Social Psychology: Introduction, Methods, and Research - Prof. Glenn Reeder, Study notes of Social Psychology

Download Social Psychology: Introduction, Methods, and Research - Prof. Glenn Reeder and more Study notes Social Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Chapter 1 & 2 Dr. Glenn Reeder Social Psychology PSY 223 Introduction and Methods I. Social Psychology- the science of how individuals think, feel and behave in regard to other people. -Scientific Study -Individuals -Other People Compared to what we know about others, we are more aware of our own: (a) Reasons for violence (b)Pain A. How does social psychology differ from other disciplines? 1. Social psychology vs. sociology A. Unit of analysis: -Social Psych focuses on the individuals -Sociologist focus on the group B. Differences in Method -Sociologist emphasize surveys -Social Psych. Emphasize experiments 2. Social psychology vs. personality psychology A. Personality emphasizes: -Private internal functioning -Individual differences B. Social Psychologist emphasize: -Similarity in how individuals responds B. Is social psychology obvious (just common sense)? -No, but research may seem obvious----after you are told about it. -This illustrates: -Hindsight Bias: events seem more obvious in hindsight than before hand Conclusion: -Commonsense cannot answer sociological psych questions -If research seems “not surprising” your reaction may be due to hindsight bias II. Doing Research Research Methods: becoming a sophisticated consumer A. Descriptive Research 1. Observational studies -Might use hidden cameras 2. Archival studies -Examining records of past events 3. Surveys a. Random sampling b. Interviews (oral) vs. Questionnaires (written) c. Sample size and representativeness -Representativeness of sample size is more important than its size d. Advantage of surveys