Ch1 Flashcards
Why Do we need to understand research methods?
We are constantly bombarded with news of scientific research, how do we know which findings to believe?
List 4 ways people usually decide what to believe?
Intuition+anecdote
authority
common sense
empiricism (aka collect data, make conclusions)
Critical thinking
- analyzing
- conceptualizing,
- defining,
- examining,
- inferring,
- listening,
- questioning,
- reasoning,
- synthesizing)
- (all used to evaluating information and thought in a disciplined way)
*embraces skepticism
The Scientific Approach
- Collect and use data
- Share findings for peer review
- ideas must be tested and conflicting ideas battle. The ones with the best data to support them win
- Peer review is having other expert scientists evaluate your work to decide if it’s well done and should be published
Skepticism
Good ideas can come from anywhere, but should not be mistaken for scientific evidence
- your allowed to have whatever opinions and beliefs you want, as long as you don’t mistake them for the “truth”
- Beware of pseudoscience; often untestable, vague and based on cherrypicked anecdotes
Goals of Behavioral Science
Description
ex. does the amount of time kids play violent video games relate to aggressive behavior
Prediction
ex. children who spend more time playing violent video games will display more aggressive behavior
Determining Cluase
ex. Do violent vieo games cause aggression? clues?
did the video game use happen before the aggressive behavior
are children who don’t play video games not aggressive?
have we eliminated alternative explanations?
Explanation
ex. if yes, then why and how do violent video games cause aggression
Basic and Applied Research
- Basic research seeks to answer fundamental questions about behavior, without any particular practical applications in mind
- Applied Research seeks potential solutions to specific problems
- which type of research do you see emphasized most? Where do you think the emphasis should be? Why?
Research Questions
A research question is your starting point. Try to be specific.
Hypothesis
a hypothesis is your tentative answer to your research question
Predict
Once you’ve designed your research study, a prediction is what you expect your results to be, and if your are correct, this supports but doesn’t prove your hypothesis)
Bradford Hill Causality Criteria
Dose response relationship: more treatment=more response
Expieremental evidence: expierements make casual inference more plausible
biological plausibility: rational and theoretical basis for the finding
Temporality: cause must procede effect
Strength of Association
Consistency: multiple studies show the same thing
______________
*Everything below line less important
Coherence: Cause and effect relationship don’t conflict with what is known/there are no other competing hypothesis
Specificity: effect only has one cause
Analogy: a commonly accepted phenomenon in one area can be applied to another area
Characteristics of scientific inquiry according to Goodstein
Data play a central role
Scientists are not alone
Science is adversarial
Scientific evidence is peer reviewed
What questions should I ask to be a skilled consumer of research
What was measured?
how do they know that one thing caused another?
To what or whom can we generalize the results?
Have other researchers found similar results?
Description
A scientist aims to describe a phenomenon through the collection of data
Prediction
Consistent systematic relation between two events allows us to predict
