generally considered more reliable than nonexperimental methods.
3.4 Identify the steps in designing an experimental study.
3.5 Identify other types of research and considerations in studying psychopathology.
3.6 Discuss the ethical considerations that must be observed in performing psychological research.
Let us begin with a story that took place in Central Europe over 150 years ago, in 1847 to be exact. At the Vienna General Hospital, a physician named Ignaz Semmelweis faced a serious problem when he noticed that previously healthy women who had just given birth to healthy children were dying. The women died of a condition that included fever, chills, and seizures. As you can imagine, numerous theories were offered. Some thought the deaths were related to the diet of the women. Perhaps they drank bad water. Maybe the flowers that were brought to their rooms were the problem.
Observing the overall conditions in the hospital, Semmelweis saw that other women in the same hospital who ate the same food, drank the same water, and smelled the same flowers did not die. Consequently, he reasoned, it was not the food, water, or flowers that caused the deaths. Yet the fact remained that women who had just given birth died of the mysterious condition. Semmelweis became aware of a crucial clue when he learned that a hospital assistant who had accidentally cut his hand during an autopsy later died. Further, this assistant displayed the same symptoms as the mothers. What was the connection between the death of the assistant and the deaths of the mothers? Was there any connection at all?
One of the first questions Semmelweis asked is where the assistant worked. Perhaps the autopsy laboratory might be the cause of the mysterious deaths. To evaluate this notion, he traveled to other hospitals and recorded what physicians did just before delivering babies. From these observations, he learned that some physicians gave pathology lectures to the interns in the hospital as part of their daily duties. He also noted that when the physicians who delivered the babies came directly from a pathology lecture in which they handled diseased tissue or performed an autopsy, the death rate was highest.
Semmelweis suggested that it was the physicians who were transferring the diseases from the pathological tissue to the healthy mothers, just as the assistant had accidentally infected himself with the knife cut. The physicians of the day were outraged at the suggestion that they were the cause of the women’s deaths. Semmelweis found further evidence by demonstrating that in hospitals where some births were assisted by midwives rather than physicians, those mothers survived at a much higher rate.
In a rather striking, though not totally controlled, experiment, Semmelweis is said to have placed himself at the door to the delivery ward and forced all physicians who entered to wash their hands first. The number of deaths decreased dramatically. Although not everyone accepted Semmelweis’s findings, these data spoke for themselves, and modern medical practice has been shaped by this event (Glasser, 1976).
What Is Science?
In many ways, those who study psychopathology are faced with dilemmas similar to those that faced Semmelweis. We can observe and describe the various disorders. However, researchers are still trying to determine which are the most important factors that likely cause psychological disorders and which factors they can rule out. The best method for doing this is a scientific approach, which I will describe in this chapter. What are some of the characteristics of the scientific approach?
science: a process of understanding the world through observation and research, which includes developing theories
First, science involves detective work. An important aspect of both science and good detective work is careful observation. In his case, Semmelweis observed how doctors in different hospitals went about their day and what experiences preceded other experiences. In addition, he observed others such as midwives who were also involved with births. Thus, careful observation is an important first step.
Second, science involves valid logic. In this case, Semmelweis reasoned that if food, water, or flowers were involved, then they should have affected all of the mothers. However, since there were other mothers who did not get sick and ate the same food and water and were around the same flowers as the mothers who did, it was possible for Semmelweis to conclude this assumption was not supported.
Third, luck often plays a role in science. In this case, the bit of luck was the fact that the assistant cut his hand during an autopsy and had similar symptoms as the mothers who died. Although this was unlucky for the assistant, his death gave Semmelweis an important clue as to which variables were involved.
Fourth, science involves hypothesis testing. Semmelweis had the hypothesis that the disease was carried on the hands of the physicians. To test this hypothesis, he had the physicians wash their hands, and then he determined how this influenced the wellness of the mothers. If washing the hands of the physicians did not make a difference, then this hypothesis could be determined false. However, washing did make a difference, which allowed for further experimentation as well as establishing techniques for the prevention of the disease.
Careful observation is an important aspect of both science and good detective work.
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You may find it surprising that the physicians at first did not believe Semmelweis. Although we do not know if they did not believe that a doctor could be responsible for a patient’s death, one key ingredient in psychological research is the need to understand how other people see themselves and their world.
hypothesis: a formally stated expectation
In designing research in psychopathology, we need to take human nature into account. One important aspect of the human experience is that we tend to think and recall things in a psychological way rather than a logical way. For example, most of us tend to remember good times better than bad times. However, in terms of mental illness, some individuals such as those with depression tend to remember the bad times more often. We also remember events that put us in a good light rather than in a bad one. Sometimes we remember things differently from the way they may have happened or perform differently if we know we are being observed. Thus, psychological researchers look for a variety of techniques for obtaining information including self-report, direct observations, and reports of mental health workers, as well as indirect measures such as neuroscience techniques.
facts: general conclusions drawn from observations
scientific knowledge: the known facts about a particular subject derived from the scientific method
doubt: to question ideas and research and ask whether factors other than the ones that were originally considered might have influenced the results
falsification: the scientific approach by which a claim or hypothesis is shown to be wrong
In general, there is no single scientific method, yet there is a general process called science. This process consists of experiencing the world and then drawing general conclusions (called facts) from observations. Sometimes these conclusions or facts are descriptive and can be represented by numbers. For example, we say that the moon is 238,000 miles from the earth or that the average human heart rate is 72 beats per minute. Other times, these facts are more general and can describe a relationship or a process. For example, we say that it is more difficult to learn a second language after puberty than before puberty or that as we age we can hear fewer high-frequency sounds. Whatever the topic, the known facts about a particular subject are called scientific knowledge (see Ray, 2012, for more on this).
There is another aspect to science that many people do not think about. This is the aspect of doubt. In science, we use doubt to question our ideas and our research and ask whether factors other than the ones that we originally considered might have influenced our results. By doing this, we come to see that science is a combination