Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational Psychology .docx

Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational
Psychology
Social Exchange Theory
Contributors: Russell Cropanzano & Marie S. Mitchell
Edited by: Steven G. Rogelberg
Book Title: Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational
Psychology
Chapter Title: "Social Exchange Theory"
Pub. Date: 2007
Access Date: June 18, 2019
Publishing Company: SAGE Publications, Inc.
City: Thousand Oaks
Print ISBN: 9781412924702
Online ISBN: 9781412952651
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412952651.n281
Print pages: 734-736
© 2007 SAGE Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This PDF has been generated from SAGE Knowledge. Please
note that the pagination of the online
version will vary from the pagination of the print book.
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Social exchange theory is one of the most influential conceptual
paradigms for understanding behavior. Over
the years, differing perspectives on social exchange have
evolved, bridging disciples such as anthropology,
sociology, organizational theory, and social psychology. As a
result, social exchange theory cannot be thought
of as a single theoretical model. Rather, it is a general
framework or conceptual point of view about how re-
sources are valued and exchanged. Thus, there is no single
social exchange theory but many different social
exchange theories, each meaningfully elaborating on the general
paradigm.
Theories of social exchange view social life as a series of
transactions. Social exchange transactions involve
the exchange of some resource, broadly defined, between two or
more parties (individuals or institutions).
These exchanges are viewed as interdependent in the sense that
the behavior of one party is contingent on
the actions of another. A basic tenet of social exchange is that
an offer of a benefit generates an obligation
to reciprocate in kind. In time, a series of interdependent
transactions will generate trust, loyalty, and mutual
commitments. Although theories of social exchange differ on
particulars, they highlight three central princi-
ples:

• Interdependent transactions are defined by rules or norms of
exchange.
• Social exchange quality is defined by the attributes of the
resources being exchanged.
• Social exchanges evolve into relationships among the parties
involved.
Exchange Rules and Norms
Exchange rules and norms define the expectations or attributes
of transactions. In this way, parties of ex-
change use rules to guide behavior. Over time, these rules may
become social norms, or moral standards of
behavior. Both exchange rules and norms define how parties
should behave and be treated. Within the orga-
nizational sciences, the most commonly accepted rule is
reciprocity. However, other rules are also important
for understanding social exchange.
Reciprocity
Reciprocity involves repaying like with like. By and large, most
social exchange research focuses on the pos-
itive reciprocity norm, meaning that individuals expect to return
a benefit for a benefit. However, exchanges
may also involve a negative reciprocity norm, meaning that
individuals may avenge a harm. Indeed, these felt
obligations can be quite strong. For example, in some cultures,
individuals will refuse valuable gifts so as to
avoid expensive repayment. Likewise, the desire to punish a
wrong can cause one to retaliate—even when
it is economically costly and there is no hope of future
deterrence. Therefore, it is not surprising that human
beings have been labeled homo reciprocus. Some scholars have
gone so far as to argue that reciprocity is an
evolutionarily driven predication, whereas others contend that

this tendency is learned through socialization.
The give-and-take principles of reciprocity motivate much of
human behavior. For example, a tit-for-tat tactic,
which begins with unilateral concessions, can defuse serious
conflicts. This tactic works because one's con-
cession tends to prompt parallel concessions in the other
disputant. Similarly, individuals tend to reciprocate
self-disclosing statements. This process of positive reciprocal
exchange generally builds closer relationships.
Although reciprocity strongly influences human interactions,
not everyone shares this propensity to the same
degree. In other words, individuals differ in how strongly they
endorse the norm of reciprocity or an exchange
ideology (sometimes termed reciprocation ideology). The more
strongly an individual endorses an exchange
ideology, the more likely he or she is to “keep score” of what
was exchanged and to expect the return of a
good deed. For example, just treatment at work tends to have a
stronger effect on work attitudes among those
who are high in exchange ideology and a weaker effect among
those with lower scores. In fact, those who do
not strongly endorse an exchange ideology may not care
whether obligations are reciprocated.
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Encyclopedia of Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Other Rules of Exchange
Although most research emphasizes reciprocal exchanges, other
models exist as well. For example, negotiat-
ed rules require the parties engaging in joint decision processes
to outline exchange arrangements. Negotiat-
ed rules differ from reciprocity in that they are explicitly stated.
That is, within reciprocal exchanges, individuals
tend to coordinate their behavior implicitly and without formal
discussion. Within negotiated exchanges, coor-
dination is formally delineated in advance. A good deal of
research has compared negotiated exchanges to
reciprocal exchanges. Negotiated exchanges tend to be more
concrete and have a stricter definition of terms.
One specific benefit (e.g., an hourly wage) is exchanged for
another (e.g., a certain unit of work completed).
In contrast, reciprocal exchanges tend to be more open-ended
and flexible. Generally speaking, reciprocal
exchanges tend to lead to closer interpersonal relationships,
engendering trust, commitment, and equality be-
tween the parties.
Other models of exchange rules have also been developed,
mainly in the disciplines of anthropology and so-
ciology. These models emphasize rules other than reciprocity
and negotiation. At their core, these rules serve
to identify the general goal of the exchange. Though a thorough
review of this literature is beyond the scope
of this summary, it is noteworthy to mention that exchanges can
also be based on principles of community
(e.g., exchanges based on the common good of a group),
rationality (e.g., exchanges based on self-interest),
altruism (e.g., exchanges that benefit another), status or
authority ranking (e.g., exchanges based on formal
or informal position), and market (e.g., exchanges based on
market value).

Types of Resources
Exchange resources include worthy possessions or capabilities.
Thus, exchange resources are thought of
as potential benefits to the other party. The most common
typology divides these benefits into two types: fi-
nancial and material benefits and socioemotional benefits.
Financial and material benefits have economic or
direct pecuniary value (e.g., wages, access to company
vehicles). Socioemotional benefits hold symbolic val-
ue and convey standing or dignity to the recipient (e.g.,
friendliness, loyalty, invitations to lunch).
Both sets of resources are important, though in some cultures,
they are not exchanged by the same rules. For
example, American managers prefer to assign financial and
material benefits based on performance, where-
as socioemotional benefits tend to be assigned equally. An
interesting feature of these two types of resources
is that successful exchanges of one may lead individuals to
exchange the other. Specifically, many workplace
relationships begin with simple transactions for financial and
material goods (e.g., pay for work). Over time,
the involved individuals may build trust by exchanging
socioemotional benefits, which builds closer interper-
sonal attachments.
Interpersonal Relationships
One of the most popular components of social exchange theory
used by management scientists involves the
importance of workplace relationships. Accordingly, social
exchanges provide for the development of interper-
sonal connections, referred to as social exchange relationships.
This research tradition can be traced primar-

ily to the seminar work of Gary Blau. According to Blau,
individuals engage in two different types of exchange
relationships: economic exchange and social exchange.
Economic exchange relationships are quid pro quo arrangements
that emphasize short-term financial and
material benefits. The benefits exchanged are clearly specified
and bound by contractual obligations. In con-
trast, social exchange relationships are open-ended and
mutually beneficial. The benefits exchanged in so-
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cial exchange relations are generally socioemotional in nature.
As a result, social exchange relations involve
stronger emotional ties between participants. According to Blau,
money is only one motivator of effective work
behavior. When workers are in social exchange relationships,
they tend to have more positive work attitudes
and engage in more positive behaviors.
Because social exchange relations involve unspecified
exchanges, people in these relationships do not know
whether the other party will reciprocate in the long run.
Therefore, social exchange relations may initially in-
volve vulnerability and risk. Understandably, this means that
social exchange relations are far more risky than
economic exchange relations and, as a result, social exchange

relations involve a certain level of trust. Mu-
tual, balanced, and beneficial exchanges ultimately enhance
trust and build loyalty and commitment among
the parties involved. Employers that engender trust are seen as
not taking advantage of their employees and
caring about their employees; employees who feel their
employers take care of them reciprocate by way of
positive consequences. In this way, only social exchange
relationships create enduring social patterns; eco-
nomic exchange relations do not.
Indeed, much research has demonstrated the benefits of social
exchange relationships. For example, re-
searchers have found that high-quality social exchanges
generate higher levels of performance and even
encourage employees to perform above and beyond their formal
job tasks (e.g., staying late hours, helping
others, improving knowledge and skills to help the
organization), called organizational citizenship behaviors
(OCBs). Furthermore, high-quality social exchanges heighten
feelings of organizational commitment (or close
membership to the organization). These positive attitudes yield
beneficial outcomes for organizations, such
as higher levels of performance, OCB, and job satisfaction and
lower levels of turnover.
Research suggests that employees may form social exchange
relationships with their direct supervisor (e.g.,
leader–member exchange relationship), their work teams (e.g.,
team support), or their employing organiza-
tion as a whole (e.g., organizational support). Consistent with
the principle of reciprocity, individuals tend to
tailor their behavior to benefit the entity with which they have a
social exchange relationship. For example,
those with close ties to their immediate supervisor tend to target
their OCBs so as to benefit that supervisor

(e.g., voluntarily assisting the supervisor until late hours),
whereas those with close ties to their employing
organization direct OCBs so as to benefit the firm as a whole
(e.g., promoting the organization to outsiders).
Research has produced similar results in terms of social
exchange benefits within work teams.
Conclusion
Social exchange theory has become one of the most influential
paradigms for understanding the nature of hu-
man interaction. Within organizational science alone, social
exchange theory has been integrated into theo-
ries of organizational justice, psychological contracts,
commitment, OCB, support, leader–member exchange,
and networks. In this way, social exchange theory provides a
powerful framework for understanding work-
place exchanges and relationships. Its explanatory value relies
on the basic tenet that social exchanges com-
prise actions that are contingent on the rewarding reactions of
others. Implied is a mutual process whereby
transactions or exchanges may foster quality relationships. In
sum, social exchanges create interlocking sta-
tus duties that ultimately initiate, maintain, and stabilize social
behaviors both within and outside organiza-
tions.
• exchange relationships
• social exchange theory
• exchange theory
• reciprocity
• norm of reciprocity
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• workplace relationships
• concession
Russell Cropanzano & and Marie S. Mitchell
http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412952651.n281
See also
• Contextual Performance/Prosocial Behavior/Organizational
Citizenship Behavior
Further Reading
Blau, P. M. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. New
York: Wiley.
Coyle-Shapiro, J. A. M., & Conway, N. (2004). The
employment relationship through the lens of social ex-
change theory. In J.Coyle-Shapiro, L. M.Shore, M. S.Taylor, &
L. E.Tetrick (Eds.), The employment relation-
ship: Examining psychological and contextual perspectives (pp.
5–28). New York: Oxford University Press.
Gouldner, A. W.The norm of reciprocity: A preliminary
statement. American Sociological Review25161–178
(1960). http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2092623
Molm, L. D.Theoretical comparisons of forms of exchange.
Sociological Theory211–17 (2003).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9558.00171
Shore, L. M., Tetrick, L. E., Taylor, M. S., Coyle-Shapiro, J.A.
M., Liden, R. C., McClean Parks, J., Wolfe Morri-
son, E., Porter, L. W., Robinson, S. L., Roehling, M. V.,

Rousseau, D. M., Schalk, R., Tsui, A. S., & Van Dyne,
L. (2004). The employee-organization relationship: A timely
concept in a period of transition. In J. J.Martoc-
chio (Ed.), Research in personnel and human resources
management (Vol. 23, pp. 291–370). Amsterdam:
Elsevier.
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sk.sagepub.com/reference/organizationalpsychology/n48.xml
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2092623
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-9558.00171Encyclopedia of
Industrial and Organizational PsychologySocial Exchange
Theory
Title of book: Research methods: building a knowledge Base
Malec, T. & Newman, M. (2013). Research methods: Building a
knowledge base. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
ISBN-13: 9781621785743, ISBN-10: 1621785742.
Chapter 1
Psychology as a Science
VisitBritain/Jason Knott/Getty Images
Chapter Contents
· Research Areas in Psychology
· Scientific Thinking and Paths to Knowledge

· Research Problem and Questions
· Hypotheses and Theories
· Searching the Literature
· Writing a Research Proposal
· Ethics in Research
In an article in Wired magazine, journalist Amy Wallace describ
ed her visit to the annual conference sponsored by Autism One,
a nonprofitgroup organized around the belief that autism is caus
ed by mandatory childhood vaccines:
I flashed more than once on Carl Sagan's idea of the power of a
n "unsatisfied medical need." Because a massive research effort
has yet to reveal the precise causes of autism, pseudoscience ha
s stepped into the void. In the hallways of the Westin O'Harehot
el, helpful salespeople strove to catch my eye ... pitching everyt
hing from vitamins and supplements to gluten-
free cookies ...hyperbaric chambers, and neuro-
feedback machines.
(Wallace, 2009, p. 134)
The "pseudoscience" to which Wallace refers is the claim that v
accines generally do more harm than good and specifically caus
e children todevelop autism. In fact, an extensive statistical revi
ew of epidemiological studies, including tens of thousands of va
ccinated children, found noevidence of a link between vaccines
and autism. But something about this phrasing doesn't sit right
with many people; "no evidence" rings ofscientific mumbo jumb
o, and a "statistical review" pales in comparison with tearful tes
timonials from parents that their child developed autisticsympto
ms shortly after being vaccinated. The reality is this: Research t
ells us that vaccines bear no relation to autism, but people still
believethat they do. Because of these beliefs, increasing number
s of parents are forgoing vaccinations, and many communities ar
e seeing a loss of herdimmunity and a resurgence of rare disease
s including measles and mumps.
So what does it mean to say that "research" has reached a concl
usion? Why should we trust this conclusion over a parent's pers
onalexperience? One of the biggest challenges in starting a cour

se on research methods is learning how to think like a scientist
—
that is, to framequestions in testable ways and to make decision
s by weighing the evidence. The more personal these questions
become, and the bigger theirconsequences, the harder it is to put
feelings aside. But, as we will see throughout this course, it is
precisely in these cases that listening to theevidence becomes m
ost important.
There are several reasons to understand the importance of scient
ific thinking, even if you never take another psychology course.
First, at apractical level, critical thinking is an invaluable skill
to have in a wide variety of careers and in all areas of life. Emp
loyers of all types appreciatethe ability to reason through the de
cision-
making process. Second, understanding the scientific approach t
ends to make you a more skepticalconsumer of news reports. If
you read in Newsweek that the planet is warming, or cooling, or
staying the same temperature, you will be able todecipher and e
valuate how the author reached this conclusion and possibly rea
ch a different one on your own. Third, understanding sciencema
kes you a more informed participant in debates about public pol
icy. If we want to know whether the planet is truly getting warm
er, thisconclusion should come from carefully weighing the scie
ntific evidence rather than trusting the loudest pundit on a cable
news network.
Where does psychology fit into this picture? Objectivity can be
a particular challenge in studying our own behavior and mental
processesbecause we are intimately familiar with the processes
we are trying to understand. The psychologist William C. Corni
ng captured this sentimentover 40 years ago: "In the study of br
ain functions we rely upon a biased, poorly understood, and freq
uently unpredictable organ in order tostudy the properties of an
other such organ; we have to use a brain to study a brain" (Corn
ing, 1968, p. 6). (Or, in the words of comedian EmoPhilips, "I u
sed to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my
body. Then I realized who was telling me this.") The trick, then,

islearning to take a step back and apply scientific thinking to is
sues you encounter and experience every day.
This textbook provides an introduction to the research methods
used in the study of psychology. It will introduce you to the full
spectrum ofresearch designs, from observing behavior to manip
ulating conditions in a laboratory. We will cover the key issues
and important steps for eachtype of design, both qualitative and
those that observe, predict, and explain behavior, as well as the
analysis strategies most appropriate foreach type. In this chapter
, we begin with an overview of the different areas of psychologi
cal science. We then introduce the research process bydiscussin
g the key features of the scientific approach and then cover the
process of forming testable research questions, developing hypo
thesesand theories, and searching the literature. In the final two
sections, we cover writing a research proposal and discuss the i
mportance ofadhering to ethical principles at all stages of the re
search.
Research: Making an Impact
The Vaccines and Autism Controversy
In a 1998 paper published in the well-
respected medical journal The Lancet, British physician Andrew
Wakefield and his colleagues studied the link between autism sy
mptoms and the measles, mumps, andrubella (MMR) vaccine in
a sample of twelve children (Wakefield et al., 1998). Based on a
review ofthese cases, the authors reported that all twelve experi
enced adverse effects of the vaccine, includingboth intestinal an
d behavioral problems. The finding that grabbed the headlines w
as the authors' reportthat nine of the twelve children showed an
onset of autism symptoms shortly after they received theMMR v
accine.
Immediately after the publication of this paper, the scientific co
mmunity criticized the study for its smallsample and its lack of
a comparison group (i.e., children in the general population). U
nfortunately, itturned out these issues were only the tip of the ic
eberg (Godlee, Smith, & Marcovitch, 2011). The Britishjournali
st Brian Deer conducted an in-

depth investigation of Wakefield's study and discovered somesta
rtling information (Deer, 2004). First, the study had been funde
d by a law firm that was in the processof suing the manufacturer
s of the MMR vaccine, resulting in a real threat to the researche
rs' objectivity.Second, there was clear evidence of scientific mis
conduct; the data had been falsified and altered to fitWakefield'
s hypothesis—
many of the children had shown autism symptoms before receivi
ng the vaccine.In his report, Deer stated that every one of the tw
elve cases showed evidence of alteration andmisrepresentation.
Ultimately, the Lancet withdrew the article in 2010, effectively
removing it from the scientific record anddeclaring the findings
no longer trustworthy. But in many respects, the damage was alr
eady done.Vaccination rates in Britain dropped to 80% followin
g publication of Wakefield's article, and these ratesremain belo
w the recommended 95% level recommended by the World Heal
th Organization (Godlee etal., 2011). That is, even though the ar
ticle was a fraud, it made parents afraid to vaccinate their childr
en.Vaccinations work optimally when most members of a comm
unity get the vaccines because thisminimizes the opportunity for
an outbreak. When even a small portion refuses to vaccinate th
eirchildren, the entire community is at risk of infection (Nationa
l Institute of Allergy and InfectiousDiseases, n.d.). Thus, it sho
uld be no surprise that many communities are seeing a resurgenc
e ofmeasles, mumps, and rubella: In 2008, England and Wales d
eclared measles to be a prevalent problemfor the first time in 14
years (Godlee et al., 2011).
This scenario highlights the importance of conducting science h
onestly. While disease outbreaks are themost obvious impact of
Wakefield's fraud, they are not the only one. In a 2011 editorial
in the BritishMedical Journal condemning Wakefield's actions,
British doctor Fiona Godlee and colleagues capturedthis rather e
loquently:
But perhaps as important as the scare's effect on infectious dise
ase isthe energy, emotion, and money that have been diverted a
way fromefforts to understand the real causes of autism and how

to helpchildren and families who live with it. (p. 7452)1.1 Rese
arch Areas in Psychology
Psychology is a diverse discipline, encompassing a wide range o
f approaches to asking questions about why people do the things
that they do.The common thread among all of these approaches
is the scientific study of human behavior. So, while psychology
might not be the only field tospeculate on the causes of human b
ehavior—philosophers have been doing this for millennia—
psychology is distinguished by its reliance on thescientific meth
od to draw conclusions. We will examine the meaning and impli
cations of this scientific perspective later in the chapter. In thiss
ection, we discuss the major content areas within the field of ps
ychology, along with samples of the types of research questions
asked by eachone. For further reading about these areas, the Am
erican Psychological Association (APA) has an excellent collect
ion of web resources:http://www.apa.org/topics/index.aspx.
Biopsychology
George Doyle/Stockbyte/Thinkstock
A study investigating changes in the brain anatomy of newmoth
ers explores the connection between a biological system andthe
emotions, thoughts, and behaviors involved in caring for anewb
orn child.
Biopsychology, as the name implies, combines research questio
ns and techniquesfrom both biology and psychology. It is typica
lly defined as the study ofconnections between biological syste
ms (including the brain, hormones, andneurotransmitters) and o
ur thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. As a result, theresearch co
nducted by biopsychologists often overlaps research in other are
as—
but with a focus on biological processes. Biopsychologists are o
ften interested inthe way interactions between biological system
s and thoughts, feelings, andbehaviors impact the ability to treat
disease, as seen in the following questions:What brain systems

are involved in the formation of memories? Can Alzheimer'sbe c
ured or prevented through early intervention? How does long-
term exposureto toxins such as lead impact our thoughts, feeling
s, and behaviors? How easilycan the brain recover after a stroke
?
In one example of this approach, Kim and colleagues (2010) inv
estigated changesin brain anatomy among new mothers for the fi
rst 3 months following delivery.These authors were intrigued by
the numerous changes new mothers undergo inattention, memor
y, and motivation; they speculated that these changes might bea
ssociated with changes in brain structure. As expected, new mot
hers showedincreases in gray matter (i.e., increased complexity)
in several brain areasassociated with maternal motivation and b
ehavior. And, the more these brainareas developed, the more po
sitively these women felt toward their newborn children. Thus, t
his study sheds light on the potential biologicalprocesses involv
ed in the mother–infant bond.
Cognitive Psychology
Whereas biopsychology focuses on studying the brain, cognitive
psychology studies the mind. It is typically defined as the study
of internalmental processes, including the ways that people thin
k, learn, remember, speak, perceive, and so on. Cognitive psych
ologists are interestedprimarily in the ways that people navigate
and make sense of the world, including questions such as the fo
llowing: How do our minds translateinput from the five senses i
nto a meaningful picture of the world? How do we form memori
es of emotional versus mundane experiences? Whatdraws our att
ention in a complex environment? What is the best way to teach
children to read?
In one example of this approach, Foulsham, Cheng, Tracy, Henr
ich, & Kingstone (2010) were interested in what kinds of things
people payattention to in a complex social scene. The world aro
und us is chock-
full of information, but we can pay attention only to a relatively
thin sliceof it. Foulsham and colleagues were particularly inter

ested in where our attention is directed when we observe groups
of people. Theyanswered this question by asking people to watc
h videos of a group discussion and using tools to track eye mov
ements. It turned out thatpeople in this study spent most of their
time looking at the most dominant member of the group, sugges
ting that we are wired to pay attentionto those in positions of po
wer. Thus, this study sheds light on one of the ways that we ma
ke sense out of the world.
Developmental Psychology
Developmental psychology is defined as the systematic study of
physical, social, and cognitive changes over the human life spa
n. Although thisfield initially focused on childhood developmen
t, many researchers now study changes and key stages over the e
ntire life span. Developmentalpsychologists study a wide range
of phenomena related to physical, social, and cognitive change,
including, How do children bond with theirprimary caregiver(s)
? What are our primary needs and goals at each stage of life? W
hy do some cognitive skills decline in old age? At what agesdo i
nfants develop basic motor skills?
In one example of this approach, Hill and Tyson (2009) explore
d the connection between children's school achievement and the
ir parents'involvement with the school. In other words, Do child
ren perform better when their parents are actively involved in sc
hool activities? Theauthors addressed this question by combinin
g results from several studies into one data set. Across 50 studie
s, the answer to this question wasyes—
children do better in school if their parents are involved. Thus, t
his study sheds light on a key predictor of academic achievemen
t duringan important developmental period.
Social Psychology
Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Thinkstock
Social psychologist Norman Triplett'sstudy of cyclists led to co
nclusions abouthow people influence one another.

Social psychology attempts to study behavior in a broader social
context. It is typically defined as thestudy of the ways our thou
ghts, feelings, and behaviors are shaped by other people. As you
mightimagine, this broad perspective allows social psychologis
ts to tackle a wide range of research questions,including the foll
owing: What kinds of things do we look for in selecting romanti
c partners? Why dopeople stay in bad relationships? How do oth
er people shape our sense of who we are? When and whydo peo
ple help in emergencies?
Norman Triplett conducted the first published social psychology
study at the end of the 19th century(Triplett, 1898). Triplett ha
d noticed that professional cyclists tended to ride faster when ra
cing againstother cyclists than when competing in solo time tria
ls. He tested this observation in a controlledlaboratory setting, a
sking people to do a number of tasks either alone or next to anot
her person. Hisresults (and countless other studies since) reveal
ed that people worked faster in groups, suggesting thatother peo
ple can have definite and concrete influences on our behavior.
Clinical Psychology
Finally, the area of clinical psychology is an applied field focus
ed on understanding the best ways totreat psychological disorde
rs. It is typically defined as the study of best practices for under
standing,treating, and preventing distress and dysfunction. Clini
cal psychologists engage in both the assessmentand the treatmen
t of psychological disorders, as seen in the following research q
uestions: What is themost effective treatment for depression? H
ow can we help people overcome posttraumatic stressdisorder fo
llowing a traumatic event? Should anxiety disorders be treated
with drugs, therapy, or a combination? What is the most reliable
wayto diagnose schizophrenia?
One example of this approach is found in a study by Kleim and
Ehlers (2008), which attempted to understand the risk factors fo
r posttraumaticstress disorder, a prolonged reaction to a severe t
raumatic experience. Kleim and Ehlers found that assault victim
s who tend to form lessspecific memories about life in general

might be more likely to develop a disorder in response to traum
a than victims who tend to form detailedmemories. People who t
end to form vague memories may have fewer resources to draw
on in trying to reconnect with their daily life after atraumatic ev
ent. Thus, this study sheds light on a possible pathway contribut
ing to the development of a psychological disorder.
1.2 Scientific Thinking and Paths to Knowledge
One of the easiest ways to understand the scientific approach is
to contrast it with other ways of understanding the world. While
science offersus the most objective and rigorous approach to de
cision making, it is by no means the only approach. Some of the
following paths toknowledge have been popular and acceptable
during different historical periods. Other approaches are current
ly in use by different academicdisciplines. To showcase the dist
inctions among them, the following examples illustrate how eac
h perspective might approach the link betweenvaccines and auti
sm.
Authority
In a number of contexts, people understand the world based on
what authority figures tell them. Parents dictate curfews to child
ren; citiesassign speed limits within their borders; and churches
interpret the meaning of holy texts. In each case, the rules and k
nowledge are acceptedbecause there is trust in the source of the
knowledge. In the debate over vaccines and autism, this perspec
tive would be evident in those whotrust their doctor's advice to
vaccinate their children. It would also be evident in those who t
rust celebrity spokesperson Jenny McCarthy'stestimony that vac
cines gave her son autism.
Phenomenology
Many academic disciplines take a phenomenological approach t
o studying the world around us. This approach focuses on each i
ndividual'sintuition and subjective experience and treats truth as
a subjective concept. In other words, if you believe that your al

coholism stems from abad relationship with your father, there is
some "truth" to this belief (regardless of the objective truth). In
the debate over vaccines and autism,this perspective would be e
vident in those who are swayed by a parent's testimony, despite
all evidence to the contrary. If Jenny McCarthybelieves vaccine
s gave her child autism, then there must be some "truth" to her b
elief.
Rationalism
For several centuries, scientific inquiry was guided by a rational
ist approach, and this approach is still dominant in many of the
humanitiesdisciplines. Rationalism involves making decisions b
ased on logical arguments; if something "makes sense," it must
be the right answer. In thedebate over vaccines and autism, this
perspective would be evident in the narrowly constructed argum
ent that because autism symptomsappear shortly after vaccinatio
n, vaccines must be the cause. (This reasoning ignores the rules
about the kinds of evidence needed to makestatements about cau
sation, which we will cover in later chapters.)
Empiricism
Billy Hustace/The Image Bank/Getty Images
Rather than relying on reason and logic, empiricism focuses on
what one can learn through observations and sensory experience
s.
The scientific approach, which is our focus in this book, makes
decisions based onevidence. This approach, also called empirici
sm, focuses on the role ofobservation and sensory experience ov
er the role of reason and logic alone. It isall well and good to co
me up with a creative idea about how the world works, butthis i
dea does not carry scientific weight until it has been supported t
hroughcarefully collected observations of the world around us.
These observations formthe basis of science, which set it apart f
rom the other paths to knowledge. In thedebate over vaccines an
d autism, scientific evidence leads to the unambiguousconclusio

n: There is no link between vaccines and autism. But if the oppo
sitepicture were true, scientists would gladly change their minds
. One of the keyadvantages of science is that it is not bound to a
particular ideology (e.g., apolitical point of view or prejudice)
but is dedicated to the belief in the superiorityof observable evi
dence. Although the experimenter's values are certain to enterth
e picture, they can be a powerful motivating force to uncover th
e truth ratherthan a source of bias.
In summary, scientific inquiry offers us one of many ways to un
derstand theworld. In theory, these perspectives are not incompa
tible, although in practice, differing perspectives can lead to dra
stically different conclusions.(The writer Stephen Jay Gould fa
mously made this argument about science and religion, arguing t
hat they are essentially suited to answeringdifferent types of qu
estions. You can read an essay by Gould by going to the followi
ng website: http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ and searchingfor "
Nonoverlapping Magisteria." And, on a particularly practical no
te, the scientific approach is the one that we will adopt througho
ut thisclass. So when you are asked to evaluate research results
on your exams, your interpretation will need to be based on wei
ghing the evidence; itis not acceptable to claim that a finding "j
ust makes sense."
The Research Process
So what does it mean to draw conclusions based on science? Sci
entists across all disciplines use the same process of forming an
d testing theirideas. The overall goal of this research process—
also known as the scientific method—
is to draw conclusions based on empirical observationsand expe
riments (e.g., random assignment and manipulation) designed to
test causal theories. In this section, we cover the four steps of t
heresearch process—
hypothesize, operationalize, measure, and explain, abbreviated
with the acronym HOME.
Step 1—Hypothesize

The first step in the research process is to develop a testable pre
diction, or hypothesis. A hypothesis is a specific and falsifiable
statement aboutthe relationship between two or more variables (
more on that "falsifiable" bit in a minute ...). For example, if we
study the link betweensmoking and cancer, our hypothesis migh
t be that smoking causes lung cancer. Or, if we are studying a n
ew drug for treating depression, wemight hypothesize that drug
X will lead to a reduction in depression symptoms. We will cov
er hypotheses in more detail in the next section, butfor now it is
important to understand that the way we frame our hypothesis g
uides every other step of the research process. Even the mostpro
mising theories will not be testable if you do not clearly define t
he variables, or if many contradictory outcomes are possible (e.
g.,depression can lead to weight gain or weight loss).
Step 2—Operationalize
Once we have developed a hypothesis, the next step is to decide
how to test it. The process of operationalization involves choos
ing measurablevariables to represent the components of our hyp
othesis. In the preceding depression drug example, we would ne
ed to decide how to measureboth cause and effect; in this case,
we define the cause as the drug and the effect as reduced sympt
oms of depression. That is, what doses ofthe drug should we inv
estigate? How many different doses should we compare? Also, h
ow will we measure depression symptoms? Will it workto have
people complete a questionnaire? Or do we want to have a clinic
ian interview participants before and after they take the drug? A
nadditional complication for psychology studies is that many of
our research questions deal with abstract concepts. There is an a
rt to turningthese concepts into measurable variables. For exam
ple, the concept of "happiness" could be operationalized as a pe
rson's score on a happinessscale, or as the number of times a per
son smiles in a 5-
minute period, or perhaps even as a person's subjective experien
ce of happiness duringan interview. We will cover this process i
n more detail in Chapter 2 (Section 2.2), where we discuss guid

elines for making these importantdecisions about the study.
Step 3—Measure
Now that we have developed both our research question and our
operational definitions, it is time to collect some data. We will
cover thisprocess in great detail; Chapters 3 through 5 are dedic
ated to the three primary approaches to data collection: descripti
ve designs (includingqualitative approaches, although quantitati
ve studies can be descriptive as well), survey designs, and exper
imental designs. The goal of the datacollection stage is to gather
empirical observations that will help address our hypothesis. A
s we discuss in Chapter 2, these observations canrange from que
stionnaire responses to measures of brain activity, and they can
be collected in ways ranging from online questionnaires tocaref
ully controlled experiments.
Step 4—Explain
After the data has been collected, the final step is to analyze an
d interpret the results. The goal of this step is to return full circl
e to ourresearch question and determine whether the results sup
port our hypothesis. Let's go back to our hypothesis that drug X
should reducedepression symptoms. If we find at the end of the
study that people who took drug X showed a 70% decrease in sy
mptoms, this would beconsistent with the hypothesis. But the ex
planation stage also involves thinking about alternative explanat
ions and planning for future studies.What if depression sympto
ms dropped simply due to the passage of time? How could we a
ddress this concern in a future study? As it turnsout, there is a f
airly easy way to fix this problem, which we'll cover in Chapter
5.
In summary, the research process involves four stages: forming
a hypothesis, deciding how to test it, collecting data, and interpr
eting the results.This process is used regardless of whether our r
esearch questions involve depression drugs, reading speed, or th
e speed of light in a vacuum.

Examples of the Research Process
To make these steps a bit more concrete, let's walk through two
examples of how they could be applied to specific research topi
cs.
Example 1—Depression and Heart Disease
Depression affects approximately 20 million Americans, and 16
% of the population will experience it at some time in their live
s (NationalInstitute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2007). Depressio
n is associated with a range of emotional and physical symptom
s, including feelings ofhopelessness and guilt, loss of appetite, s
leep disturbance, and suicidal thoughts. This list has expanded e
ven further to include an increasedrisk of heart disease. Individ
uals who are otherwise healthy but suffering from depression ar
e more likely to develop and to die fromcardiovascular disease t
han those without depression. According to one study, patients
who experience depression following a heart attackexperience a
fourfold increase in 5-
year mortality rates (research reviewed in Glassman et al., 2011
).
One intriguing idea that comes from these findings is that it mig
ht make sense to treat heart attack patients with antidepressant d
rugs. The goalof the HOME method is to take this idea, turn it i
nto a testable question, and conduct a study that will test it.
Step 1 is to form a testable hypothesis from this research questi
on. In this case, we might predict that people who have had hear
t attacks andtake prescribed antidepressants are more likely to s
urvive in the years following the heart attack than those who do
not take antidepressants.What we've done here is to take a gener
al idea about the benefits of a drug and state it in a way that can
be directly tested in a research study.
Step 2 is to decide how we want to operationalize the concepts i
n our study. In this case, we would first decide who qualified as
a heart attackpatient: Would we include only those hospitalized
with severe heart attacks or include anyone with abnormal card
iac symptoms? As we willdiscuss in later chapters, this decision

will have implications for how we interpret the results. We wou
ld also need to decide on the doses ofantidepressant drugs to use
and the time period to measure survival rates. How long would
we follow patients?
Step 3 is to measure these key concepts based on the decisions
we made in step 2. This step involves collecting data from parti
cipants and thenconducting statistical analyses to test our hypot
hesis. We will cover the specifics of research designs beginning
in Chapter 2 (Section 2.1), butessentially we would want to giv
e antidepressants to half of our sample and compare their surviv
al rates with the half not given these drugs.
Step 4 is to explain the results and tie the statistical analyses ba
ck into our hypothesis. In this case, we would want to know whe
therantidepressant drugs did indeed benefit heart attack patients
and increase their odds of survival for 5 years. If so, our hypot
hesis is supported.If not, we would go back to the drawing boar
d and try to determine whether something went wrong with the s
tudy or antidepressant drugsreally don't have any benefit for thi
s population. As we'll discuss, answering these kinds of questio
ns usually involves conducting additionalstudies. Either way, th
e goal of this final step is to return full circle to our research qu
estion and discuss the implications of antidepressant drugtreatm
ent for heart attack patients.
Example 2—Language and Deception
In 1994, Susan Smith appeared on television claiming that her t
wo young children had been kidnapped at gunpoint. Eventually,
authoritiesdiscovered she had drowned her children in a lake an
d fabricated the kidnapping story to cover her actions. Before S
mith was a suspect in thechildren's deaths, she told reporters, "
My children wanted me. They needed me. And now I can't help t
hem" (Lee and Vobejda, 1994). Normally,relatives speak of a m
issing person in the present tense. The fact that Smith used the
past tense in this context suggested to trained FBI agentsthat sh
e already viewed them as dead (Adams, 1996).
One intriguing idea that comes from this story is that people ma

y communicate in different ways when they are lying than when
they are tellingthe truth. The goal of the HOME method is to ta
ke this idea, turn it into a testable question, and conduct a study
that will test it.
Step 1 is to form a testable hypothesis from this research questi
on. This example is somewhat more challenging because "comm
unicatingdifferently" can be defined in many ways. Thus, we ne
ed a hypothesis that will narrow the focus of our study. One hyp
othesis, based onresearch literature, might be that liars show mo
re negative emotion (e.g., anger, fear) in the way that they com
municate than truth-
tellers do(e.g., Newman, Pennebaker, Berry, & Richards, 2003).
What we've done here is to take a general idea and state it in a
way that can be directlytested in a research study.
Step 2 is to decide how we want to operationalize the concepts i
n our study. In this case, we would need to decide what counts a
s "showingnegative emotion." We might take the approach used
in a previous study (Newman et al., 2003) and scan the words pe
ople use, looking forthose reflecting emotions such as anger, an
xiety, and fear. The logic here is that the words people use refle
ct something about their underlyingthought processes and that p
eople who are trying to lie will be more anxious and fearful as a
result of the lie.
Step 3 is to measure these key concepts based on the decisions
we made in step 2. This step involves collecting data from parti
cipants and thenconducting statistical analyses to test our hypot
hesis. In this example, the challenge comes in determining whet
her and when people are lying.In Susan Smith's case, the truth w
as ultimately discovered, so we can say with some certainty that
her language was deceptive. One way to dothis in a research stu
dy is to tell people to lie, tell others to be truthful, and compare
differences in the way they use language.
Step 4 is to explain the results and tie the statistical analyses ba
ck into our hypothesis. In this case, we want to know whether p
eople who wereinstructed to lie did indeed use more words sugg
estive of negative emotion. If so, this supports our hypothesis. I

f not, we would go back to thedrawing board and try to determin
e whether something went wrong with the study or people really
don't use more negative emotion whenthey lie. Either way, the
goal of this final step is to return full circle to our research ques
tion and discuss the implications for understandingindicators of
deception.
Goals of Science
In addition to sharing an overall approach, all forms of scientifi
c inquiry tend to adopt one of four overall goals. This section pr
ovides anoverview of these goals, with a focus on their applicati
on to psychological research. We will encounter the first three g
oals throughout thecourse and use them to organize our discussi
on of different research methods.
Description
iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Before a phenomenon can be explained, it must first be describe
d.For example, a survey might be used to collect information us
ed todescribe the phenomenon of binge drinking.
One of the most basic research goals is to describe a phenomeno
n, includingdescriptions of behavior, attitudes, and emotions. B
asic research is the foundationon which all subsequent research
will be laid and therefore should be built solidly.You are probab
ly very familiar with this type of research because it tends to cr
opup in everything from the nightly news to your favorite maga
zine. For example, ifCNN reports that 60% of Americans approv
e of the president, they are describinga trend in public opinion.
Descriptive research should always be the starting pointwhen st
udying a new phenomenon. That is, before we start trying to exp
lain whycollege students binge drink, we need to know how com
mon the phenomenonreally is. So we might start with a simple s
urvey that asked college students abouttheir drinking behavior,

and we might find that 29% of them show signs ofdangerous bin
ge drinking. Now that we have described the phenomenon, we ar
ein a better position to conduct more sophisticated research. (Se
e Chapter 3 formore detail on descriptive research.)
Prediction
A second goal of research is to attempt to predict a phenomenon
. This goal takesus from describing the occurrence of binge drin
king among college students toattempting to understand when a
nd why they do it. Do students give in to peerpressure? Is drinki
ng a way to deal with the stress of school? These questions coul
d be addressed through a more detailed survey that askedpeople
to elaborate on the reasons that they drink. The goal of this appr
oach is to understand the factors that make something more like
ly tooccur. (See Chapter 4 for more detail on the process of desi
gning surveys and conducting predictive research.)
Explanation
A third, and much more powerful, goal of research is to attempt
to explain a phenomenon. This goal takes us from predicting rel
ationships totesting possible causal links. Whereas predictive re
search attempts to find associations between two phenomena (e.
g., college student drinkingis more likely when students are und
er stress), explanatory research attempts to make causal stateme
nts about the phenomenon of interest(e.g., stress causes college
students to drink more). This distinction may seem subtle at this
point, but it is an important one and is closelyrelated to the wa
y that we design our studies. (See Chapter 5 for more detail on e
xplanatory research.)
Change
The fourth and final goal of research is generally limited to psy
chology and other social science fields: When we are dealing wi
th questionsabout behaviors, attitudes, and emotions, we can co
nduct research to try to change the phenomenon of interest. Res
earchers who attempt tochange behaviors, attitudes, or emotions

are essentially applying research findings with the goal of solvi
ng real-
world problems. In the 1970s,Elliot Aronson, a social psycholog
ist at the University of Texas at Austin, was interested in ways t
o reduce prejudice in the classroom. Researchconducted at the ti
me was discovering that prejudice is often triggered by feelings
of competition; in the classroom, students competed for theteac
her's attention. Aronson and his colleagues decided to change th
e classroom structure in a way that required students to cooperat
e in orderto finish an assignment. Essentially, students worked i
n small groups, and each person mastered a piece of the materia
l. (You can read thedetails on this website: http://www.jigsaw.o
rg/). Aronson found that using this technique, known as the "jig
saw classroom," both enhancedlearning and decreased prejudice
among the students (e.g., Aronson, 1978).
Aronson's work also illustrates the distinction between two cate
gories of research. The first three goals we have discussed fall
mainly under thecategory of basic research, in which the primar
y goal is to acquire knowledge, with less focus on how to apply
the knowledge. Scientistsconducting basic research might spend
their time trying to describe and understand the causes of binge
drinking but stop short of designinginterventions to stop binge
drinking. This fourth goal of research is more often seen in appl
ied research, in which the primary goal is to solve aproblem, wit
h less focus on why the solution works. Scientists conducting ap
plied research might spend their time trying to stop binge drinki
ngbut not get caught up in the details of why these interventions
are effective. But Aronson's research is a great example of how
these twocategories should work together. The basic research o
n sources of prejudice informed his applied research on ways to
reduce prejudice, which inturn informed further basic research o
n why this technique is so effective.
One final note on changing behavior: Any time you set out with
the goal of changing what people do, your values enter the pictu
re. Inherent inAronson's research was the assumption that preju
dice was a bad thing that needed to be changed. Although few p

eople would disagree withhim, the risk is that he might have tro
uble remaining objective throughout the research project. As we
suggested earlier, the more emotionallyinvolved you are in the
research question, the more you have to be aware of the potentia
l for bias, and the more you have to force yourself topay attenti
on to the data.
Quantitative Versus Qualitative Research
Imagine for a moment that you are a city planner interested in st
udying traffic patterns at different times of the day. You might
approach thisresearch question in one of two ways. You could fl
y over the city in a helicopter, take snapshots of a random set of
busy intersections, andconduct statistical analyses on cars movi
ng in different directions at different times. This would give yo
u a broad understanding of trafficpatterns in the city. Alternativ
ely, you could spend your resources studying the busiest interse
ction in the middle of downtown, trying tounderstand everythin
g from driver behaviors to the effects of weather conditions. Thi
s would give you a very deep understanding of traffic inthe mid
dle of your city.
These two approaches illustrate the differences between quantit
ative research and qualitative research, respectively. Quantitativ
e research is asystematic and empirical approach that attempts t
o generalize results to other contexts. By taking "samples" of di
fferent intersections and byconducting inferential statistics, our
hypothetical city planner could learn a little bit about traffic in
general. Qualitative research, in contrast, is amore descriptive a
pproach that attempts to gain a deep understanding of particular
cases and contexts. By studying the busiest intersection indetail
, our hypothetical city planner could learn a great deal about the
traffic patterns at that intersection.
The two approaches have traditionally been popular with differe
nt social science fields. For example, much of the current resear
ch in psychologyis quantitative because the goal is to gain gener
alizable knowledge about behavior and mental processes. In con
trast, much of the currentresearch in sociology and political scie

nce tends to be qualitative because the goal is to gain a richer u
nderstanding of a particular context. Ifyou want to understand w
hy college students around the country suffer from increased de
pression, quantitative methods are the better choice.If you want
to understand why the citizens of Egypt revolted against their g
overnment, then qualitative methods are more appropriate. Over
all,qualitative research is esp3ecially useful when behavior has
multiple causes that researchers may not anticipate or when rese
archers have onlya limited understanding of the subjects' cultura
l point of view.
Table 1.1 presents a comparison of quantitative and qualitative
methods, their descriptions, purposes and approaches, and the re
searcher'sroles. (See also the Centers for Disease Control and Pr
evention [CDC] website) for further comparison.
Table 1.1: Comparing quantitative and qualitative research meth
odologies
Quantitative
Qualitative
Description
Aim is to classify features, count them, and constructstatistical
models in an attempt to explain what isobserved
Aim is a complete, detailed description
Researcher knows clearly in advance what he/she islooking for
Researcher may only know roughly in advance whathe/she is lo
oking for
All aspects of the study are carefully designed beforedata are co
llected
The design emerges as the study unfolds
Researcher uses tools, such as closed-
endedquestionnaires, rating scales, tests, etc. or equipmentto col
lect numerical data
Researcher uses observations, interviews (open-

ended questions), and written documents (historicalrecords, offi
cial publications, other articles,photographs, etc.)
Data take the form of numbers and statistics and aremeasurable
Data take the form of words, pictures, or objects andare not as e
asy to measure
Focus is on objective assessment: seeking precisemeasurement a
nd analysis of target concepts, e.g.,uses closed-
ended surveys, questionnaires, etc.
Focus is on subjective assessment: individuals'interpretation of
events is important, e.g., usesparticipant observation, in-
depth interviews, etc.
Data are more efficient, able to test hypotheses, andcan be gene
ralized
Data are more detailed, time-
consuming, and lessable to be generalized
Researcher is objectively separated from the subjectmatter
Researcher is immersed in the subject matter
Purpose
Generalizability
Prediction
Causal explanations
Contextualization
Interpretation
Understanding actors' perspectives
Approach
Begins with hypotheses and theories
Manipulation and control of variables

Uses formal instruments of measurement
Experimentation
Deductive reasoning
Ends with hypotheses or grounded theory
Little control over variables
Researcher as instrument
Naturalistic observation
Inductive reasoning
Researcher's Role
Detachment and impartiality
Objective portrayal
Personal involvement and partiality
Empathic understanding
In an ideal world, a true understanding of any phenomenon requ
ires the use of both methods. That is, we can best understand de
pression if weboth study statistical trends and conduct in-
depth interviews with depressed people. We can best understand
binge drinking by conducting bothsurveys and focus groups. An
d we can best understand the experience of being bullied in scho
ol by both talking to the victims and collectingschoolwide statis
tics. Thus, researchers do not have to choose one method over a
nother but can combine elements of both quantitative andqualita
tive approaches to produce mixed methods designs. Mixed meth
ods designs are often used when one method does not provide ac
omplete picture of the phenomenon being investigated. In this te
xt, the focus is primarily on quantitative methods, reflecting cur
rent trends inthe field of psychology. We will primarily cover q

ualitative methods in Chapter 3 (on descriptive research) and qu
antitative methods in Chapters4 (predictive research) and 5 (exp
erimental research). A more thorough discussion on mixed meth
ods designs will also be discussed in Chapter5.
1.3 Research Problem and Questions
Before conducting research, whether it be through qualitative or
quantitative methods, a researcher must first identify a problem
to investigateand then develop a research question or questions
to ask about that particular problem. Theory and hypothesis pla
y a crucial role, as doresearch, observation, and top-
down and bottom-
up thinking, informed by a thorough literature search.
While we often think we understand problems, we really do not.
For example, a teacher might notice that a student is easily dist
racted andinattentive in the classroom, leading the teacher to be
lieve, initially, that the student has an attention problem or atten
tion-
deficit/hyperactivitydisorder (ADHD). Upon further examinatio
n and possibly after testing has occurred, the results might inste
ad show that the student has alearning disability in reading, writ
ing, or math, and is being inattentive because he or she does not
understand the material or have thenecessary skills to complete
the assignment.
In another example, a teacher observes that a student is sleeping
excessively during the first two periods of school. The teacher
may assumethat the student stays up late playing on the compute
r or texting with his or her friends. After speaking to the parents
, the teacher learns thatthe parents have recently gone through a
divorce and that the student is working a part-
time job in the evenings to help out with the finances.Thus, the
student has been staying up late at night to complete his or her
homework for the next school day. As we can see, in some cases
ourinitial beliefs or thoughts about a problem may not be corre
ct and may lead to inaccurate recommendations and treatments.
Therefore, it isabsolutely crucial that we accurately identify the

problem that we want to study.
Research Problems
A research problem is the topic or phenomenon that we want to
address, investigate, and research, either through quantitative, q
ualitative, ormixed methods. It is the heart of any research proje
ct and is crucial to the success of the overall research effort (Le
edy & Ormrod, 2010).Problems needing more research are every
where; however, finding a research problem that interests you m
ay take some work.
Sources of Research Problems
There are several different methods for identifying a good resea
rch problem. These include reviewing theories about a topic, rev
iewing currentprofessional literature on a topic, attending profe
ssional conferences, and having discussions with colleagues on t
he issue. A selective reading ofthe literature is probably the mos
t advantageous method, as it can provide a theoretical base to ge
nerate research questions and hypothesesand assist in the selecti
on of research methodologies and measurement methods. Later
on, it can help you to interpret the results incomparison with oth
er literature in the field. Attending professional conferences als
o provides advantages because there, researchers canexplore the
most popular topics in their field as well as meet with experts
who have been researching a given problem.
Charles (1995; as cited in Houser, 2009) provides several helpfu
l suggestions for researchers when identifying research problem
s. These include(1) having personal interest in the topic, (2) sel
ecting an important topic that will answer the "So what?" questi
on we ask when evaluatingothers' research, (3) selecting a topic
that is feasible and can be completed in a reasonable amount of
time, and (4) selecting a topic that can becompleted with the am
ount of money allotted to studying it. Thus, it is important that
we select something that we are interested in and havesome kno
wledge about, as we may not want to see the study through if th
e topic has no interest to us or relevance in our lives.

Stating the Research Problem
Digital Vision/Thinkstock
Investigating lack of student success in online classrooms requir
esa researcher to develop a clear and focused problem statement
.
Once a research problem is identified, the next step is to narrow
the topic so thatit can be measurable and presented in a clear pr
oblem statement. For example,having a research problem of "La
ck of student success in online classrooms" isextremely broad a
nd could take many directions. For instance, would the researchi
nclude students' experiences with online learning, number and q
uality of student-to-teacher interactions, quality of student-to-
student interactions, or anotherarea? Developing a problem state
ment, or aim of the study, will help to clearlydescribe the intent
of the study.
Problem statements should be clearly and specifically stated and
should describethe main goal of the total research project. For
example, using the precedingexample, "Lack of student success
in online classrooms" lacks clarity and does notprovide an under
standing of what the researcher plans to do. Developing this int
oa complete sentence that describes a researchable problem wou
ld entail thefollowing: "To determine the relationship between i
nstructor involvement andstudent success during students' first
online course in college." This latterstatement is clear regarding
the intent of the study and the population that willbe included.
Clearly defining a problem is key to the design and implementat
ionof a research study. Without a clear and specific problem stat
ement, theresearcher may find him-
or herself going on a "wild goose chase" and wasting unnecessa
ry time trying to investigate a vague problem orphenomenon.
The following guidelines adapted by Leedy and Ormrod (2010)
will assist you in formulating a clear, precise, and accurate prob
lem statement:
·

Is the problem stated in complete and grammatically correct sen
tences?
· Is it clear what the study will focus on?
·
Is it clear that the results could go either way? Thus, does the st
atement suggest an open mind to the research findings, or does i
t show aparticular expected outcome?
·
Does the answer to the problem provide important and useful inf
ormation regarding the topic?
·
Is the problem statement focused enough for the research to be c
ompleted in a reasonable amount of time and within budget?
Dividing the Research Problem Into Subproblems
If your research problem covers more than one concept, you wil
l want to break down your research problem into subparts or sub
problems,each of which represents only one concept. For examp
le, if we were to reword our problem statement as "To evaluate t
he influences thatinstructor involvement and student-to-
student interactions have on students' success during their first
online course in college," there would betwo concepts being eva
luated: instructor involvement and quality of student-to-
student interactions. To break this problem statement into twosu
bproblems, it would look like the following:
Problem Statement: To evaluate the influences that instructor in
volvement and quality of student-to-
student interactions have onstudents' success during their first o
nline course in college.
Subproblem 1: Evaluate the influences of instructor involvemen
t on students' success during their first online course in college.
Subproblem 2: Evaluate the influence that quality of student-to-
student interactions has on students' success during their firston
line course in college.
Thus, your problem statement should comprise all of the subpro
blems, while the subproblems should not introduce any new idea

s or conceptsthat are not covered in the problem statement.
When developing subproblems, you will want to adhere to these
guidelines: (1) Each subproblem should be a problem that can b
e researchedon its own; (2) each subproblem should be set forth
as a statement and not as a question; and (3) the total number of
subproblems should bebetween two and six (Leedy & Ormrod,
2010). Viewing a problem statement through its subproblems wi
ll give you a better idea of how toapproach the overall research
project (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010).
The Purpose Statement
The purpose statement,similar to the problem statement, takes t
he goal of the study one step further. It not only includes the int
ent of thestudy but identifies what population will be studied, w
hat type of research will be conducted (e.g., a comparison betwe
en variables), and whatthe dependent and independent variables
will be. Using our research problem, "Lack of student success in
online classrooms," a purposestatement might look like the foll
owing: "The present study was conducted to determine the relati
onship between instructor involvement andstudent success durin
g students' first online course in college."
In most quantitative research as this, problem statements are oft
en replaced with hypotheses, which will be discussed later in th
e chapter. Incontrast, qualitative research methods generally em
ploy either problem statements or research questions. With any
research method, however,the purpose statement should show th
at the purpose and problem are researchable.
Researchers utilizing quantitative methods generally include in t
heir purpose statement whether the study involved a comparison
among groupsor a relationship between two or more variables,
or a descriptive examination of one or more variables. Including
this information not onlyguides the researchers in selecting the
appropriate data analyses but also provides information on the t
ype of study being conducted (Houser,2009). For instance, Kerri
gan (2011) provides an example of a purpose statement that incl
udes a comparison study:

The purpose of this comparative quasi-
experimental study was to compare the effect of coaching on co
mfort levels, as measuredby an adapted questionnaire, and blood
sugars levels, as recorded on individuals' glucometers, between
two groups of individualswith diabetes who had attended a for
mal diabetic education program (p. 7).
Researchers examining the types of relationships between two o
r more variables are interested in how well the variables correla
te. For example,Cerit and Dinc (2013) conducted a study that fo
cused on a relationship between variables. They discussed their
purpose statement as follows:"The aim of this study was to inve
stigate the correlation between nurses' professional behaviours a
nd their ethical decision-
making in a differentcultural context by adapting the Nursing Di
lemma Test (NDT) into Turkish" (p. 202). Both examples provid
e the reader with informationregarding the type of study utilized
(i.e., comparison or correlation) as well as what the dependent
and independent variables were.
On the other hand, when examining a phenomenon, characteristi
c, or event in great detail, some researchers may choose to use q
ualitative ordescriptive methods rather than quantitative method
s. In these cases, the purpose statement will focus more on descr
ibing and clarifying thephenomena or event than on comparing
groups or identifying relationships between variables (Houser, 2
009). Here is an example of aqualitative purpose statement, pro
vided by Bradshaw, Sudhinaraset, Mmari, and Blum (2010):
The primary goals of the current study were to (a) describe the t
ransition-
related stressors experienced by mobile militarystudents; (b) des
cribe the efforts employed to help these students cope with their
stress; and (c) identify strategies that schoolscan use to ease th
e transition process for mobile military students. To address the
se three goals, we conducted separate focusgroups with adolesce
nts in military families, military parents, and school staff in mil
itary-affected schools at select U.S. militarybases. (pp. 86–87)
The most important term in this purpose statement is the word d

escribe, as it indicates that the study is employing qualitative or
descriptivemethods rather than quantitative ones. Regardless of
whether a researcher is utilizing quantitative or qualitative met
hods, the purposestatement is generally included at the end of th
e Introduction, usually in the last paragraph before the Literatur
e Review section.
Research Questions
As we have learned, it is important to narrow down one's topic o
r ideas into a researchable problem. Examining existing literatur
e will provideinformation about what is unclear in the field of st
udy and whether any gaps exist. Doing so will also help to furth
er clarify the research focusor aim of the study as well as assisti
ng in the development of research questions.
Identifying a research problem, stating the problem, and providi
ng a purpose statement are all steps toward describing the aim o
r goal of theoverall study. Research questions are then develope
d to guide researchers toward their objectives. In quantitative st
udies, research questionsgenerally take the form of hypotheses,
which are specific predictions or educated guesses about the out
come of the study. However, somequantitative researchers choo
se to include hypotheses and research questions that are related
to the research problem. Generally, quantitativeresearch questio
ns focus on the Who, What, and When of specific variables and
are closed-ended questions that provide cause-and-
effectanswers.
In qualitative studies, research questions guide data collection a
nd interpretation but do not include speculations or predictions
about theoutcome. Qualitative research questions tend to focus
on the Why and How of a phenomena or event, providing more
descriptive and open-ended answers.
Both hypotheses and research questions provide the researcher
with a starting point to explore a problem, as well as assist the r
esearcher to"stay on topic" and answer those questions he or she
initially wanted to address.

Developing Research Questions
How you conduct a research study depends largely on the resear
ch questions you develop. Let us look back on our previous rese
arch problemstatement involving online learning: "To determine
the relationship between instructor involvement and student suc
cess during students' firstonline course in college." Some resear
chable questions might include the following:
1.
Are there relationships between instructor involvement and stud
ents' success with respect to students' participation in the online
classroomand students' quality of work completed?
2.
Does the amount of instructor involvement have an influence on
student involvement?
Notice how these questions provide specific information about
what will be examined. For example, the first research question
identifies howstudent success will be defined by measuring the
amount of participation in the classroom and the quality of work
submitted. Operationallydefining, or clearly identifying, how st
udent success is going to be measured (i.e., through number of
weekly participations and graded work)ensures that all research
ers and reviewers have a clear understanding of what "student s
uccess" means in this study. Operational definitions,such as this
one, establish the meaning of a concept or variable in relation t
o a particular study. Without operationally defining student succ
essfor this study, it would be unclear how that variable would b
e assessed or measured. The second research question tells us th
at the researcheris going to measure the level of instructor invol
vement and see how it relates to student involvement in the cour
se. Thus, we also need tooperationally define how we are going
to identify and measure "level of instructor involvement." Will i
t be measured by number of times aninstructor responds to a stu
dent each week, by the length and quality of the responses, or b
oth? Both research questions not only inform howthe research w
ill be conducted but also serve as guides throughout the researc
h project endeavor.

It is important to mention that, although research questions shou
ld be developed at the beginning of a project, they can change a
s you designyour study. Designing your study involves making s
everal careful decisions about your research questions in order t
o prevent your study fromfoundering. Ask yourself, What types
of data will be collected, and what methods will be used to colle
ct the data? Where and for how long willthe research be conduct
ed, and what participants or groups will be included? Are the da
ta collection procedures consistent with the researchquestions?
Once the project has started, if you find that your research quest
ions were not appropriate for the research problem or that theda
ta collection and analysis methods were not consistent with the
research questions, your study results may be unusable, forcing
you to startthe project over again.
Previous section
Next section1.3 Research Problem and Questions
Before conducting research, whether it be through qualitative or
quantitative methods, a researcher must first identify a problem
to investigateand then develop a research question or questions
to ask about that particular problem. Theory and hypothesis pla
y a crucial role, as doresearch, observation, and top-
down and bottom-
up thinking, informed by a thorough literature search.
While we often think we understand problems, we really do not.
For example, a teacher might notice that a student is easily dist
racted andinattentive in the classroom, leading the teacher to be
lieve, initially, that the student has an attention problem or atten
tion-
deficit/hyperactivitydisorder (ADHD). Upon further examinatio
n and possibly after testing has occurred, the results might inste
ad show that the student has alearning disability in reading, writ
ing, or math, and is being inattentive because he or she does not
understand the material or have thenecessary skills to complete
the assignment.

In another example, a teacher observes that a student is sleeping
excessively during the first two periods of school. The teacher
may assumethat the student stays up late playing on the compute
r or texting with his or her friends. After speaking to the parents
, the teacher learns thatthe parents have recently gone through a
divorce and that the student is working a part-
time job in the evenings to help out with the finances.Thus, the
student has been staying up late at night to complete his or her
homework for the next school day. As we can see, in some cases
ourinitial beliefs or thoughts about a problem may not be corre
ct and may lead to inaccurate recommendations and treatments.
Therefore, it isabsolutely crucial that we accurately identify the
problem that we want to study.
Research Problems
A research problem is the topic or phenomenon that we want to
address, investigate, and research, either through quantitative, q
ualitative, ormixed methods. It is the heart of any research proje
ct and is crucial to the success of the overall research effort (Le
edy & Ormrod, 2010).Problems needing more research are every
where; however, finding a research problem that interests you m
ay take some work.
Sources of Research Problems
There are several different methods for identifying a good resea
rch problem. These include reviewing theories about a topic, rev
iewing currentprofessional literature on a topic, attending profe
ssional conferences, and having discussions with colleagues on t
he issue. A selective reading ofthe literature is probably the mos
t advantageous method, as it can provide a theoretical base to ge
nerate research questions and hypothesesand assist in the selecti
on of research methodologies and measurement methods. Later
on, it can help you to interpret the results incomparison with oth
er literature in the field. Attending professional conferences als
o provides advantages because there, researchers canexplore the
most popular topics in their field as well as meet with experts

who have been researching a given problem.
Charles (1995; as cited in Houser, 2009) provides several helpfu
l suggestions for researchers when identifying research problem
s. These include(1) having personal interest in the topic, (2) sel
ecting an important topic that will answer the "So what?" questi
on we ask when evaluatingothers' research, (3) selecting a topic
that is feasible and can be completed in a reasonable amount of
time, and (4) selecting a topic that can becompleted with the am
ount of money allotted to studying it. Thus, it is important that
we select something that we are interested in and havesome kno
wledge about, as we may not want to see the study through if th
e topic has no interest to us or relevance in our lives.
Stating the Research Problem
Digital Vision/Thinkstock
Investigating lack of student success in online classrooms requir
esa researcher to develop a clear and focused problem statement
.
Once a research problem is identified, the next step is to narrow
the topic so thatit can be measurable and presented in a clear pr
oblem statement. For example,having a research problem of "La
ck of student success in online classrooms" isextremely broad a
nd could take many directions. For instance, would the researchi
nclude students' experiences with online learning, number and q
uality of student-to-teacher interactions, quality of student-to-
student interactions, or anotherarea? Developing a problem state
ment, or aim of the study, will help to clearlydescribe the intent
of the study.
Problem statements should be clearly and specifically stated and
should describethe main goal of the total research project. For
example, using the precedingexample, "Lack of student success
in online classrooms" lacks clarity and does notprovide an under
standing of what the researcher plans to do. Developing this int
oa complete sentence that describes a researchable problem wou
ld entail thefollowing: "To determine the relationship between i

nstructor involvement andstudent success during students' first
online course in college." This latterstatement is clear regarding
the intent of the study and the population that willbe included.
Clearly defining a problem is key to the design and implementat
ionof a research study. Without a clear and specific problem stat
ement, theresearcher may find him-
or herself going on a "wild goose chase" and wasting unnecessa
ry time trying to investigate a vague problem orphenomenon.
The following guidelines adapted by Leedy and Ormrod (2010)
will assist you in formulating a clear, precise, and accurate prob
lem statement:
·
Is the problem stated in complete and grammatically correct sen
tences?
· Is it clear what the study will focus on?
·
Is it clear that the results could go either way? Thus, does the st
atement suggest an open mind to the research findings, or does i
t show aparticular expected outcome?
·
Does the answer to the problem provide important and useful inf
ormation regarding the topic?
·
Is the problem statement focused enough for the research to be c
ompleted in a reasonable amount of time and within budget?
Dividing the Research Problem Into Subproblems
If your research problem covers more than one concept, you wil
l want to break down your research problem into subparts or sub
problems,each of which represents only one concept. For examp
le, if we were to reword our problem statement as "To evaluate t
he influences thatinstructor involvement and student-to-
student interactions have on students' success during their first
online course in college," there would betwo concepts being eva
luated: instructor involvement and quality of student-to-
student interactions. To break this problem statement into twosu

bproblems, it would look like the following:
Problem Statement: To evaluate the influences that instructor in
volvement and quality of student-to-
student interactions have onstudents' success during their first o
nline course in college.
Subproblem 1: Evaluate the influences of instructor involvemen
t on students' success during their first online course in college.
Subproblem 2: Evaluate the influence that quality of student-to-
student interactions has on students' success during their firston
line course in college.
Thus, your problem statement should comprise all of the subpro
blems, while the subproblems should not introduce any new idea
s or conceptsthat are not covered in the problem statement.
When developing subproblems, you will want to adhere to these
guidelines: (1) Each subproblem should be a problem that can b
e researchedon its own; (2) each subproblem should be set forth
as a statement and not as a question; and (3) the total number of
subproblems should bebetween two and six (Leedy & Ormrod,
2010). Viewing a problem statement through its subproblems wi
ll give you a better idea of how toapproach the overall research
project (Leedy & Ormrod, 2010).
The Purpose Statement
The purpose statement,similar to the problem statement, takes t
he goal of the study one step further. It not only includes the int
ent of thestudy but identifies what population will be studied, w
hat type of research will be conducted (e.g., a comparison betwe
en variables), and whatthe dependent and independent variables
will be. Using our research problem, "Lack of student success in
online classrooms," a purposestatement might look like the foll
owing: "The present study was conducted to determine the relati
onship between instructor involvement andstudent success durin
g students' first online course in college."
In most quantitative research as this, problem statements are oft
en replaced with hypotheses, which will be discussed later in th
e chapter. Incontrast, qualitative research methods generally em

ploy either problem statements or research questions. With any
research method, however,the purpose statement should show th
at the purpose and problem are researchable.
Researchers utilizing quantitative methods generally include in t
heir purpose statement whether the study involved a comparison
among groupsor a relationship between two or more variables,
or a descriptive examination of one or more variables. Including
this information not onlyguides the researchers in selecting the
appropriate data analyses but also provides information on the t
ype of study being conducted (Houser,2009). For instance, Kerri
gan (2011) provides an example of a purpose statement that incl
udes a comparison study:
The purpose of this comparative quasi-
experimental study was to compare the effect of coaching on co
mfort levels, as measuredby an adapted questionnaire, and blood
sugars levels, as recorded on individuals' glucometers, between
two groups of individualswith diabetes who had attended a for
mal diabetic education program (p. 7).
Researchers examining the types of relationships between two o
r more variables are interested in how well the variables correla
te. For example,Cerit and Dinc (2013) conducted a study that fo
cused on a relationship between variables. They discussed their
purpose statement as follows:"The aim of this study was to inve
stigate the correlation between nurses' professional behaviours a
nd their ethical decision-
making in a differentcultural context by adapting the Nursing Di
lemma Test (NDT) into Turkish" (p. 202). Both examples provid
e the reader with informationregarding the type of study utilized
(i.e., comparison or correlation) as well as what the dependent
and independent variables were.
On the other hand, when examining a phenomenon, characteristi
c, or event in great detail, some researchers may choose to use q
ualitative ordescriptive methods rather than quantitative method
s. In these cases, the purpose statement will focus more on descr
ibing and clarifying thephenomena or event than on comparing
groups or identifying relationships between variables (Houser, 2

009). Here is an example of aqualitative purpose statement, pro
vided by Bradshaw, Sudhinaraset, Mmari, and Blum (2010):
The primary goals of the current study were to (a) describe the t
ransition-
related stressors experienced by mobile militarystudents; (b) des
cribe the efforts employed to help these students cope with their
stress; and (c) identify strategies that schoolscan use to ease th
e transition process for mobile military students. To address the
se three goals, we conducted separate focusgroups with adolesce
nts in military families, military parents, and school staff in mil
itary-affected schools at select U.S. militarybases. (pp. 86–87)
The most important term in this purpose statement is the word d
escribe, as it indicates that the study is employing qualitative or
descriptivemethods rather than quantitative ones. Regardless of
whether a researcher is utilizing quantitative or qualitative met
hods, the purposestatement is generally included at the end of th
e Introduction, usually in the last paragraph before the Literatur
e Review section.
Research Questions
As we have learned, it is important to narrow down one's topic o
r ideas into a researchable problem. Examining existing literatur
e will provideinformation about what is unclear in the field of st
udy and whether any gaps exist. Doing so will also help to furth
er clarify the research focusor aim of the study as well as assisti
ng in the development of research questions.
Identifying a research problem, stating the problem, and providi
ng a purpose statement are all steps toward describing the aim o
r goal of theoverall study. Research questions are then develope
d to guide researchers toward their objectives. In quantitative st
udies, research questionsgenerally take the form of hypotheses,
which are specific predictions or educated guesses about the out
come of the study. However, somequantitative researchers choo
se to include hypotheses and research questions that are related
to the research problem. Generally, quantitativeresearch questio
ns focus on the Who, What, and When of specific variables and

are closed-ended questions that provide cause-and-
effectanswers.
In qualitative studies, research questions guide data collection a
nd interpretation but do not include speculations or predictions
about theoutcome. Qualitative research questions tend to focus
on the Why and How of a phenomena or event, providing more
descriptive and open-ended answers.
Both hypotheses and research questions provide the researcher
with a starting point to explore a problem, as well as assist the r
esearcher to"stay on topic" and answer those questions he or she
initially wanted to address.
Developing Research Questions
How you conduct a research study depends largely on the resear
ch questions you develop. Let us look back on our previous rese
arch problemstatement involving online learning: "To determine
the relationship between instructor involvement and student suc
cess during students' firstonline course in college." Some resear
chable questions might include the following:
1.
Are there relationships between instructor involvement and stud
ents' success with respect to students' participation in the online
classroomand students' quality of work completed?
2.
Does the amount of instructor involvement have an influence on
student involvement?
Notice how these questions provide specific information about
what will be examined. For example, the first research question
identifies howstudent success will be defined by measuring the
amount of participation in the classroom and the quality of work
submitted. Operationallydefining, or clearly identifying, how st
udent success is going to be measured (i.e., through number of
weekly participations and graded work)ensures that all research
ers and reviewers have a clear understanding of what "student s
uccess" means in this study. Operational definitions,such as this
one, establish the meaning of a concept or variable in relation t

o a particular study. Without operationally defining student succ
essfor this study, it would be unclear how that variable would b
e assessed or measured. The second research question tells us th
at the researcheris going to measure the level of instructor invol
vement and see how it relates to student involvement in the cour
se. Thus, we also need tooperationally define how we are going
to identify and measure "level of instructor involvement." Will i
t be measured by number of times aninstructor responds to a stu
dent each week, by the length and quality of the responses, or b
oth? Both research questions not only inform howthe research w
ill be conducted but also serve as guides throughout the researc
h project endeavor.
It is important to mention that, although research questions shou
ld be developed at the beginning of a project, they can change a
s you designyour study. Designing your study involves making s
everal careful decisions about your research questions in order t
o prevent your study fromfoundering. Ask yourself, What types
of data will be collected, and what methods will be used to colle
ct the data? Where and for how long willthe research be conduct
ed, and what participants or groups will be included? Are the da
ta collection procedures consistent with the researchquestions?
Once the project has started, if you find that your research quest
ions were not appropriate for the research problem or that theda
ta collection and analysis methods were not consistent with the
research questions, your study results may be unusable, forcing
you to startthe project over again.1.4 Hypotheses and Theories
The use of hypotheses is one of the key distinguishing features
of scientific inquiry. Rather than making things up as they go al
ong, scientistsdevelop a hypothesis ahead of time and design a s
tudy to test this hypothesis. In this section, we cover the proces
s of turning rough ideasabout the world into testable hypotheses
. We cover the primary sources of hypotheses as well as several
criteria for evaluating hypotheses.
Sources of Hypotheses

Hypotheses can be generated from the bottom up or the top dow
n. From the bottom up, hypotheses are built on real-
world observations, usinginductive reasoning. From the top dow
n, hypotheses begin with big ideas, or theories, which are then t
ested through deductive reasoning.
Bottom-Up: From Observation to Hypothesis
Research hypotheses are based on observations about the world
around us. For example, you may have noticed the following ten
dencies as youobserve the people around you:
·
Teenagers do a lot of reckless things when their friends do them
.
· Close friends and couples tend to dress alike.
· Everyone faces the front of the elevator.
· Church attendees sit down and stand up at the same time.
Based on these observations, you might develop a general hypot
hesis about human behavior—
that people will conform to, or go along with,what the group is
doing. This process of developing a general statement out of a s
et of specific observations is called induction and is perhapsbest
understood as a "bottom-
up" approach. In this case, we have developed our hypothesis ab
out conformity from the ground up, based onobserving behavior
al tendencies.
The process of induction is a very common and very useful way
to generate hypotheses. Most notably, this process is a great sou
rce of ideasthat are based in real-
world phenomena. Induction also helps us to think about the lim
its of an observed phenomenon. For example, we mightobserve t
he same set of conforming behaviors and speculate whether peo
ple will also conform in dangerous situations. What if smoke sta
rtedpouring into a room and no one else reacted? Would people
act on their survival instinct or conform to the group and stay p
ut (Latané &Darley, 1969)? Your prediction about how this exp
eriment might turn out forms your hypothesis for the experiment

.
The process of qualitative research is an excellent example of in
duction, in that the researcher builds abstractions, concepts, hyp
otheses, andtheories from details and observations in the world.
Hypotheses are not established a priori but may emerge from the
research data andfindings. Thus, qualitative approaches often le
ad to hypothesis-
generating research, which can lay the groundwork for future qu
antitativestudies.
Top-Down: From Theory to Hypothesis
The other approach to developing research hypotheses is to wor
k down from a bigger idea. The term for these big ideas is a the
ory, whichrefers to a collection of ideas used to explain the con
nections among variables and phenomena. For example, the theo
ry of evolution organizesour knowledge about how species have
developed and changed over time. One piece of this theory is th
at life originated in Africa and thenspread to other parts of the p
lanet. However, this idea in and of itself is too big to test in a si
ngle study. Instead, we move from the "top down"and develop a
specific hypothesis out of a more general theory; this process is
known as deduction.
When we develop hypotheses using a process of deduction, the
biggest advantage is that it is easier to place the study—
and our results—
in thelarger context of related research. Because our hypotheses
represent a specific test of a general theory, our results can be
combined with otherresearch that tested the theory in different
ways. For example, in the evolution example, you might hypoth
esize that older fossils would befound in Africa than would be f
ound in other parts of the world. If this hypothesis were support
ed, it would be consistent with the overalltheory about life origi
nating in Africa. And, as more and more researchers develop an
d test their own hypotheses about the origins of life, ourcumulat
ive knowledge about evolution continues to grow.
Most research involves studying constructs that have been inves

tigated extensively. In such situations, particular theories will g
uide decisionsabout the research. Some of these theories may be
new and will have had only limited studies conducted on them.
Others will be more mature,having hundreds of research studies
validating their predictions. In some cases, a study may provide
validation for more than one theory. Toillustrate this concept, c
onsider a study on the causes of childhood obesity. The followin
g are only some of the many theoretical ideas thatcould contribu
te to such a study:
· Parents do not provide healthy eating choices at home.
· Children from low-
income neighborhoods do not have access to healthier food choi
ces or cannot afford them.
· Busy families do not have time to cook and rely on fast food.
·
Obesity is genetic. Thus, children with obese parents are 80% m
ore likely to be obese themselves.
· Media encourages the consumption of fast food.
·
Cultural and ethnic differences exist regarding what is consider
ed a healthy or an unhealthy weight.
·
Children are spending more time watching TV and playing vide
o games, and consuming junk food while doing so.
· Schools are not providing healthy food options.
· Children are not exercising enough at school or at home.
This example only scratches the surface of the role of theory in
a study such as this. Possible hypotheses that could be formulat
ed from thesetheories include the following: Children exposed t
o a school-
based intervention to reduce time spent watching television and
playing videogames will have significantly reduced body mass i
ndex (BMI); or, Exposure to fast food, soft drink, and cereal ad
vertising on television increaseschildren's food consumption be
haviors and, in turn, their BMI.
Table 1.2 compares the two sources of research hypotheses, sho

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