positivism
- developed in late 17th century
- states that an objective truth exists and can only be understood if directly observable
- truth must be directly measurable
- tied to quantitative research
post-positivism
- truth can only be approximated because of inherent errors present when measuring reality
constructivism
- aka interpretivism
there are multiple realities/perspectives for any given phenomenon - truth differs for individuals and Is an internal manifestation
- tied to qualitative research
critical/ideological paradigm
- centers on research taking a proactive role and confronting the social structure and conditions facing oppressed or underprivileged groups
- tied to qualitative research
nazi medical war crimes
exploited and deceived prisoners to understand how the human body would react to various conditions
Belmont report
all research was held to standards that we would consider ethical today
milgram obedience study
- stanley milgram sought to investigate blind obedience and the use of deception without debriefing
- where participants believed they were shocking another person
Tuskegee syphilis study
- 1932-1970s
- physicians told 400 African American males with syphilis that they were being treated for “bad blood”
- participant were never told of their diagnosis and when penicillin was discovered as a treatment, the men were not given it
- this study led to the construction of the Belmont Report and hastened the call for informed consent, right to withdraw, and and guideline for use of deception
jewish chronic disease hospital study
both healthy and unhealthy patients were injected with live cancer cells so that researchers could better understand the impact of cancer based on health status
- participants did not give informed consent and were not told that they were being injected with cancer cells
willowbrook study
- willowbrook, a school for children with mental disabilities, became the setting for researchers interested in studying the effects of hepatitis in a controlled setting.
- parents who wanted to enroll their children signed informed consent that they could inject their children with hepatitis virus
- parents were never informed of their right to decline the injection or were told the long term effects of hepatitis
common rule
- in code of federal regulations
- outlines policies that guide researchers who use human subjects
- requires these studies need to be approved by the IRB
institutional review board (IRB)
- any institution receiving federal funding that is studying with human subjects need to be approved by IRB
- even if institution is not federally funded, they should still be approved by IRB (most institutions have their own form of IRB that follow similar guidelines)
variable
construct that have 2 levels or categories, therefore, can vary
- must be multidimensional
- 3 types (independent, dependent, and extraneous)
independent variable
construct that is manipulated or controlled in some way by the professional
dependent variable
the outcome variable that is influence by an independent variable
extraneous variable
other variables that could affect the dependent variable
research question
statement that identifies what a research study hopes to examine
- 3 types (rational, descriptive, causal)
null hypothesis
- H0
- a statement that “there is no relationship” between IV and DV
alternative hypothesis
- H1
- developed in order to be eliminated and address the question “what else could be causing the results?”
Type 1 error
occurs when a decision is made to reject a null hypothesis when that null hypothesis is in fact true
Type 2 error
occurs when decision is made to retain the null hypothesis that should have been rejected because the null hypothesis is indeed false
