Transcript Chapter 14 Generalizing results

Chapter 14
Generalizing results
Generalizing to other populations
Individuals in studies are usually picked b/c they
are available
College students
A popular sample to study due to convenience
Volunteers
Tend to be more educated, more in need of approval,
higher SES and more social
Gender considerations
Try to include both males and females
Locale
Different locales offer different perspectives
Cultural considerations
In the past most studies use whites b/c of
availability
More ethnically diverse populations are being
used of late for comparison purposes
These types of studies inform us about the
generality of findings across cultural groups
Keep in mind that some operational
definitions are rooted in cultural meaning and
thus may vary across cultures
i.e. self esteem
Generalization problems
To other experiments
The experimenter can be a source for
generalization problems
.
.
Pretests and generalization
Pretests work within a study but may the study
may not be generalizable to other studies that did
not use a pretest
Generalizing from lab settings
The lab setting allows for experimenting under
highly controlled settings
Alternatives to contrived settings (i.e settings in
field experiments)
Mundane realism –
Experimental realism–
Does the experiment involve the participants sufficiently?
Do the conditions in the experiment make them take it
seriously?
Generalizing from lab settings
cont.
Mutual benefits of lab and field research
Lab and field experiments provide great
opportunity for advancing our knowledge
of behavior
A study (Anderson et al., 1999) found that
lab and field experiments find
complementary same results
Replications
Replication –
Types of replications
Exact replications
Replicating the same procedures of a study to
see if the same results are obtained
Conceptual replications
Using different procedures to replicate a
research finding
Exact Replications
Done to better understand a previous
study
Done to build on the findings of a
previous study
i.e.
Failure to replicate can mean the
original study is flawed or the
replication was flawed
Conceptual Replications
The same IV is used but manipulated in a
different way
The DV may also be measured in different way
More important than exact replications in
furthering our understanding of behavior
If conceptual replications produce similar
results, this leads to
High generalizability of relationships b/w variables
A solid relationship between the conceptual
theoretical variables
Evaluating generalizations via
literature reviews and meta-analysis
Conclusions about the generalizability of research is
done by conduction literature reviews
Meta analysis
A technique for comparing a large # of studies in an area
A set of statistical procedures for combining the results of a
number of studies in order to provide a general assessment of
the relationship b/w variables
Critical evaluation of published studies
A method of determining the reliability of a finding by examining
the results from many different studies
Complementary to narrative reviews
Using research to improve lives
Improvements have been seen in
Healthcare
i.e. Promotion of healthy eating habits, exercise
Environment
Work space satisfaction
Conservation of energy
Law
Jury selection
Education
Academics and ethnicity