Research Methods in Psychology

Academic Task

For Module 8:

Read Chapter Nine 

Then, answer the following questions to the case study highlighted below: 

Case Study #1: Screentime Drags Down Grades (taken from the Everyday Research blog)

Several news outlets picked up a study about high school students' screen time and their grades. The Huffington Post headlined their story, "One Hour Of Extra Screen Time Drags Down Teenagers' Grades" https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/one-hour-of-extra-screen-time-drags-down-teenagers-grades_us_55e99448e4b03784e2758b2a

The summary of the study read like this:

Teenagers who spend an extra hour a day surfing the internet, watching TV, or playing computer games risk performing two grades worse in exams than their peers who don't, according to research by British scientists. An extra hour in front of the TV or online at age 14-and-a-half was linked with 9.3 fewer exam points at age 16 -- equivalent to two grades, for example, from a B to a D. Two extra hours were linked to 18 fewer points.

a)  Based only on this summary, what kind of study do you think this is--correlational or experimental? What are the two key variables in this study? 

b)  Since the study is correlational, you might be surprised that the headline was causal, saying that "screen time drags downgrades." Apply the three criteria for causation to this claim, given what you know about the methodology. Does it support the claim? 

Later in the article, the researcher explains the following about the study:

"We only measured [screen time at age 14.5], but this is likely to be a reliable snapshot of participants' usual behavior, so we can reasonably suggest that screen time may be damaging to a teenager's grades," said Kirsten Corder of Cambridge's Centre for Diet and Activity Research, who co-led the work.

c) In this quote, the researcher seems to be focusing on one of the three criteria for causation. Which one? Which one is she ignoring?

d)  Challenge question: In the quote above, the researcher mentions, "We only measured [screen time at age 14.5], but this is likely to be a reliable snapshot of participants' usual behavior". What concept is the researcher discussing here? Is this concept relevant to the causal claim the researchers and journalists wish to make? 

e)  Does this study appear to be a cross-lag panel design? Why or why not? 

Self-Disclosure

If you could do a relational study, what two variables would you study? What would be some confounding variables?