1st Edition

Concise Handbook of Experimental Methods for the Behavioral and Biological Sciences

By Jay E. Gould Copyright 2002
    436 Pages 40 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    Although there are many books written on the principles and methods of experimentation, few are written in a succinct, comprehensive outline format. The Concise Handbook of Experimental Methods for the Behavioral and Biological Sciences is based on a popular course taught by the author for more than two decades to assist advanced undergraduate and graduate students in understanding and applying the principles and methods of experimentation.

    The handbook is organized into three parts. Part One covers the philosophy of science, forms of scientific research, steps of the scientific method, variables in research designs, and the initial and final phases of research. Part Two discusses research ethics and experimental control. Part Three surveys experimental design, sampling and generalization, and hypothesis testing and statistical significance.

    The handbook's illustrations, extensive appendices, and detailed index allow you to acquire the techniques necessary to conduct, interpret, and evaluate research and then clearly communicate those findings. The Concise Handbook of Experimental Methods for the Behavioral and Biological Sciences eliminates the need for wading through unnecessary details to find what you need, making it a handy resource for reference and review.

    Part One - Science: The Philosophy and Components

    PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE: THE SCIENTIFIC APPROACH TO KNOWLEDGE
    Philosophy and its Relationship to the Sciences
    Approaches to Knowledge
    Goals of Science
    Assumptions of Science
    Requirements of Scientific Observation

    FORMS OF SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATION AND RESEARCH
    Naturalistic Observation used in Descriptive Research
    Techniques of Naturalistic Observation used in Descriptive research
    Experimental Observation used in Explanatory / Experimental Research

    STEPS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
    Introduction
    Primary Steps
    Secondary Steps
    Problem Formulation (Step One of the Scientific Method)
    Hypothesis Formulation (Step Two of the Scientific Method)

    VARIABLES IN RESEARCH DESIGNS
    Design Construction (Step Three of the Scientific Method)
    Variables
    Principal Variables of Experiments
    Accuracy and Consistency of Variables
    Abstract Variables and Concrete Definitions
    Circular Reasoning

    INITIAL AND FINAL PHASES OF RESEARCH
    Literature Surveys
    Research Proposal
    Pilot Study
    Serendipity
    Research Report

    Part Two - Research Ethics and Experimental Control

    ETHICS OF RESEARCH
    Non-Participant Ethical Issues
    Human Participant Ethical Issues
    Animal Participant Ethical Issues

    CONTROL IN EXPERIMENTS: BASIC PRINCIPALS AND SOME TECHNIQUES
    Two Meanings of Experimental Control
    Forms of Extraneous Variables
    Concept of Variance and Good Experimental Designs
    General Sources of Variance
    Types of Variance
    Minimax Principals of Variance
    Maximizing the Primary Variance
    Making Equivalent the Secondary Variance: Some Techniques

    CONTROL IN EXPERIMENTS: ADDITIONAL TECHNIQUES AND PRINCIPLES
    Making Equivalent the Secondary Variance: More Techniques
    Minimizing the Error Variance

    Part Three - Design and Analysis of Experiments

    DESIGNS FOR EXPERIMENTS: INTRODUCTION AND WITHIN-PARTICIPANTS
    General Concepts and Principles
    Pre-Experimental Design
    Quasi-Experimental Designs
    Categories of Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs
    Within-Participants / Groups (Repeated-Measures) Designs

    DESIGNS FOR EXPERIMENTS: BETWEEN-PARTICIPANTS AND MULTIPLE TREATMENTS
    Between-Participants, Independent (Randomized), Two-Group Designs
    Between-Participants, Related/Matched/Correlated, Two-Group Designs
    Multiple Treatment Designs

    SAMPLING AND GENERALIZATION
    Definitions
    Fundamental Decisions When Selecting a Sample of Research Participants
    Statistics and Parameters
    Sampling Reliability
    Sampling Validity
    Generalization/ External Validity Concerns
    Sampling Techniques

    HYPOTHESIS TESTING AND STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE
    Types of Hypotheses
    Testing the Null Hypothesis: Two Possible Outcomes
    Proof versus Disproof: Certainty versus Support
    Potential Errors During Statistical Decision Making
    Researcher's Dilemma and the Chosen Level of Significance/Confidence
    Power/Sensitivity of Statistical Tests and Designs
    Sampling Distributions of Differences Between Pairs of Means
    Statistical Significance versus Practical Significance

    APPENDICES

    INDEX

    Note: Each chapter also includes a Review Summary and Review Questions

    Biography

    Jay E. Gould

    "This is an interesting book on the 'big picture' of experiments, written by a psychology professor from the University of West Florida. . . This would be a good book to include in a list of additional reading for a graduate or undergraduate statistical consulting course. It would help students gain an appreciation of how the entire process of experimentation is viewed by practitioners, and to focus on the role of statisticians in date collection and analysis."
    -Christine M. Anderson-Cook, Virginia Tech

    "…beautifully written… The purpose is to provide a vast amount of experimental research knowledge to the reader in a concise, easy-to-read, easy-to-use, yet thorough format. Moreover, the outline format is a tremendously ingenious way of presenting this material. The author undoubtedly has achieved his objectives. …This book was a pleasure to read and review and will be of value - to me in particular. I see this book being the core text for research methodology courses as well as a solid text for researchers in the field. I recommend this book without reservation."

    - Nicholas Greco IV, M.S., Abbott Laboratories, in Divine, Inc. (formerly Doody Publishing)