Is Psychology the Study of Behavioral Variability?

• Published in: Contemporary psychology Vol. 41; no. 4; pp. 338 - 339
• Main Author: Steele, Kenneth M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.04.1996
• Subjects: Analysis of Variance; Behaviorism; Experimental Design; Human; Methodology; Statistics
• ISSN: 0010-7549
• DOI: 10.1037/002861

The differences in approach in teaching about psychological research are as large as in any other topic area of psychology. There are two main camps, the experimental design camp and the research methods camp. The design camp is concerned with statistical control. The methods camp is concerned with experimental control. Mark Leary has taken a rare approach to this issue in the book under review here, Introduction to Behavioral Research Methods; 2nd ed. (see record 1994-98926-000). He has used a design approach throughout a sophomore-level textbook. He takes this position openly and strongly: "My personal view is that statistics are research methods." Importantly, the second chapter of the book is devoted to introducing the concept of variance and the idea that changes in behavior can be understood through the partitioning of variance among sources. The concept of breakdown of total variance into systematic and error variance is supposed to be the theme that will make the book a coherent whole. I give Leary a high score for the idea to build the book around the concept of variance. The score is lower for the implementation of the idea. This book will appeal to those who see mastery of the ANOVA as a central topic in the research sequence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)