Jackson S.L. Research Methods and Statistics: A Critical Thinking Approach

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CHAPTER 2

TABLE 2.1 Some Journals Whose Articles Are Summarized in the Psychological Abstracts

Applied Psychology

Applied Cognitive Psychology

Consulting Psychology Journal:

Practice and Research

Educational and Psychological

Measurement

Educational Psychologist

Educational Psychology Review

Environment and Behavior

Health Psychology

Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis

Journal of Applied Developmental

Psychology

Journal of Applied Psychology

Journal of Educational Psychology

Journal of Environmental

Psychology

Journal of Experimental

Psychology: Applied

Journal of Occupational Health

Psychology

Journal of Sport Psychology

Law and Human Behavior

Psychological Assessment

Psychology, Public Policy, and Law

School Psychology Quarterly

Clinical/Counseling Psychology

Clinician’s Research Digest

Counseling Psychologist

Journal of Abnormal Child

Psychology

Journal of Abnormal Psychology

Journal of Clinical Child Psychology

Journal of Clinical Psychology

Journal of Consulting and Clinical

Psychology

Journal of Contemporary

Psychotherapy

Journal of Counseling Psychology

Journal of Psychotherapy Integration

Professional Psychology: Research

and Practice

Psychoanalytic Psychology

Psychological Assessment

Psychological Services

Psychotherapy: Theory, Research,

Practice, Training

Training and Education in

Professional Psychology

Developmental Psychology

Child Development

Developmental Psychobiology

Developmental Psychology

Developmental Review

Infant Behavior and Development

Journal of Experimental Child

Psychology

Psychology and Aging

Experimental Psychology

Cognition

Cognition and Emotion

Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive Science

Dreaming

Journal of Experimental

Psychology: Animal Behavior

Processes

Journal of Experimental

Psychology: Applied

Journal of Experimental

Psychology: General

Journal of Experimental Psychology:

Human Perception and Performance

Journal of Experimental

Psychology: Learning, Memory, and

Cognition

Journal of Memory and Language

Journal of the Experimental

Analysis of Behavior

Learning and Motivation

Memory and Cognition

Perception

Quarterly Journal of Experimental

Psychology

Family Therapy

American Journal of Family

Therapy

Families, Systems, & Health

Journal of Family Psychology

General Psychology

American Psychologist

Contemporary Psychology

History of Psychology

Psychological Bulletin

Psychological Methods

Psychological Review

Psychological Science

Review of General Psychology

Personality and Social

Psychology

Basic and Applied Social

Psychology

Journal of Applied Social

Psychology

Journal of Experimental Social

Psychology

Journal of Personality

Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology

Journal of Personality Assessment

Journal of Social and Personal

Relationships

Journal of Social Issues

(continued)

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Getting Started: Ideas, Resources, and Ethics

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As you can see in Table 2.1, a great many journals publish psychology

papers. Obviously, keeping up with all the research published in these jour-

nals is impossible. In fact, it would be very difficult to read all of the stud-

ies that are published in a given area. As a researcher, then, how can you

identify those papers most relevant to your topic? Browsing through the

psychology journals in your library to find articles of interest to you would

take forever. Fortunately, this is not necessary.

Psychological Abstracts

Besides reference librarians, your other best friend in the library is

Psychological (Psych) Abstracts. Psych Abstracts is a reference resource pub-

lished by the APA that contains abstracts, or brief summaries, of articles in

psychology and related disciplines. Psych Abstracts is updated monthly and

can be found in the reference section of your library. To use Psych Abstracts,

begin with the index at the back of each monthly issue, and look up the

topic in which you are interested. Next to the topic, you will find several

numbers referencing abstracts in that issue. You can then refer to each of

these abstracts to find where the full article is published, who wrote it, when

it was published, the pages on which it appears, and a brief summary of

the article.

PsycINFO and PsycLIT

Most libraries now have Psych Abstracts in some electronic form. If your

library has such a resource, you will probably find it easier to use than the

hard copy of Psych Abstracts described previously. PsycINFO is an electronic

database that provides abstracts and citations to the scholarly literature in

the behavioral sciences and mental health. The database, which is updated

monthly, includes material of relevance to psychologists and profession-

als in related fields such as psychiatry, business, education, social science,

neuroscience, law, and medicine. With the popularity of the Internet, most

libraries now have access to PsycINFO. PyscLIT is the CD-ROM version of

Psych Abstracts. Although PsycLIT is no longer published, the library at your

Personality and Social Psychology

Bulletin

Personality and Social

Psychology Review

Biological Psychology

Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Behavioral Neuroscience

Biological Psychology

Brain and Language

Experimental and Clinical

Psychopharmacology

Journal of Comparative Psychology

Neuropsychology

Physiological Psychology

Treatment

Addictive Behaviors

Behavior Modification

Behavior Therapy

International Journal of Stress

Management

Journal of Anxiety Disorders

Journal of Behavioral Medicine

Psychology of Addictive Behaviors

Rehabilitation Psychology

TABLE 2.1 Some Journals Whose Articles Are Summarized in the Psychological Abstracts (continued)

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CHAPTER 2

school may still have copies of it available. PsycLIT was updated quarterly

during its publication period.

To use either of these resources, you simply enter your topic of interest

into the “Find” box, and the database provides a listing of abstracts relevant

to that topic. When you use these resources, you don’t want your topic to be

either too broad or too narrow. In addition, you should try several phrases

when searching a particular topic. Students often type in their topic and

find nothing because the keyword they used may not be the word used by

researchers in the field. To help you choose appropriate keywords, use the

APA’s Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms (2001b). This resource is based

on the vocabulary used in psychology and will direct you to the terms to use

to locate articles on that topic. Ask your reference librarian for help in find-

ing and using this resource. You will probably find, when using PsycINFO,

that you need to complete several searches on a topic using different words

and phrases. For example, if you selected the topic depression and entered

this word into the Find box, you would find a very large number of articles

because PsycINFO looks for the key word in the title of the article and in

the abstract itself. Thus, you need to limit your search by using some of the

Boolean operators such as AND, OR, and NOT and also using some of the

limiters available through PsycINFO.

For example, I conducted a search using the key word “depression” and

limited it to articles published in the year 2007. The search returned abstracts

for 3,297 articles—obviously too many to review. I then limited my search

further by using the Boolean operator AND by typing “depression AND col-

lege students” and once again limiting it to articles published in 2007. This

second search returned abstracts for 80 articles—a much more manageable

number. I could further refine the search by using the Boolean operators

NOT and OR. For example, some of the 80 journal articles returned in the

second search were about scales used to measure depression. If I were not

really interested in this aspect of depression, I could further limit my search

by typing the following into the Find box: “depression AND college students

NOT (measures OR scales).” When the search was conducted this way, it

narrowed the number of journal articles published in 2007 to 52. Thus, with

a little practice, PsycINFO should prove an invaluable resource to you in

searching the literature.

Social Science Citation Index and Science Citation Index

Other resources that are valuable when conducting a literature review are

the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and the Science Citation Index (SCI).

Whereas Psych Abstracts helps you to work backward in time (find articles

published on a certain topic within a given year), the SSCI can help you to

work from a given article (a “key article”) and see what has been published

on that topic since the key article was published. The SSCI includes the dis-

ciplines from the social and behavioral sciences, whereas the SCI includes

disciplines such as biology, chemistry, and medicine. Both resources are

used in a similar way. Imagine that you found a very interesting paper on

the effects of music on mood that was published in 2000. Because this paper

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Getting Started: Ideas, Resources, and Ethics

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was published several years ago, you need to know what has been pub-

lished since then on this topic. The SSCI and the SCI enable you to search

for subsequent articles that have cited the key article, and they also allow

you to search for articles published by the author(s) of the key article. If a

subsequent article cites your key article, the chances are good that it’s on the

same topic and will therefore be of interest to you. Moreover, if the author(s)

of the key article have since published additional papers, those would also

likely be of interest to you. Thus, the SSCI and the SCI allow you to fill in the

gap between 2000 and the present. In this way, you can compile an up-to-

date reference list and become familiar with most of the material published

on a topic. When using the SSCI or the SCI, you may also find that one of the

“new” articles you discover is another key article on your topic, and you can

then look for subsequent articles that cite or were written by the author(s) of

the new key article. The SSCI and the SCI are often available online through

your library’s home page.

Other Resources

Another resource often overlooked by students is the set of references

provided at the end of a journal article. If you have found a key article of

interest to you, begin with the papers cited in the key article. The reference

list provides information on where these cited papers were published, ena-

bling you to obtain any of the cited articles that appear to be of interest.

In addition to the resources already described, several other resources

and databases may be helpful to you:

• PsyArticles is an online database that provides full-text articles from

many psychology journals and is available through many academic

libraries.

• ProQuest is an online database that searches both scholarly journals and

popular media sources. Full-text articles are often available. ProQuest is

available through most academic libraries.

• Sociological Abstracts are similar to Psych Abstracts, except they summa-

rize journal articles on sociological topics.

• The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) is a clearinghouse

for research on educational psychology, testing, counseling, child devel-

opment, evaluation research, and related areas. ERIC is available online

through most academic libraries.

• Dissertation Abstracts International, published monthly, includes abstracts

of doctoral dissertations from hundreds of universities in the United

States and Canada.

In addition to these resources, interlibrary loan (ILL) is a service provided

by most libraries that allows you to borrow resources from other libraries if

your library does not hold them. If, for example, you need a book that your

library does not have or an article from a journal to which your library does

not subscribe, you can use interlibrary loan to obtain it. Your library will bor-

row the resources needed from the closest library that holds them. See your

reference librarian to use this service.

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CHAPTER 2

Finally, the Web may also be used as a resource. Many of the resources

already described, such as PsycINFO, the SSCI, and ERIC, are available

online through your library’s home page. Be wary, however, of information

you retrieve from the Web through some source other than a library. Bear

in mind that anyone can post anything on the Web. Just because it looks

scientific and appears to be written in the same form as a scientific journal

article does not necessarily mean that it is. Usually, your best option is to

use the resources available through your library’s home page. As with the

resources available on the shelves of the library, these resources have been

chosen by the librarians. This means that editors and other specialists have

most likely reviewed them before they were published—unlike information

on the Web, which is frequently placed there by the author without any

review by others.

Reading a Journal Article: What to Expect

Your search for information in the library will undoubtedly provide you

with many journal articles. Research articles have a very specific format.

They usually have five main sections: Abstract, Introduction, Method,

Results, and Discussion. Following is a brief description of what to expect

from each of these sections.

IN REVIEW Library Research

TOOL WHAT IT IS

Psych Abstracts A reference resource published by the APA that contains abstracts or brief summaries

of articles in psychology and related disciplines

PsycINFO The online version of Psych Abstracts, updated monthly

PsycLIT The CD-ROM version of Psych Abstracts, updated quarterly

Social Science A resource that allows you to search for subsequent articles from the social and

Citation Index (SSCI) behavioral sciences that have cited a key article

Science Citation Index (SCI) A resource that allows you to search for subsequent articles from disciplines such as

biology, chemistry, or medicine that have cited a key article

Interlibrary loan (ILL) A service provided by most libraries that allows you to borrow resources from other

libraries if your library does not hold them

Sociological Abstracts A reference that contains abstracts or brief summaries of articles in sociology and

related disciplines

PsyArticles An online database that contains full-text articles from many psychology journals

ProQuest An online database that searches both scholarly journals and popular media sources,

often including full-text articles

ERIC A clearinghouse for research on educational psychology, testing, counseling, child

development, evaluation research, and related areas

Dissertation Abstracts Abstracts of doctoral dissertations from hundreds of universities in the United States

and Canada, published monthly

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Getting Started: Ideas, Resources, and Ethics

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Abstract

The Abstract is a brief description of the entire paper that typically discusses

each section of the paper (Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion).

It should not exceed 120 words. The Abstract describes the problem under

investigation and the purpose of the study; the participants and general

methodology; the findings, including statistical significance levels; and the

conclusions and implications or applications of the study.

Introduction

The Introduction has three basic components: an introduction to the problem

under study; a review of relevant previous research, which cites works that

are pertinent to the issue but not works of marginal or peripheral signifi-

cance; and the purpose and rationale for the study.

Method

The Method section describes exactly how the study was conducted, in

sufficient detail that a person who reads the Method section could repli-

cate the study. The Method section is generally divided into subsections.

Although the subsections vary across papers, the most common subsections

are Participants, Materials or Apparatus, and Procedure. The Participants

subsection includes a description of the participants and how they were

obtained. The Materials subsection usually describes any testing materials

that were used, such as a particular test or inventory or a type of problem

that participants were asked to solve. An Apparatus subsection describes

any specific equipment that was used. The Procedure subsection summa-

rizes each step in the execution of the research, including the groups used in

the study, instructions given to the participants, the experimental manipula-

tion, and specific control features in the design.

Results

The Results section summarizes the data collected and the type of statistic

used to analyze the data. In addition, the results of the statistical tests used

are reported with respect to the variables measured and/or manipulated.

This section should include a description of the results only, not an explana-

tion of the results. In addition, the results are often depicted in tables and

graphs or figures.

Discussion

The results are evaluated and interpreted in the Discussion section. Typically,

this section begins with a restatement of the predictions of the study and

tells whether or not the predictions were supported. It also typically includes

a discussion of the relationship between the results and past research and

theories. Last, criticisms of the study (such as possible confounds) and impli-

cations for future research are presented.

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CHAPTER 2

Ethical Standards in Research

with Human Participants

When conducting research with human (or nonhuman) participants, the

researcher is ultimately responsible for the welfare of the participants. Thus,

the researcher is responsible for protecting the participants from harm. What

harm, you may be wondering, could a participant suffer in a simple research

study? Let’s consider some of the research studies that helped to initiate

the implementation of ethical guidelines for using human participants in

research.

The ethical guidelines we use today have their basis in the Nuremberg

Code. This code lists 10 principles, developed in 1948, for the Nazi war

crimes trials following World War II. The Nazis killed and abused millions of

Jews, many of whom died in the name of “research.” For example, Nazi doc-

tors used many Jews for inhumane medical research projects that involved

determining the effects on humans of viruses, poisons, toxins, and drugs.

The Nazis were not the only researchers who conducted ethically ques-

tionable research. For example, researchers who conducted the Tuskegee

syphilis study, which began in 1932 and continued until 1972, examined

the course of the disease in untreated individuals. The participants were

approximately 400 black men living in and around Tuskegee, Alabama. The

individuals, most of whom were poor and illiterate, were offered free meals,

physical examinations, and money for their eventual burial for participating

in the study (Jones, 1981). They were told that they were being treated for

the disease by the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS). In reality, they were

never treated, nor were they ever told the real purpose of the study—to

observe the progression of syphilis in an untreated population. Some of the

participants realized that something was amiss and consulted other doctors

in the area. Those who did so were eliminated from the study. In addition,

the USPHS told doctors in the surrounding area not to treat any of the par-

ticipants should they request treatment—even though an effective treatment

for syphilis, penicillin, was discovered by the 1940s. The Tuskegee study

continued until 1972, providing little new knowledge about syphilis but

costing about 400 lives.

Obviously, the Nuremberg Code, established in 1948, had little effect

on the researchers who conducted the Tuskegee study. In any case, the

Nuremberg Code applied only to medical research. In 1953, therefore, the

members of the APA decided to develop their own ethical guidelines for

research with human participants.

In 1963, Stanley Milgram’s paper detailing some of his research on obedi-

ence to authority brought ethical considerations to the forefront once again.

In Milgram’s study, each participant was assigned the role of “teacher” and

given the responsibility for teaching a series of words to another individual,

called the “learner.” What the teachers did not realize was that the learner

was really an accomplice of the experimenter. The teachers were told that

the study was designed to investigate the effects of punishment on learning.

Thus, they were instructed to deliver an electric shock each time the learner

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Getting Started: Ideas, Resources, and Ethics

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made a mistake. The shocks were not of a constant voltage level but increased

in voltage for each mistake made. Because the learner (who was located in

a separate room from the teacher) was working for the experimenter, he

purposely made mistakes. Milgram was interested in whether the teachers

would continue to deliver stronger and stronger electric shocks given that

(1) the learner appeared to be in moderate to extreme discomfort, depend-

ing on the level of shock administered, and (2) the experimenter repeatedly

ordered the teachers to continue administering the electric shocks. In reality,

the learner was not receiving electric shocks; however, the teachers believed

that he was. Milgram found that nearly two-thirds of the teachers obeyed

the experimenter and continued to deliver the supposed electric shocks up

to the maximum level available.

Although the results of this experiment were valuable to society, the study

was ethically questionable. Was it really an ethical use of human participants

to place them in a situation where they were put under extreme psycho-

logical stress and where they may have learned things about themselves that

they would have preferred not to know? This type of study would not be

allowed today because the APA has continually revised and strengthened its

Ethical Guidelines since 1953. The latest revision occurred in 2002. You can

find the most recent information at http://www.apa.org/ethics. The General

Principles outlined in 2002 are provided in Table 2.2. Some of the Ethical

Standards outlined by APA in 2002 appear in Table 2.3. In addition to the APA

guidelines, federal guidelines (Federal Protection Regulations), developed in

1982, are enforced by Institutional Review Boards at most institutions.

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CHAPTER 2

TABLE 2.2 General Principles of the APA Code of Ethics

This section consists of General Principles. General Principles, as opposed to Ethical Standards, are aspirational in

nature. Their intent is to guide and inspire psychologists toward the very highest ethical ideals of the profession.

General Principles, in contrast to Ethical Standards, do not represent obligations and should not form the basis for

imposing sanctions. Relying upon General Principles for either of these reasons distorts both their meaning and

purpose.

Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence

Psychologists strive to benefit those with whom they work and take care to do no harm. In their professional

actions, psychologists seek to safeguard the welfare and rights of those with whom they interact professionally and

other affected persons, and the welfare of animal subjects of research. When conflicts occur among psychologists’

obligations or concerns, they attempt to resolve these conflicts in a responsible fashion that avoids or minimizes

harm. Because psychologists’ scientific and professional judgments and actions may affect the lives of others, they

are alert to and guard against personal, financial, social, organizational, or political factors that might lead to

misuse of their influence. Psychologists strive to be aware of the possible effect of their own physical and mental

health on their ability to help those with whom they work.

Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility

Psychologists establish relationships of trust with those with whom they work. They are aware of their professional

and scientific responsibilities to society and to the specific communities in which they work. Psychologists uphold

professional standards of conduct, clarify their professional roles and obligations, accept appropriate responsibility

for their behavior, and seek to manage conflicts of interest that could lead to exploitation or harm. Psychologists

consult with, refer to, or cooperate with other professionals and institutions to the extent needed to serve the

best interests of those with whom they work. They are concerned about the ethical compliance of their colleagues’

scientific and professional conduct. Psychologists strive to contribute a portion of their professional time for little

or no compensation or personal advantage.

Principle C: Integrity

Psychologists seek to promote accuracy, honesty, and truthfulness in the science, teaching, and practice of

psychology. In these activities, psychologists do not steal, cheat, or engage in fraud, subterfuge, or intentional

misrepresentation of fact. Psychologists strive to keep their promises and to avoid unwise or unclear commitments.

In situations in which deception may be ethically justifiable to maximize benefits and minimize harm, psychologists

have a serious obligation to consider the need for, the possible consequences of, and their responsibility to correct

any resulting mistrust or other harmful effects that arise from the use of such techniques.

Principle D: Justice

Psychologists recognize that fairness and justice entitle all persons to access and benefit from the contributions

of psychology and to equal quality in the processes, procedures, and services being conducted by psychologists.

Psychologists exercise reasonable judgment and take precautions to ensure that their potential biases, the

boundaries of their competence, and the limitations of their expertise do not lead to or condone unjust practices.

Principle E: Respect for People’s Rights and Dignity

Psychologists respect the dignity and worth of all people and the rights of individuals to privacy, confidentiality,

and self-determination. Psychologists are aware that special safeguards may be necessary to protect the rights

and welfare of persons or communities whose vulnerabilities impair autonomous decision making. Psychologists

are aware of and respect cultural, individual, and role differences, including those based on age, gender,

gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, and

socioeconomic status, and consider these factors when working with members of such groups. Psychologists try to

eliminate the effect on their work of biases based on those factors, and they do not knowingly participate in or

condone activities of others based upon such prejudices.

SOURCE: American Psychological Association. (2002). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Copyright

2002 by the American

Psychological Association. Reprinted with permission.

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TABLE 2.3 APA Ethical Standards Covering the Treatment of Human Participants

3.04 Avoiding Harm

Psychologists take reasonable steps to avoid harming their clients/patients, students, supervisees, research participants,

organizational clients, and others with whom they work, and to minimize harm where it is foreseeable and unavoidable.

4. Privacy and Confidentiality

4.01 Maintaining Confidentiality

Psychologists have a primary obligation and take reasonable precautions to protect confidential information

obtained through or stored in any medium, recognizing that the extent and limits of confidentiality may be

regulated by law or established by institutional rules or professional or scientific relationship. (See also Standard

2.05, Delegation of Work to Others.)

4.02 Discussing the Limits of Confidentiality

(a) Psychologists discuss with persons (including, to the extent feasible, persons who are legally incapable

of giving informed consent and their legal representatives) and organizations with whom they establish a

scientific or professional relationship (1) the relevant limits of confidentiality and (2) the foreseeable uses of

the information generated through their psychological activities. (See also Standard 3.10, Informed Consent.)

(b) Unless it is not feasible or is contraindicated, the discussion of confidentiality occurs at the outset of the

relationship and thereafter as new circumstances may warrant.

the risks to privacy and limits of confidentiality.

4.03 Recording

Before recording the voices or images of individuals to whom they provide services, psychologists obtain permission

from all such persons or their legal representatives. (See also Standards 8.03, Informed Consent for Recording Voices

and Images in Research; 8.05, Dispensing with Informed Consent for Research; and 8.07, Deception in Research.)

4.04 Minimizing Intrusions on Privacy

(a) Psychologists include in written and oral reports and consultations, only information germane to the purpose

for which the communication is made.

(b) Psychologists discuss confidential information obtained in their work only for appropriate scientific or

professional purposes and only with persons clearly concerned with such matters.

4.05 Disclosures

(a) Psychologists may disclose confidential information with the appropriate consent of the organizational client,

the individual client/patient, or another legally authorized person on behalf of the client/patient unless

prohibited by law.

(b) Psychologists disclose confidential information without the consent of the individual only as mandated by law,

or where permitted by law for a valid purpose such as to (1) provide needed professional services; (2) obtain

appropriate professional consultations; (3) protect the client/patient, psychologist, or others from harm; or (4)

obtain payment for services from a client/patient, in which instance disclosure is limited to the minimum that

is necessary to achieve the purpose. (See also Standard 6.04e, Fees and Financial Arrangements.)

4.06 Consultations

When consulting with colleagues, (1) psychologists do not disclose confidential information that reasonably could

lead to the identification of a client/patient, research participant, or other person or organization with whom

they have a confidential relationship unless they have obtained the prior consent of the person or organization or

the disclosure cannot be avoided, and (2) they disclose information only to the extent necessary to achieve the

purposes of the consultation. (See also Standard 4.01, Maintaining Confidentiality.)

(continued)

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