C1: Scientific Method Flashcards
What is determinism?
The behavior is solely influenced by natural causes
It does not depend on an individual’s free will
Describe how nature is lawful
Every event can be understood as a predictable sequence of natural causes and effects
Not random
What makes the laws of nature understandable?
Regardless of how complicated a too. Seems at first glance, we assume that it will eventually LOGICALLY & RATIONALLY fit with known facts
What are the 5 key attitudes of scientists
Uncertain Open minded Skeptical Cautious Ethical
What is an uncertain attitude?
A belief that no one knows how a behavior operates
What is an open-minded attitude
Any approach or answer could turn out to be correct
What is a skeptical attitude?
Any approach or statement may contain error (s)
What is a cautious attitude?
Realizing that any conclusion is not necessarily a fact
What is an ethical attitude?
Research should do no harm
What are the key components of designing a study
Identify specific participants ( aka pre-1994…subjects)
Include specific situation or sequence of situations
What are the 4 characteristics of scientific evidence?
Convincing evidence is Empirical Objective Systematic Controlled
What is empirical criteria?
Information based in observation
Observable
What makes scientific observations objective?
Observations are free from bias
How do you set systematic criteria for gaining acceptable scientific evidence?
Observations are made in a step-by-step manner
How do you design research that is controlled?
Remove potentially confusing factors
How do you define “understanding” an event ( or behavior?
4 simultaneous goals for understanding an event/behavior
DESCRIBE the behavior and the conditions under which it occurs
EXPLAIN the specific causes that determine when and why behavior occurs
CONTROL the factors that are needed to produce or eliminate behavior
What is applied research?
Research conducted to solve an existing problem
What is basic research?
Conducted simply for the knowledge it produces, to obtain knowledge
What is the role of a single study?
Gives a limited and simplified view of the complexity found in nature.
It contributes minutely to the overall goal of accurate understanding
What is a hypothesis?
And what are the two types of hypothesis
It is the specific question you will answer with research
It is either a
Causal hypothesis
Or a descriptive hypothesis
What is a causal hypothesis?
It identifies a particular cause for, or influence on, a behavior
“Channel surfing is caused by boring content on TV
What is a descriptive hypothesis ?
It tentatively defines a behavior in terms of its characteristics or the situation in which it occurs.
It postulates characteristics or aspects of the behavior
What behaviors can be studied scientifically?
Behavior must be
Lawful
Determined
Understandable
What are the 5 criteria for scientific hypotheses?
Testable Falsifiable Precise Rational Parsimonious
What makes a hypothesis testable?
A test can be designed for it
What makes a hypothesis falsifiable?
It can possibly be proved false
What makes a hypothesis precise?
The terms are clearly defined
What makes a hypothesis rational?
It fits with the known information
What makes a hypothesis parsimonious?
It involves the simplest possible approach
What is a theory?
It is an organized body of research (or set of proposals) that describes, explains, organizes and interrelates knowledge about a wide range of behaviors
What is the function of a theory?
It helps organize empirical findings and guide additional research. (a study cannot test a theory, it can only test a hypothesis)
describes broad, astract components of a behavior
What is a model (as in a related source of hypotheses)?
a description that, by way of analogy, explains the process underlying particular behaviors. It is typically specific and concrete (whereas theories are broad in scope)
provides a specific analogy for discussing and understanding components of a behavior
often involves a flow chart or diagram
What is the difference between a hypothesis and a prediction?
A hypothesis is a general statement about how a behavior operates. A prediction is a specific statement about how we will see the behavior manifested in the research situation,
A prediction also describes the specific results that we expect in a study, if the hypothesis is correct
What is a pseudo-explanation?
It is circular, explaining the causes of an event by renaming the event.
To avoid pseudo-explanations, we obtain independent verification of a supposed cause
How and why are statistical procedures used?
They are used to organize, summarize and communicate data.
Statistical procedures are used to draw conclusions about what the data indicate
What is replication?
the process of repeatedly conduction studies to build confidence in a hypothesis
What is the difference between literal and conceptual replication?
Literal replication precisely duplicates a previous study.
Conceptual replication repeats the test of the hypothesis but uses a different design
What is confirmation?
When our finding is consistent with the hypothesis
Confirming means that we are more confident that the hypothesis is true than we were before the test.
(Confirming is not the same as proving.)
What is disconfirmation?
When our data do not fit our hypothesis, evidence that the hypothesis is false
What is statistical notation?
It is the code for communicating statistical results and simplifying statistical formulas
What provides confidence in a hypothesis?
Our confidence is based on the quantity and quality of evidence that confirms and disconfirms it
