This document discusses research methods in sport psychology. It defines research and describes the scientific process. There are two main types of research: basic research which investigates fundamental questions and applied research which seeks practical solutions. Research can be unscientific or scientific. The scientific method involves forming a hypothesis and testing it in a systematic, controlled manner. Common research methods include observation, surveys, experiments and correlation analysis to determine relationships between variables. Experiments manipulate an independent variable to measure its effect on a dependent variable. Ethical guidelines like informed consent and confidentiality must be followed.

1. Topic 11:
Research Methods
In Sport Psychology
SPS431

2. LEARNING OUTCOMES:
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Students will be able to:
• Define what research is.
• Describe the types of research.
• Explain the unscientific and scientific methods of
research.
• Describe the research methods in sport psychology.
• Explain ethics in sport psychology research.

3. The Definition of Research
 “Research is a process of steps used to collect and
analyze information to increase our understanding of a
topic or issue”. It consists of three steps: Pose a question,
collect data to answer the question, and present an
answer to the question (Creswell, 2012).
 Research is an organized, systematic, critical,
objective, scientific inquiry or investigation into a specific
problem, undertaken with the purpose of finding answers
or solutions to it. It done to enhance the understanding
of certain problem that commonly occur in organizational
settings, and seek methods of solving them (Zamalia
Mahmud, 2009).
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4. Types of Research in Sport Psychology
 Basic Research
- It provide answer for fundamental questions about how
psychology influences sport behaviour and performance.
- Serve the foundation upon which other researchers develop
research on applications and solutions to deal with real-life sport
related problems.
E.g. Relaxation techniques can help athletes relax before and during
competitions.
 Applied Research
- It concerned with looking for solutions for practical problems.
- Its finding are use to help athletes improve their performance.
E.g. Using specific exercise/ treatment to train athletes to deal with
stress and anxiety before and during competitions to find the way for
improve performance.
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5. Unscientific and Scientific
Methods of Research
 Historically, unscientific research has actually been used more
than the scientific research.
 Unscientific research is acquiring knowledge and truths about
the world using techniques that do not follow the scientific method.
(e.g. Freud's theories)
 Scientific research is a logically stepped process used for
investigating and acquiring or expanding our understanding.The
findings of scientific research can be reproduced and
demonstrated to be consistent.
 Among the unscientific research methods are intuition, tenacity, and
authority (Burns, 1977).
 While, scientific research methods is systematic, controlled,
empirical, and critical investigation of natural phenomena guided by
theory and hypothesis about the presumed relations among such
phenomena (Kerlinger, 1986).
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6. Psychology and the Scientific Method
 Scientific method - system of gathering data so that
bias and error in measurement are reduced.
 Steps in the Scientific Method:
1. Perceive the question.
2. Form a hypothesis – tentative explanation of a
phenomenon based on observations.
3. Test the hypothesis.
4. Draw conclusions.
5. Report your results so that others can try to replicate -
repeat the study or experiment to see if the same
results will be obtained in an effort to demonstrate
reliability of results.
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7. The Scientific Method
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8. Descriptive Methods
 Naturalistic observation – watching animals or
humans behave in their normal environment.
 Major Advantage:
 Realistic picture of behaviour.
 Disadvantages:
 Observer effect - tendency of people or animals to
behave differently from normal when they know they
are being observed.
 Participant observation - a naturalistic observation in
which the observer becomes a participant in the group
being observed (to reduce observer effect).
 Observer bias - tendency of observers to see what
they expect to see.
 Blind observers – people who do not know what the
research question is (to reduce observer bias).
 Each naturalistic setting is unique and observations may
not hold.
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9. Cont. Descriptive Methods
 Laboratory observation – watching animals or
humans behave in a laboratory setting.
 Advantages:
 Control over environment.
 Allows use of specialized equipment.
 Disadvantage:
 Artificial situation that may result in artificial
behaviour.
 Descriptive methods lead to the formation of
testable hypotheses.
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10. Cont. Descriptive Methods
 Case study - study of one individual in great detail.
 Advantage: tremendous amount of detail.
 Disadvantage: cannot apply to others.
 Famous case study: Phineas Gage.
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11. Cont. Descriptive Methods
 Surveys – researchers will ask a series of questions about
the topic under study.
 Given to a representative sample - randomly selected
sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects.
 Population - the entire group of people or animals in which the
researcher is interested.
 Advantages:
 Data from large numbers of people.
 Study covert behaviours.
 Disadvantages:
 Have to ensure representative sample (or results not meaningful).
 People are not always accurate (courtesy bias).
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12. Random Sampling from
Population
POPULATION
SAMPLE
INFERENCE
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13. Finding Relationships
 Correlation - a measure of the relationship
between two variables.
 Variable - anything that can change or vary.
 independent? dependent?
 Measures of two variables go into a mathematical
formula and produce a correlation coefficient (r), which
represents two things:
 direction of the relationship.
 strength of the relationship.
 Knowing the value of one variable allows researchers to
predict the value of the other variable.
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14. Finding Relationships
 Correlation coefficient ranges from –1.00 to +1.00.
 Closer to 1.00 or -1.00, the stronger the relationship
between the variables.
 No correlation = 0.0.
 Perfect correlation = -1.00 OR +1.00.
 Positive correlation – variables are related in the same
direction.
 As one increases, the other increases; as one decreases, the other
decreases.
 Negative correlation – variables are related in opposite
direction.
 As one increases, the other decreases.
 CORRELATION DOES NOT PROVE CAUSATION!!!
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15. Samples of scatterplots showing direction and strength of correlation.
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17. Correlation does NOT prove causation
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18. The Experiment
 Experiment - a deliberate (conscious) manipulation of a
variable to see if corresponding changes in behaviour
result, allowing the determination of cause-and-effect
relationships.
 Operational definition - definition of a variable of
interest that allows it to be directly measured.
 Independent variable (IV) - variable in an experiment
that is manipulated by the experimenter.
 Dependent variable (DV) - variable in an experiment
that represents the measurable response or
behaviour of the subjects in the experiment.
IV:Violent
TV
Definition:
Aggressive
play is ……
DV:
Aggressive
play
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19. The Experiment
 Experimental group - subjects in an
experiment who are subjected to the
independent variable.
 Control group - subjects in an experiment
who are not subjected to the independent
variable and who may receive a placebo
treatment (controls for confounding variables).
 Random assignment - process of assigning
subjects to the experimental or control
groups randomly, so that each subject has an
equal chance of being in either group.
 Controls for confounding (extraneous, interfering)
variables.
Exp
Group:
Watch
TV
Control
Group:
NoTV
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20. Random Assignment
SAMPLE
Control Group
Experimental Group
Test for Differences
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21. Confounding Variables
SAMPLE
Control Group
Experimental Group
Are differences due to manipulation
or confounding variable (mood)?
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22. No Confounding Variables
SAMPLE
Control Group
Experimental Group
Differences due to manipulation,
not an extraneous variable because
mood randomly determined.
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23. The Experiment
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24. The Experiment
 Placebo effect - the phenomenon in which the expectations of
the participants in a study can influence their behavior.
 Single-blind study- subjects do not know if they are in the experimental
or the control group (reduces placebo effect).
 Experimenter effect - tendency of the experimenter’s
expectations for a study to unintentionally influence the
results of the study.
 Double-blind study - neither the experimenter nor the subjects knows
if the subjects are in the experimental or control group (reduces
placebo effect and experimenter effect).
 Quasi experimental designs - not considered true
experiments because of the inability to randomly assign
participants to the experimental and control groups (for
example, if age is the variable of interest).
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25. Example of a Real Experiment
 Hypothesis: self-talk would reduce anxiety.
 Independent variable – three groups (two experimental
group and control group).
 Experimental group – “Positive self-talk + physical practice” ;
and “Negative self-talk + physical practice” .
 Control group – No treatment (“physical practice” only) .
 Dependent variable – anxiety score.
 Results supported hypothesis:Those experimental
groups were less anxiety than control group.“Positive
self-talk + physical practice” group was less anxiety than
“Negative self-talk + physical practice” group.
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26. Ethics in Psychological Research
 Ethics committees - groups of psychologists or other
professionals who look over each proposed research study
and judge it according to its safety and consideration for
the participants in the study.
 Common ethical guidelines:
1. Rights and well-being of participants must be weighed against the
study’s value to science.
2. Participants must be allowed to make an informed decision about
participation.
3. Deception (lack of honesty) must be justified.
4. Participants may withdraw from the study at any time.
5. Participants must be protected from risks or told explicitly of risks.
6. Investigator must debrief participants, telling the true nature of the
study and expectations of results.
7. Data must remain confidential.
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