3: Research Methods Flashcards
Someone claims to have a dragon, and keeps giving excuses when you attempt to interact with it (ex/ flying, made of dark matter, made of special dark matter that can’ be detected, etc.). What is wrong with this?
The dragon is scientifically uninteresting as it cannot be observed. This can also span into theories (ex/ Freud).
What is at the heart of the scientific method?
Observation
What is Empiricism?
The theory that accurate knowledge can be gained through observation. (ex/ There is no dragon as you can’t observe it).
What is Dogmatism?
Unwaveringly clinging to one’s beliefs, especially in the face of contradictory evidence. (Ex/ there is a dragon, but it’s flying, made up of undetectable dark matter, in a different dimension, etc.)
What is the scientific method?
A procedure for finding information by using empirical (observable) evidence.
What are three ways of knowing?
Personal experiences (anecdote)
- a true or unreliable/unverifiable story
Intuition
- accessing/acquiring knowledge in the absence of conscious reasoning
The scientific method
- repeatable observations across many individuals
- lead to the same conclusions
objective (doesn’t matter who is doing the observations)
What do we use the scientific method for?
To test theories, organizations of our observations of natural phenomena, and propose explanations for why the phenomena occur(ed/s)
Name a hypothesis for the Bystander effect.
In an emergency situation, the more people that are present, the longer it will take before someone helps.
Define theories and hypotheses:
Theories: Organize our understanding of phenomena
Hypotheses: Test the tenability (reliability) of our theories in the real world
What are the steps to the scientific method?
Theories (explain) -> Hypotheses (predict) -> Research observation (tests)
What is inductive reasoning?
OBSERVATION (a specific event) -> THEORY (leading to a general theory)
Going from a specific event into a general theory is known as inductive reasoning
What is Deductive Reasoning?
THEORY -> OBSERVATION
Going from a general theory into specific observations
Tips: Think of the word “deduce”, as in “I deduce you to be the criminal!”
The detective goes from a theory and narrows down into this specific observation!
Which way does the scientific method go for deductive reasoning?
Start with a theory. Use to test a hypothesis:
Theory (explain) -> Hypothesis (predict) -> Research (tests)
Which way does the scientific method go for inductive reasoning?
Start with an observation. Use to generate a theory:
Research (tests) -> Hypothesis (predict) -> Theories (explain)
What is a major requirement for scientific theories?
It is of paramount importance that our theories CAN be shown to be wrong
Ex/ There is a lot of research demonstrating the existence of the bystander effect, but recent evidence shows it not occurring, so it the theory was updated to show that “People help in some situations, and not others”.
