CH 1 & 2 - Principles, hypotheses and article reading/finding Flashcards
Intuition
Non-scientific
Judgements, anecdotes
Can be useful for developing questions and solving quickly and for unimportant
Biased
Availability heuristic
what is most easily brought to memory is seen as more common
Illusory correlation
we focus on when events correlate and not when they don’t and end up thinking that everytime we do something, other thing happens
Confirmation bias
We seek out info that confirms our hypothesis
Experience
Conclusions based on own experience or testimonials
no control group, confounds, probability (research is probabilistic)
Experience in studies
Case studies
Qualitative research
Authority
Source from powerful people
People may accept ideas without critical thought
Rationalism
Using knowledge and reason. But people are often faulty with logic, errors
Empiricism
Gaining knowledge through systematic observations
Characteristic of the scientific method
Theory - data cycle
Theory, hypothesis, data
Theory
Framework that organizes and explains various findings related to a phenomenon, that generates testable hypothesis
Hypothesis
Broad outcome the researcher expects to observe in a study if the theory is correct
Deduction
Theory –> hypothesis –> prediction
Hypothesis vs. prediction
Prediction is specific to the experiment itself (the results will show X)
Hypothesis is more broad, and related to the theory as a whole (what can be concluded from the results is Y)
Induction
Observation –> hypothesis –> theory
What makes a good scientific theory?
Data support
Are falsifiable
Have parsimony (be the simplest explanation aka Occam’s razor)
Theories don’t…
Prove anything
Even when there is data
Data is evidence that SUPPORTS a theory
Science is composed of paradigm shifts
Goals of psychological reseach
Describe behavior (what)
Predict behavior (when)
Determine cause of behavior (why)
Explain behavior (how)
Basic research
Answer fundamental questions about behavior
Applied research
Adresses practical problems and proposes solutions
Process of conducting research - IN DETAIL
Theory - Consult past research - state hypothesis - design study - get ethic approval - collect data - analyze data - replicate or extend - write manuscript - submit to journal
What is a variable
An attribute that varies, having at least two levels or values
Measured variable
Variable whose levels are observed and recorded (DV)
Manipulated variable
Variable the researcher controls (IV)
Conceptual variables
Variable of interest stated in an abstract level
Construct - when it is a part of a psychological theory
Conceptual definition
A researcher’s definition of a variable at the theoretical level
Operational variable
Specific way in which a concept of interest is measure or manipulated as a variable in a study. Operational definition
Operationalize
To turn a conceptual definition of a variable into a specific measured/manipulated variable in order to conduct a reseach
Empirical journal article
Article that reports for the FIRST time the results of a study
Review journal article
An article summarizing all the studies that have been published in one research area
Meta-analysis
A way of mathematically averaging the effect sizes of all the studies that have tested the same variables to see what conclusion the whole body of evidence supports
Major sections of an empirical research article
Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, References
Major sections of an empirical research article
Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, References
Introduction of research article
Section in which the researcher outlines the problem that has been investigated
Method
Section in which information is provided in how the study was conducted, with details for the reader to replicate the study
Results
Researcher presents the finding (without interpreting it)
Discussion
Researcher considers the results from various perspectives (why you found what you found)
The Thesaurus tool in PsychINFO can help you…
Find broader themes or narrower themes related to the term you are looking for
Shows history of term
If you don’t know the title of the research article, where should you look for it?
Use a database
What databases are there?
PsychINFO, Google scholar, Web of science
Web of science
Powerful filters, sorting and citation searching functions
Google scholar
Flexible, broad, natural search of term results
