
Pre-empirical Research
• These are the steps done prior to collecting data.
A. CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS: analyzing the meaning and uses of the
concepts in the research. The methods are philosophical, linguistic,
etymological, etc.. This may answer some questions or lead to a better
operational definition.
B. OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS: defining concepts in terms of the
procedures (operations) used to observe them. Example: anxiety may be
operationalized as a score on a scale measuring anxiety; sociability may
be operationalized as the number of social contacts one makes within a
certain time frame, physical fitness may be operationalized in terms of
levels of muscle tone, flexibility, strength, and aerobic capacity.
C. METHODOLOGY: determining how will we conduct the research and how
will ethical standards be maintained.
Descriptive Methods
• Their goal is describing phenomena, using
behaviors or attitudes, as they exist without
control or manipulation.
A. NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION: choosing a
specific behavior and counting its occurrences.
B. SURVEY RESEARCH: Assessing the incidence
and distribution of behaviors and/or attitudes in a
population.
C. CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH: determining
the relationships between two or more variable.
Experimental Methods
• Their goal is establishing cause-effect relationships between
independent and dependent variables by eliminating alternative
hypotheses; uses quantitative data. The underlying model is that the
world works in a linear, cause-and-effect way and that science
should identify causal laws.
A. QUASI-EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS: able to eliminate some but not all alternative
hypotheses. Examples include static groups, non-equivalent groups, and time series
designs. Used most often in program evaluation, evaluation of public policies, and
other research where complete control of the experimental setting is not possible.
B. TRUE EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS: If well done, these designs eliminate many
alternative hypotheses. Include both field experiments and laboratory experiments.
Two main types: between-groups or randomized groups designs where each subject
gets only one treatment and repeated-measures designs where each subject get
more than one (or all) treatments. These two types may be combined in complex
designs.
C. SINGLE-SUBJECT DESIGNS: experimental designs with one subject; variation on
repeated-measures designs; includes baseline, reversal, changing baseline
D. META-ANALYSIS: statistical re-analysis of previously analyzed experimental data to
compute treatment effects
Qualitative Methods
The goal of qualitative research methods is rigorous, systematic description of
experience. They are most appropriate when the focus of the research is
subjective experience and meaning. They depend strongly on context and are
highly interactive. The specifics of qualitative research are more open than other
types of psychological research methods. Many types of qualitative methods are
being used. These are three examples.
A. IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS, HERMENEUTIC ANALYSIS and NATURALISTIC
INQUIRY: primarily use open-ended interviews, minimal direction from interviewer,
similar to client-centered interview, analysis of meaning-units into higher-order
categories and themes.
B. PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION: researcher is in both roles, describes own
experience in context
C. ETHNOGRAPHY: description of an intact culture's lifeways; may include
subcultures (e.g., teenage drug users, gang members, meditation group,
hospitalized children); uses a wider variety of data collection, e.g., observations,
interviews, collection of artifacts
Evaluation Research
• The goal of EVALUATION RESEARCH is data-based decision making. The
types of evaluation research reflect different decisions to be made.
A. NEED ASSESSMENT: provides data to help make decisions about the need
for a program, its targets, and its design.
B. PROCESS EVALUATION: provides data on how the program was
delivered.
C. OUTCOME EVALUATION: provides data on the extent to which the
program met its intended objectives. It is useful in deciding whether to
revise the program, re-fund it, or to export it to other settings.
D. CONTEXT EVALUATION: provides information about the factors behind the
program, including who has a stake in it, who holds the power, and what the
contraints on it are. Context evaluation is necessary for fully understanding
other aspects of the program evaluation.
Inferential Statistics
• Techniques that allow us to study samples
and then make generalizations about the
population from which they were selected.
– Sample: a set of individuals selected from a
population, usually intended to represent the
population in a research study.
– Population: The collection of all individuals
(cases) in which the researcher is interested.
Inferential Statistics
• Statistical Significance (probability)
– Probability = Proportion
• Ranges from 0 to 1
– Probability is used to predict what kind of
samples are likely to be obtained from a
population.
– Probability establishes a connection between
populations and samples
– Relying on this connection, inferences of
populations can based on sample statistics