Psych Department Quiz Scientific Method o Self correcting set of activities involving observation question generation consideration of data and reporting of conclusions o Interactions among scientists engaged in a quest to gain relatively objective knowledge Scientific Method Steps o State clear theory o Form hypotheses o Make observation measurements o Draw conclusion evaluate theory o Share results Scientific Method Toolbox o Allows us to test specific hypotheses derived from broader theories Theories never proven Hypotheses can be confirm disconfirmed Scientific Inquiry o Some questions not testable falsifiable o Layman s Theory unproven assumption or hunch o Scientific Theory well substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is acquired through the scientific method and confirmed through observation and experiments Explains Organizes Predicts Skeptics will change mind but only with good evidence 6 Principles of Scientific Thinking o Rule out rival hypotheses o Correlation v causation o Falsifiability o Reliability o Extraordinary claims o Occam s razor Tools for Research Methods o Naturalistic Observation Observe describe behavior No manipulating controlling Can t explain behavior Pro High external validity Natural environment Con Future questions for experiments Difficult to find causation Difficult to eliminate alternatives o Case Study Extensive study of person or small group Existence proofs rare phenomena Pro Beneficial for population of study Cases that can t be experimentally formed manipulated Con Everyone is unique Can t generalize o Self Report Survey Useful but is it representative Random Generalizable Sampling Issue Can be inaccurate depending on how it s done Framing produced How you state the question Wording is important Reliability extent to which stable and consistent results are Validity how well a test measures what it says it measures Pros Obtain pertinent info useful to study Con Inexpensive quick First step Maybe biased answers Answers depend on wording Sampling issues Identify relationship between variables Positive negative none Positive higher variable leads to higher other Negative higher leads to lower Correlation does NOT imply causation Correlation necessary but not sufficient o Correlation Design Spurious Illusory Pro Outwardly similar without having genuine quality REAL correlation NOT causal Falsified erroneously attributed origin NO correlation just illusion Look at things unethical to manipulate Less expensive Starting point Con MUST Correlation does NOT imply causation Difficult to determine what caused effect Cause before effect Correlation Non spurious relationship o Experimental Research Random assignment everyone equal chance of being in each group Control group to compare experimental group Pro More controlled than others More freedom Isolate factors to determine cause Con More expensive and time consuming More planning o Statistical Reasoning Statistical Significance measure how likely that difference between groups occurred by chance Considers mean and standard deviation Lying Report tendency that are non representative of most participants Create visual representations that exaggerate Failing to take base rates into account neglect Look for p 0 05 Ethics o Standard benefits greater than risk o Must have informed consent from participants o Tuskegee Study syphilis o Deception Milgram at Yale punishment on learning o IRB Debriefing of subjects afterwards Informed consent Justification of deception
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