Ninth Edition CoverGraziano & Raulin
Research Methods (9th edition)

Chapter 2 Exercises
Research is a Process of Inquiry

The following exercises are designed to give you hands-on practice of the skills learned in this chapter.

  1. We have a strong tendency to blur the distinction between facts and our interpretation of facts. Over the next 24 hours, spend some time people watching. While you watch, ask yourself what you are seeing. Then go back and ask yourself whether you are actually seeing something or inferring something and not making a distinction between these two processses. For example, you might see someone leave a room suddenly apparently looking like he or she is about to cry. Chances are you described what you saw as a person upset and leaving the room, but you cannot see their state of mind; you are inferring it. You will be surprised how most of your "observations" are actually "inferences," and you have to learn to separate observations and inferences in order to do good scientific psychological research.


  2. You probably use theories implicitly several times a day without realizing it. Again, take some time to think about things that you are observing. If you see someone accelerating very slowly in a car, you are probably making some interpretation, such as the driver is careful or timid. Perhaps the driver is transporting someone or something that would be hurt or damaged if the acceleration were too fast. Perhaps the car has mechanical problems that necessitates slow acceleration. Get in the habit of generating other ideas to explain observed phenomena. These other ideas are called alternative hypotheses.


  3. Imagine observing something simple going on around you. Some possible examples are the operation of a lawn sprinkler, the behavior of two people who just meet, or how drivers communicate their intentions to other drivers. Use the phases of research described in this chapter to take an idea through a study of the phenomenon of interest and to the point where you communicate your results. Note how much more systematic your thinking is when you follow all of these steps.