The biological level of analysis (B.L.O.A) states that all cognitions, emotions and behaviours have a physiological level basis. In the biological level of analysis there are five main research methods. These include laboratory experiments, correlation studies, animal studies, case studies and brain scanning technologies. Research methods are used to provide researchers with a guideline and a consistent method as to how to conduct their investigation. Researchers need to choose the appropriate research method based on how they plan to measure their results, what they want to find out and how this can help discoveries of, for instance, the significance of inherited genetics in the biological level of analysis. Different research methods allow researchers and psychologists to manipulate their environment and given resources to conduct their results in order to achieve high reliability. Reliability is important in studies as the more reliable the study, the more we can trust the results and strengthen knowledge and findings.
A laboratory experiment is a research method that can be defined as an experiment that is conducted in a controlled environment. This enables the researcher to control factors that may or may not affect the results of the experiment in an uncontrolled environment. This type of research method is common due to the allowance of alterations to particular sections of their experiment in order to determine what and how their aim is either correct or incorrect. From this they can determine the cause and effect. Cause and effect is the acknowledgment of a relationship between events, or in this case, between results.
This research method allows for generalisations to be made and enables it to be easily replicated, m...
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...le in the biological level of analysis in discovering effects on the functions of the brain.
Another research method is the use of correlation studies. Correlation studies are used to observe relationships between variables. Correlation is a statistical index used to represent the strength of a relationship between two factors; how much and in what way those factors may vary. The three outcomes of a correlation study may be a positive, negative or non-existent. A positive correlation can be described as two variables increasing or decreasing at the same time. A negative correlation can be the amount that one variable increases, the other decreases. And a non-existent correlation simply means there is no relationship between the variables. Correlation studies are used when the researcher desires to find or suggest evidence of a relationship between two variables.
Going into details of the article, I realized that the necessary information needed to evaluate the experimental procedures were not included. However, when conducting an experiment, the independent and dependent variable are to be studied before giving a final conclusion.
The scientific method is how psychologists gain knowledge about the mind and behavior. It is used by all scientists. The experimental method is the one way to engage the scientific method, and the only way to find a cause and effect in relationships. It is summarized in five steps, observing some phenomenon in the world, forming a hypothesis which is an educated prediction about relationships between two or more variables, examining the gathered information by using empirical research, determining what the results are and drawing them, and evaluating the results whether it will support the hypothesis or not. Researchers, at the end, submit their work for publication for all to see and read (King, 2016). There are three types of psychological research in the scientific method, descriptive research, correlation, and experimental research (King, 2016). The article The Effects of Negative Body Talk in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of College Students (Katrevich, Register, & Aruguete, 2014) is an example of the experimental method.
In response to the question set, I will go into detail of the study, consisting of the background, main hypotheses, as well the aims, procedure and results gathered from the study; explaining the four research methods chosen to investigate, furthering into the three methods actually tested.
1) Text: Rosenzweig, Leiman, and Breedlove. 2nd Edition. Biological Psychology: An Introduction to Behavioral, Cognitive, and Clinical Neuroscience. Sinauer Associates, Massachusetts, 1999.
Correlation and linear regression analysis are statistical procedures to enumerate associations between an independent, every now and then called a predictor, variable (X) and a continuous dependent outcome variable (Y). For correlation study, the independent variable (X) can be continuous or ordinal. Regression analysis can also accommodate dichotomous independent variables.
The most popular method of quantitative research is an experiment, which gives casual information and hard numbers (Guts, 2014). Experiments are easy to understand, and provide accessible information that helps predict human behavior (Guts, 2014). In experiments, researchers manipulate variables using experiment and control groups. (Guts, 2014). An experiment includes independent and dependent variables. An independen...
This essay will discuss about how and why particular research methods are used to investigate the cognitive level of analysis. The cognitive level of analysis studies cognition, which refers to mental processes such as: perception, attention, language, memory, decision-making and problem solving. The mind, in terms of structures and processes which are involved in the reception, storage and use of knowledge, is studied in this level of analysis. In Psychology, research methods are used for collecting and analyzing data, in other words are ways they conduct their studies. There are a number of different research methods, the 3 main research methods that will be focused on in this essay are: lab experiments, brain imaging technologies and case studies.
The chapter explains how correlation study examines the extent to which differences in characteristic and variable are related to differences in one or more characteristics or variables. Correlation only exists when one variable increases and the other either...
Now within the rest of this paper you will be finding a few different things getting discussed. Staring it off we will be discussing the articles that we have found to make our arguments and hypotheses. After wrapping up the literature reviews we will be discussing the hypotheses thus continuing onto our variables and indicators. Once we discuss our hypotheses we will be moving onto the research design. The research design will have our general issues, sampling, and methods.
The first method to be discussed and analysed are experimental methods. There is a variety of experimental methods including; laboratory, field and natural experiments. These methods are the most scientific method due to them being highly objective and systematic. In addition, this method is regarded as the most powerful research method used in psychology because of the potential to investigate the causes of events and therefore, identifying the cause and effect relationship. When carrying out an experiment the researcher intervenes directly in the situation being investigated. The researcher manipulates an independent variable (IV) in order to investigate whether there is a change in the dependent variable (DV). Any other variables that could have an
The biological perspective looks at how the environment and physical causes influences behavior. In the biological perspective, neuroscience plays a crucial role in explaining how the brain and the nervous system influence behaviors. Neuroscientist describes how the brain process thoughts, emotions, feelings, and how the physical body is driven by these mental processes. This branch of psychology, engages in a variety of research such as the study of genetics, brain cells, and the function of the brain across a period of time. This is done using positron emission tomography (PET). This technique is used with radio active glucose to indicate areas of activity in the brain. Another technique that is done to conduct brain research is functional magnetic resonance imaging (IMR). It uses powerful magnets and radio equipment that provides comprehensive pictures of soft tissues of the brain.
When two or more variables move in sympathy with the other, then they are said to be correlated. If both variables move in the same direction, then they are said to be positively correlated. If the variables move in opposite direction, then they are said to be negatively correlated. If they move haphazardly, then there is no correlation between them. Correlation analysis deals with the following:
I. Plasmids are important tools in molecular biology. Plasmids are small circular DNA that has the ability to enter and replicate in bacterial cells and can be used as vectors to introduce foreign genes into bacteria for cloning and sequencing. Any gene must be inserted into an appropriate location of a plasmid to be expressed. The importance of a plasmid is in the step of cloning and sequencing when the construction of a recombinant DNA molecule occurs. The target gene fragment is ligated to a plasmid, and becomes recombinant DNA. Then the plasmid can replicate autonomously in an appropriate host organism.
Empirical research: Empirical research relies on experience or observation alone, often without due regard for system and theory. It is data-based research, coming up with conclusions which are capable of being verified by observation or experiment. We can also call it as experimental type of research. In such a research it is necessary to get at facts firsthand, at their source, and actively to go about doing certain things to stimulate the production of desired information. In such a research, the researcher must first provide himself with a working hypothesis or guess as to the probable results. He then works to get enough facts (data) to prove or disprove his hypothesis. He then sets up experimental designs which he thinks will manipulate the persons or the materials concerned so as to bring forth the desired information. Such research is thus characterized by the experimenter’s control over the variables under study and his deliberate manipulation of one of them to study its effects. Empirical research is appropriate when proof is sought that certain variables affect other variables in some way. Evidence gathered through experiments or empirical studies is today considered to be the most powerful support possible for a given
Correlational research is a qualitative method where the focus is on studying the relationships between variables (Punch, 2014). Correlational research is primarily designed to investigate whether or not there is a relationship between two or more variables. The main emphasis in a correlational research is to discover or establish the existence of a relationship/association/interdependence between two or more aspects of a situation (Kumar, 2011). Correlation analysis is concerned with measuring whether two variables are associated with each other. If two variables tend to change together in the same direction, they are said to be positively correlated. If they tend to change together in opposite directions, they are said