Foundations of Psychological Research

This unit introduces core principles and practices of psychological research, including types of studies, experimental and survey design, sampling, measurement, validity, reliability, qualitative methods, and ethical and APA documentation requirements. It builds foundational skills in critiquing and designing research so students are prepared to develop and execute data-collection projects in subsequent units.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze and differentiate research types and designs (quantitative, qualitative, experimental, survey) and identify appropriate uses of samples, populations, and measurement scales for given research questions.
• Evaluate study quality by identifying threats to validity and reliability, interpreting effect sizes, and critiquing survey and experimental methods for bias and sampling error.
• Apply ethical principles and APA style to create research protocols and documentation that address informed consent, confidentiality, minimization of harm, and proper reporting standards.
• Demonstrate the ability to produce a research-ready proposal element (title, problem statement, decision about literature review, sampling and measurement plan, and brief methods summary) suitable for progression to data collection.