Doing Psychology: An Introduction to Research Methodology and Statistics

Doing Psychology provides a clear and accessible introduction to the principal research methods and statistical procedures that underpin psychological research. This introductory text builds a carefully integrated understanding of the research process from the ground up and addresses the many challenges confronted by first-time students of psychologyùissues surrounding research goals, methodological choices and strategy, multiple approaches to statistical inference, and ethical controversies. Throughout the text the authors incorporate a range of multiple choice questions and answers that reinforce understanding of key concepts in an ongoing way. Assuming only limited mathematical knowledge the book provides step-by-step guides to key statistical procedures together with a comprehensive glossary of technical terms. By using words and figures rather than just numbers and equations, Doing Psychology offers a highly readable guide on how to design, analyze, and evaluate experiments and surveys in psychological research while exploring the process of psychology as a science. It will be an essential companion for all students of psychology.

S Alexander Haslam (Alex Haslam) is Professor of Psychology and Australian Laureate Fellow at the University of Queensland. Together with colleagues, he has written and edited 15 books and over 300 research articles and chapters. His most recent books are The New Psychology of Leadership: Identity, Influence and Power (with Steve Reicher and Michael Platow, 2nd ed. 2020) and Social Psychology: Revisiting the Classic Studies (edited with Joanne Smith, 2nd ed. 2017). He is former Chief Editor of the European Journal of Social Psychology and former President of the Psychology Section of the British Science Association. He is a recipient of the European Association of Social Psychology’s Kurt Lewin Medal for research excellence, and the International Society of Political Psychology’s Nevitt Sanford Award for contributions to political psychology. He has also received awards for distinguished contributions to psychological science from both the British Psychology Society and the Australian Psychology Society. In 2022 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia “for significant service to higher education, particularly psychology, through research and mentoring”.


Craig McGarty is Professor of Psychology at Western Sydney University. He received his undergraduate training in psychology at the University of Adelaide and his PhD from Macquarie University in 1991 (where he was a tutor from 1985 until 1989). He spent 1990 as a lecturer in social psychology/social interaction at the University of Western Sydney and moved in 1991 to the Australian National University as a research associate. He was Reader and Head of the School of Psychology before moving to Murdoch University in Western Australia as the Director of the Centre for Social and Community Research and then Director of the Social Research Institute. He has worked on a wide range of topics in experimental social psychology, and his current research includes a social audit of the aspirations and solutions of a remote Indigenous community and studies of the reconciliation process in post-genocide Rwanda. His books include Stereotypes as Explanations (with Vincent Yzerbyt and Russell Spears, 2002) and Categorization and Social Psychology (1999).