Concept introduction:
Chapter 1 (page 24) describes different research approaches used by psychologists. Let’s consider two research methods that could be used to examine the effects of drug advertisements on beliefs about psychological disorders.
Explanation of Solution
Suggested responses:
For this question about the effects of ads on people’s beliefs, we could use an experimental research design to determine whether drug ads lead to or increase certain beliefs. The research hypothesis could be: “It is hypothesized that increased exposure to drug advertisements will result in less negative beliefs about psychological disorders.” The researchers could prepare a video of different ads. Participants could view an unrelated video on a separate topic (our control group), 5 minutes of the video ads (group 1), or 30 minutes of video ads (group 2). After watching the video, each group could take a survey asking about their opinions on psychological disorders (for example: “true or false, having a psychological disorder does not make you a weak person”). In this case, the amount of exposure to ads is the independent variable and beliefs about psychological disorders is the dependent variable. One possible outcome could be that group 2 endorsed fewer negative survey items about psychological disorders than both the control group and group 1. A confounding factor with this study approach would be the effect of people’s exposure to drug ads outside of the study (for example, maybe someone assigned to the control group watches a lot of TV at home and has seen more drug ads outside of the study than someone in group 2).
A correlational method could be used if we want to examine the relationhip between drug advertisements on people’s beliefs without manipulating any variables. The researcher hypothesis could be: “People who report more exposure to drug advertisements will have less negative views of psychological disorders.” The study design could involve participants filling out two self-report surveys: one asking how often people saw drug ads and how much they remember about the ads, while the other self-report survey would ask questions about people’s opinions regarding psychological disorders. Statistical findings could tell us if there is a direct, indirect, or no relationship between exposure to drug ads and beliefs about psychological disorders.
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Chapter 15 Solutions
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