The following exercises are designed to give you hands-on practice of the skills learned in this chapter.
Develop five examples of hypothetical research conclusions in which the ex post facto fallacy occurs.
Devise an outline of a research plan that studies human responses to repeated failure. Use low-constraint observational procedures to study your participants: the members of the worst football team in your college's conference. Carefully consider the impact of every decision you might make about procedures on what you would likely observe and the conclusion you would likely draw.
Suppose that you are to conduct
naturalistic observations on the following. For each one
identify:
(i) the most probable variables that you will
include in the study;
(ii) the nature of the constraints that you might place
on the observer.
For example, consider the naturalistic observation of children’s
aggressive behavior in school playgrounds. The observer might be
constrained in the specific behavior to be observed, such as
observing only acts of physical aggression, or in the manner in
which data are recorded, such as video recording, and by limits
placed on the observer’s direct interactions with the children.
As you think of these constraints, be sure you understand the
reasons why you would apply them.
Naturalistic Observation of:
(a) Male and female drivers at intersections with stop signs
(b) Nest-building behavior of the Eastern Bluebird
(c) The rates and quality of verbal responses by children in
class at different times of the day
(d) Leader and follower behavior in committee meetings
(e) Adolescents’ behavior in shopping malls
(f) The rate of verbal reinforcement given by teachers
In naturalistic research, the important relationships among variables that are observed are contingencies. For each of the studies in the preceding exercise (drivers, nest-building, etc.) identify what contingencies we might expect to find. For example, we might find that coming to a full stop at a stop sign is more probable when the car is first in line at the intersection. That is a contingency--when first in line, the probability of stopping is increased.
Define archival research. Write down six or more questions for which you, as a researcher, might employ archival research procedures. For each one, identify some constraints that you might employ. For example: One might use archival research to gather information from school records about learning disabilities in people with a criminal record compared with those who do not have a criminal record.
For each of the following research areas, assume that you will
perform some of the ground-breaking research. Because there is
no prior research in the area to draw on, you will need to
utilize the flexible naturalistic and case-study approaches to
identify critical variables, formulate initial hypotheses, and
so on. Develop an initial research plan to accomplish these
goals.
(a) Some people are concerned about the possible effects of
televised wrestling on viewers and on society in general. How
would you begin to study such an issue?
(b) Studies have shown that seat belts dramatically reduce the
risk of injury or death in the event of an accident. In spite of
this, many people continue to avoid the use of seat belts. The
issue of concern to you is how one might increase seat belt use
among average drivers.
(c) Many naturalists and others are concerned about the welfare
of animals in the natural environment because of increasing
incursions of human activity. Most people seem to be little
concerned with the fate of wildlife or with the effects of
hunting, habitat destruction, environmental pollution, and so
on. You are to develop ways to sensitize people to greater
concern for wildlife and greater efforts to reduce human
incursions. What research would you develop toward these goals?
(d) Shoplifting costs retail businesses and consumers billions
of dollars annually. You have been hired by a national retail
consortium to study shoplifting and make recommendations toward
control of this problem. How would you begin such a study?