Lecture 3: Research Methods in Relationship Science

Question 1

why talk about research methods?

Answer 1

Foster critical thinking and media literacy

Question 2

limits of personal experience & intuition

Answer 2

• Confirmation bias
• We aren’t objective observers of our relationship interactions
• Our perspective is unique and limited
• We’re too quick to see causal relationships where there may be none

Question 3

confirmation bias

Answer 3

the tendency to seek out, pay attention to, and believe the evidence that supports our preexisting beliefs

Question 4

the scientific approach

Answer 4

Relationship scientists examine questions systematically by collecting data and testing their hypotheses while taking steps to reduce bias, and subjectivity, and rule out alternative explanations

Question 5

can we study love?

Answer 5

• Studying love is possible, but challenging
• Things research scientists are interested in, like love, commitment, satisfaction, trust, and attraction, are all very abstract
• How we operationalize these psychological constructs is key

Question 6

operationalizing our constructs

Answer 6

• We can’t measure these psychological constructs directly
• We need to carefully consider whether we are really measuring what we think we are measuring

Question 7

measurement validity

Answer 7

the extent to which an operationalization adequately captures the psychological construct of interested

Question 8

measurements should

Answer 8

• Be well-grounded in existing theoretical conceptions of the construct
• Relate to other measures of the construct & predict future outcomes

Question 9

different types of measurement

Answer 9

Self-report
Behavioural observations
Physiological measures

Question 10

self-report

Answer 10

Simply ask participants to describe their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours

Question 11

two types of self-reports

Answer 11

fixed-response questionnaire & open-ended question`

Question 12

fixed-response questionnaire

Answer 12

a specific set of questions and possible responses are pre-determined by the researcher (ex. The love scale)

Question 13

open-ended question

Answer 13

• The participant gives any answer that comes to mind
• Helpful when studying something that we don’t know much about yet
• A way of gathering information to generate more specific questions later on

Question 14

qualitative research

Answer 14

a methodological approach relying primarily on open-ended questions

Question 15

content analysis

Answer 15

examine the broader themes that emerge from participants’ responses

Question 16

pros of self-reports

Answer 16

• Inexpensive
• Easy to administer
• No special equipment is required
• Allows us to recruit more participants
• Allows us to “get inside people’s heads”

Question 17

cons of self-reports

Answer 17

• Difficulty with self-awareness and recall
• Social desirability bias
• Participants may not interpret questions in the way you intended

Question 18

social desirability bias

Answer 18

desire to be seen in a positive light

Question 19

sentiment override

Answer 19

global beliefs about the partner/relationship may colour perception and memory of specific interactions

Question 20

example of sentiment override

Answer 20

“how many times did your partner kiss you yesterday?”
“I don’t remember, but he loves me and we have a good relationship, so it must have been a lot.”

Question 21

behavioural observation

Answer 21

• Gather data about relationship events without having to ask people who are experiencing those events directly
• Train observers to watch & code recordings of participant behaviour
• We can observe people anywhere (with participants’ consent)
• We need to decide which behaviours to observe
• Coders must agree on what constitutes incidents of a given behaviour category
• A lot of behaviours require interpretation
• Requires extensive training

Question 22

interrater reliability

Answer 22

the extent to which coders agree on whether a specific behaviour has or has not occurred

Question 23

pros of behavioural observations

Answer 23

• Directly assess behaviours of interest
• Don’t have to rely on faulty memories
• Avoid social desirability bias

Question 24

cons of behavioural observations

Answer 24

• Expensive
• Time-consuming
• Labour-intensive
• Reactivity

Question 25

reactivity

Answer 25

a change in one’s behaviour caused by the knowledge that one is being observed

Question 26

indirect measures

Answer 26

- Designed to avoid reactivity and social desirability - Ex. reaction time can be used to assess implicit attitudes

Question 27

implicit relational attitudes test

Answer 27

- Instructions: indicate the valence of the word as quickly as possible - Index of automatic attitudes = negative word -RT - positive word RT - A higher score = a more positive attitude

Question 28

underlying premise of implicit relational attitudes

Answer 28

some concepts are more tightly linked in our minds based on experience

Question 29

implicit vs. explicit attitudes and relationship satisfaction

Answer 29

- Conscious/explicit attitudes are not correlated with implicit attitudes - Implicit but not explicit attitudes are associated with newlywed’s changes in satisfaction over time (4 years) - Implicit attitudes predict nonverbal behaviour in couple’s discussions - Nonverbal behaviours are linked to satisfaction with conversation and relationship satisfaction over the following week - Explicit attitudes did not predict either verbal or nonverbal behaviour

Question 30

pros of indirect measures

Answer 30

- Avoid social desirability bias & reactivity problems - Could be particularly useful for sensitive topics

Question 31

cons of indirect measures

Answer 31

- Big gap between the construct of interest and operationalization

Question 32

physiological responses

Answer 32

- the body’s reaction to various experiences/stimuli - Ex. autonomic nervous system, hormone changes, brain activity, and immune system changes

Question 33

challenges collecting and interpreting fMRI data

Answer 33

- Very confined & noisy environment - Makes it challenging to create powerful psychological experiences for participants - Don’t see brain activation per se: we infer activation by subtracting responses on the control trial from the trial of interest - Need to think carefully about task design

Question 34

pros of physiological measures

Answer 34

- Interesting in their own right (ex. Understanding the link between relationships and health) - Outside participants’ control (not susceptible to social desirability bias

Question 35

cons of physiological measures

Answer 35

- Very expensive -> smaller sample size - Ambiguity in interpretation - Can be more invasive (depending on the measure)

Question 36

archival data

Answer 36

- Data that has been collected by others, often for other purposes - We might be able to draw on publicly available data & documents - Ex. more positive facial expressions in yearbook photos predict the likelihood of being happily married 30 years late

Question 37

pros of archival data

Answer 37

Typically economical Can examine historical trends

Question 38

cons of archival data

Answer 38

Limited by the type and quality of the original data

Question 39

takeaways: measurement

Answer 39

- No single approach is perfect & free of limitations - Ideally, we want to adopt a multimethod approach: using a combination of methods to triangulate an answer

Question 40

correlational design

Answer 40

Allow us to examine naturally occurring associations between variables

Question 41

interpreting correlational data

Answer 41

- The strength of association is captured by the correlation coefficient (r), which can range from -1 to +1 - The sign tells us the direction - The magnitude tells us the strength of the association

Question 42

pros of the correlational design

Answer 42

- Sometimes the only option available - We can’t manipulate some variables

Question 43

cons of the correlational design

Answer 43

We can’t conclude causation

Question 44

does marriage cause happiness?

Answer 44

- There is evidence to suggest that marriage & happiness are associated - It’s plausible that marriage may increase happiness - But, it could also be true that happier people are more likely to get married - Or, there may be a third variable responsible for the effect

Question 45

factors necessary for causation

Answer 45

1. Two variables must be correlated 2. One variable must precede the other 3. There must be no alternative explanation for the association

Question 46

cross-sectional data

Answer 46

data collected at one single point in time

Question 47

longitudinal data

Answer 47

- Data collected from the same participants on multiple occasions - Allows us to examine change over time

Question 48

challenges and considerations of longitudinal research

Answer 48

- choosing the right interval - the sample you start with may not be the same one you end up with

Question 49

daily diary study

Answer 49

a type of longitudinal approach where participants provide data every day at about the same time

Question 50

experience sampling

Answer 50

a type of longitudinal design where data is gathered throughout the day, thereby capturing behaviours, thoughts, and feelings as they occur

Question 51

attrition bias

Answer 51

the participants who drop out may systematically differ from those remaining in the study

Question 52

pros of longitudinal research

Answer 52

- Captures change over time - Can examine processes that would be impossible/unethical to cause - Daily diaries and experience sampling are less subject to retrospective bias

Question 53

cons of longitudinal research

Answer 53

- Expensive - Time and labour-intensive - Attrition bias - Getting one step closer to making causal claims, but still not there

Question 54

statistically controlling alternative explanations

Answer 54

- You measure an alternative variable that might explain your effect, and you include it in your analysis - If your effect is just a proxy for something the control variable is doing your effect will be wiped out - Although helpful, this type of statistical control is still subject to limitations - It can be hard to anticipate every relevant variable

Question 55

experimental design

Answer 55

- Manipulate one variable to determine the effect on another variable - The only design that allows us to make causal claims - Compare the experimental group to the control group to determine the effect of experimental intervention - We want the control condition to match the experimental condition as closely as possible (minus the IV) to avoid confounds

Question 56

random assignment

Answer 56

- Every participant has an equal chance of being assigned to an experimental or control group - With a large enough sample, our two groups should be similar in all these individual traits - This helps rule out alternative explanations

Question 57

internal validity

Answer 57

- Can we rule out alternative explanations in the experiment? - Relies on the selection of appropriate control & random assignment

Question 58

longitudinal experimental studies

Answer 58

- Could expose couples to an intervention and track them over time (longitudinal assessments) - The same concerns about attrition bias apply

Question 59

pros of experiments

Answer 59

Allow us to make causal claims as long as there are no threats to internal validity

Question 60

cons of experiments

Answer 60

- May have lower external validity: the extent to which results obtained in a given study generalize to other contexts - Not always an option

Question 61

population

Answer 61

all the people we are interested in

Question 62

sample

Answer 62

a subset of that population

Question 63

choosing a sample

Answer 63

Must be chosen carefully to ensure it represents the population we want to generalize to

Question 64

can we make universal claims about relationships?

Answer 64

- We often make universal claims about relationships, but we don’t study diverse samples, so we can't always make these claims - Ex. homosexual couples are historically underrepresented in relationship research

Question 65

convenience samples

Answer 65

- Anyone who is readily available - Easier to get, but may not be representative of people in the broader population - They are used more frequently

Question 66

WEIRD participants

Answer 66

Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic

Question 67

representative sample

Answer 67

- A sample that resembles the entire population we want to study on the variables of interest - Very difficult to get

Question 68

volunteer bias

Answer 68

the people who agree to participate may differ from those who don’t

Question 69

who participates in couples research study

Answer 69

- Researchers mailed invitations to participate in a longitudinal study to couples who had obtained their marriage license in LA County between 1993 and 1994 - Those who responded to the invitation 1) Higher SES (more years of education, higher status job) 2) More likely to have cohabitation prior to marriage

Question 70

what differentiates couples who participate from those who don't?

Answer 70

- Individuals whose partner agreed to participate with them reported greater relationship satisfaction, commitment, and more secure attachment - Couples who agreed to participate together were less likely to experience a breakup overtime

Question 71

actor-partner interdependence model

Answer 71

Allows us to examine how individual outcomes are affected by both one’s characteristics (actor effect) and the partner’s characteristics (partner effect)

Question 72

ethical issues

Answer 72

- Asked to deeply think about and confide about issues of a highly personal and sensitive nature - They may experience negative effects, like recognizing problems in the relationship for the first time - We need to weigh the cost of doing the studies, the cost of not doing them, and the benefit of doing them - We need to be sensitive to how we approach our participants, provide effective debriefing, and counselling resources