Quantitative psychological research : a student's handbook

Part 1: The Methods Used in Psychological Research. Introduction. What is the Purpose of Research? What is a Method? Why Have a Method? Tensions between Control and Ecological Validity. Distinctions between Quantitative and Qualitative Methods. Is Psychology a Science? Ethical Issues in Psychological Research. Summary. Part 2: The Preliminary Stages of Research. Introduction. Choice of Topic. Focusing on a Specific Area of Research. Choice of Method. Choice of Hypotheses. Choice of Research Design. Measurement in Psychology. The Choice of Measures. Choice of Analysis. Choice of Participants Part 3: Variables and the Validity of Research Designs. Introduction. Variables. The Validity of Research Designs. The Choice of Hypotheses. Summary. Part 4: Research Designs and Their Internal Validity. Introduction. Types of Designs. Terminology. Specific Examples of Research Designs. Summary. Part 5: Asking Questions I: Interviews and Surveys. Introduction. Topics for Questions. The Formats for Asking Questions. Choosing between the Formats. The Settings for Asking Questions. The Pilot Study. Summary. Part 6: Asking Questions II: Measuring Attitudes and Meaning. Introduction. Reliability of Measures. Dimensions. Attitude Scales. Techniques to Measure Meaning. Summary. Part 7: Observation and Content Analysis. Introduction. Observation. Issues Shared between Observation and Content Analysis. Structured Observation. Content Analysis. Summary. Part 8: Scales of Measurement. Introduction. Examples of Measures. Scales of Measurement. The Relevance of the Four Scales. Indicators. Statisticians and Scales. Summary. Part 9: Summarizing and Describing Data. Introduction. Numerical Methods. Graphical Methods. The Distribution of Data. Summary. Part 10: Going Beyond Description. Introduction. Hypothesis Testing. Probability. Statistical Significance. Error Types. Calculating the Probability of the Outcome of Research. One- and Two-tailed Tests. Summary. Part 11: Samples and Populations. Introduction. Statistics. Parameters. Choosing a Sample. Confidence Intervals. Summary. Part 12: Analysis of Differences between a Single Sample and a Population. Introduction. Z-tests. One-group T-tests. Confidence Intervals for Means. Further Graphical Displays. Identifying Outliers with Standardized Scores. Summary. Part 13: Effect Size and Power. Introduction. Limitations of Statistical Significance Testing Effect Size. Statistical Power. Summary. Part 14: Parametric and Non-parametric Tests. Introduction. Parametric Tests. The Assumptions of Parametric Tests. Non-parametric Tests for One-group Designs. Summary. Part 15: Analysis of Differences between Two Levels of an Independent Variable. Introduction. Parametric Tests. Non-parametric Tests. Summary. Part 16: Preliminary Analysis of Designs with One IV with More Than Two Levels. Introduction. Parametric Tests. Non-param