Research Methods: Videos

Adam suspects that most hairy dogs have balding owners. Testing his "pet" theory at a local park, he quickly finds flaws in his own experiment. This video demonstrates Adam's second test, involving better preparation, more rigorous analysis, and an exciting pasta cook-off. Showing how Adam can effectively determine the best spaghetti recipe, the program illustrates concepts that are central to the scientific method—including null, alternative, and two-tailed hypotheses; field and lab settings; sampling; primacy/recency effects; constant/random errors; and other testing principles. Graphic screens reinforce each concept and enable students to fully absorb the testing process. A viewable/printable instructor's guide is available online. (23 minutes)

A dream may be the most difficult human experience to quantify-but dreaming is an excellent topic for building qualitative research skills. This program illustrates experiments, designed and conducted by students, that revolve around sleep and dreams. In the process, it provides thorough insight into the issues relevant to collecting and utilizing qualitative data. Viewers are shown how to create effective questionnaires, prepare participant interviews, assemble case studies, and conduct observational studies. The program also covers the use of content analysis and explores the correlational method, employed to make qualitative data more meaningful

This video focuses on effective ways to understand and organize data using descriptive statistics. Analyzing data collected from studies of young music students, the video helps viewers sort through basic data-interpretation concepts: measures of central tendency, levels of measurement, measures of dispersion, and graphs. A wide range of organization principles are covered, including mode, median, and mean; discrete and continuous data; nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio data; standard deviation; and normal distribution. Animation and graphics clarify and reinforce each concept. The video concludes with a quick quiz to assess understanding and focus on key areas.

Who said statistics were boring? Using magic and circus motifs, this program demonstrates the significance of probability theory and the importance of using the correct test to analyze research data. Host Amy and her friend Matt the Magician guide viewers through the need to make probability statements, and along with a team of students, use juggling skills to explore choice of test. Setting significance levels, tests of difference, the sign test, degrees of freedom, Yates correction, expected frequencies, parametric tests, and plastic interval scales are explored. Supporting graphics and animation enliven each discussion point and set up questions posed to viewers. A viewable/printable instructor's guide is available online. (36 minutes)