EDHD306 MIDTERM STUDY GUIDE What is research Search for knowledge systematic quantitative qualitative approach Make world more efficient gives useful knowledge to apply to everyday life Scientific writing and APA study APA Style convention uniformity clarity organization Organization o Title page o Abstract o Introduction o Method o Results o Discussion o References Literature review research questions hypothesis Participants materials procedure Summary of results implications limitations future directions Reasons for conducting research Limitations of our own intuition and of authority Intuition o Ex couples try to conceive and after years they finally adopt then after a while the woman realizes she s pregnant this leads to a belief that adoption increases the likelihood of pregnancy among couples who are having difficulties conceiving a child o This conclusion is intuitively reasonable and people usually have an explanation like the adoption reduces a major source of marital stress and stress reduction conception o Illustrates the use of intuition and anecdotal evidence to draw general conclusions about the world around us o When you rely on intuition you accept unquestioningly what your own personal judgment or a single story about ones experience tells you o Involves finding an explanation for our own behaviors or the behavior of others o Problem numerous cognitive and motivational biases affect our perceptions and so we may draw erroneous conclusions about cause and effect o Aristotle would argue that we are more likely to be persuaded by a speaker who seems prestigious trustworthy and respectable then one who appears to lack such qualities Authority o Many people are all too ready to accept anything they learn from the internet news media books govt they believe the statements of authorities must be true o The problem is that these statements might not be true the scientific approach rejects the notion that one can accept on faith the statements of authority The empirical approach Observations accurately reported to others search for discovery and verification of ideas open exchange and competition among ideas peer review of research Experimental observational approach to things gaining knowledge through experience careful observation and experiments to gather facts and evidence science exists in a free market of ideas in which the best ideas are supported by research and scientists can build upon the research of others to make further advances The scientific approach to acquiring knowledge recognizes that both intuition and authority can be sources of ideas about behavior but scientists do not unquestioningly accept anyone s intuitions including their own Scientific skepticism ideas must be evaluated on the basis of careful logic and results from scientific investigations Empiricism the idea that knowledge is based on observations Data are collected that form the basis of conclusions about the nature of the world The scientific method embodies a number of rules or collecting and evaluating data Data plays a central role knowledge is primarily based on observations helps them develop theories and conduct research that increases our confidence on these theories Scientists follow up on findings by conducting research that replicates and Science is a way of thinking in which ideas battle others in order to move extends others observations closer to the truth Falsifiability principle that a good scientific idea or theory should be capable of being shown to be false when tested using scientific methods Goal of Science Scientific research on behavior has four general goals o 1 to describe behavior can be something directly observable or something less observation like attractiveness researchers are interested in describing ways in which events are systematically related to one another o 2 to predict behavior once it has been observed with some regularity that two events are systematically related it becomes possible to make predictions can anticipate events o 3 to determine causes of behavior to know how to change behavior we need to know the causes of behavior predictions do NOT mean it is causal to conclude causation there are three things that must occur 1 temporal precedence there is a temporal order of events in which the cause precedes the effect 2 covariation of cause and effect when the cause is present the effect occurs when the cause is not present the effect does not occur 3 alternative explanations nothing other than a causal variable could be responsible for the observed effects no plausible alternative explanation for relationship SUMMARY o 4 to understand or explain behavior explain events being described scientists try to understand why behavior occurs o Determining cause and explaining behavior are closely related because it is difficult to ever know the true cause or all the causes of any behavior o Explanation that appears satisfactory might turn out to be inadequate when other causes are identified in subsequent research there is a certain amount of ambiguity with scientific inquiry Basic and Applied Research Basic addresses theoretical issues o Tries to answer fundamental questions about the nature of behavior o Studies designed to address theoretical issues concerning phenomena such as cognition emotion learning motivation neuropsychology personality development and social behavior Applied addresses applied issues and solutions to problems o Immediate practical implications o Conducted to address issues in which there are practical problems and potential solutions o Ex adolescent smoking data is valuable for people who are planning smoking cessation programs for adolescents o Ex cell phone use because of widespread use of cell phones and the documentation of problems it might cause o Program evaluation assesses the social reforms and innovations that occur in government education the criminal justice system industry health care and mental health institutions BOTH are important and build off each other Much applied research is guided by theories and findings of basic Ex behavioral research has significant applications to public policy investigations Sources of Ideas Observation personal experience o Curiosity about our own experiences o Conflicts of interest video Dan ariely was asked to get free hair removal and then was guilted to get it and realized that it was an experiment and they needed the third patient for a paper they were writing Talks about