Chapter 1 & 2

Question 1

General goals of scientific research

Answer 1

(1) to describe behavior (2) to predict behavior (3) to determine the causes of behavior (4) to understand or explain behavior (5) apply knowledge to solve problems

Question 2

Criteria for causal claims

Answer 2

(1) covariation of cause and effect (2) temporal precedence (3) ruling out alternative explanations

Question 3

Covariation of cause and effect

Answer 3

when the cause is present, the effect occurs; when the cause isn’t present, the effect doesn’t occur

Question 4

Temporal precedence

Answer 4

the cause must precede the effect in time

Question 5

Basic research

Answer 5

attempts to answer fundamental questions about the nature of behavior; often focuses on testing theories rather than developing a specific application

Question 6

Applied research

Answer 6

conducted to address practical problems in the real world and propose potential solutions

Question 7

Program evaluation

Answer 7

a major area of applied research that tests the efficacy of programs (e.g. social reforms and innovation) to produce changes or certain outcomes in a target population

Question 8

Five broad sources of ideas for research

Answer 8

(1) common assumptions (2) observation of the world around us (3) practical problems (4) scientific theories (5) past research

Question 9

What are the non-data-driven ways of knowing?

Answer 9

experience/testimonial, intuition, folk wisdom/common sense, authority, logic

Question 10

Pros and cons of intuition

Answer 10

Pro: quick and accessible knowledge; Con: can be illusory, subject to prejudices and misconceptions

Question 11

Pros and cons of common sense

Answer 11

Pro: good research ideas; Con: confirmation bias and is often contradictory

Question 12

Authority

Answer 12

knowledge is based on information from a “credible other”

Question 13

Pros and cons of authority

Answer 13

Pros: experts can be authorities and it can minimize the need for us to acquire our own knowledge; Cons: not all authorities are experts and who is considered an authority

Question 14

Pros and cons of testimonials

Answer 14

“sticky” or stays in your mind, may/may not be representative of the collection of all possible experiences, cannot account for alternative explanations

Question 15

Pros and cons of logic

Answer 15

Pros: leads to internally consistent reasoning and decisions, easy to analyse and critique; Cons: requires correct premises/information, may have nothing to do with the real world

Question 16

Affordances

Answer 16

cognitively processing objects based on how you can act on them

Question 17

Theory

Answer 17

overarching framework that organizes and explains phenomena, data, and relationships among them

Question 18

Hypothesis

Answer 18

tentative statement about a relationship that may or may not be true

Question 19

What two functions do theories serve in science?

Answer 19

(1) organize and explain previous observations (2) generate new knowledge

Question 20

Deduction

Answer 20

theory > hypothesis > prediction (broad to narrow)

Question 21

Induction

Answer 21

observation > hypothesis > theory (narrow to broad)

Question 22

Falsifiability

Answer 22

the ability for one to show that a theory or hypothesis has the capacity to be wrong

Question 23

When can a theory or hypothesis be NON-falsifiable?

Answer 23

when there is no possible way to find evidence that proves it is wrong e.g. dog heaven

Question 24

Parsimony

Answer 24

the least complex theory is the most desirable because it is the easiest to falsify

Question 25

When can a less parsimonious theory be chosen?

Answer 25

when it explains the data substantially better than the most parsimonious theory

Question 26

What are the kinds of variables?

Answer 26

situational, response, and participant

Question 27

Situational variable

Answer 27

characteristics of the situation or environment

Question 28

Response variable

Answer 28

behavior of individuals

Question 29

Participant variable

Answer 29

characteristics that people bring with them

Question 30

Variable

Answer 30

characteristic or property that can take on different levels/values

Question 31

Operational definition or operationalization

Answer 31

A definition of a variable in terms of the operations or techniques used to measure or manipulate it; needed for replication

Question 32

What are the types of journal articles?

Answer 32

Empirical articles, literature review articles, meta-analyses

Question 33

Empirical articles

Answer 33

reports new data, contains a methods section

Question 34

Literature review articles

Answer 34

a narrative summary of past research conducted on a particular topic; contains headings and subheadings

Question 35

Meta-analyses

Answer 35

combines results from different studies to estimate the effect size, contains a table of studies and sometimes a methods section for how studies were selection

Question 36

What are the six major sections of a journal article?

Answer 36

abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, references

Question 37

What components are repeated if a journal article contains multiple studies?

Answer 37

methods, results, synthesized discussion

Question 38

Abstract

Answer 38

brief summary of the article containing information about the hypothesis, procedure, and broad pattern of results

Question 39

Introduction

Answer 39

outlines the problem, relevant past research and theories, gap in existing knowledge, and the hypothesis

Question 40

Method

Answer 40

detailed description of study design including the characteristics of the participants, procedure used, materials used, and the measures employed

Question 41

Results

Answer 41

objective report of study results whether in words, statistics, tables, or graphs that summarize the pattern of findings

Question 42

Discussion

Answer 42

interpretation of study results including conclusions about the hypothesis, strengths and limitations, suggestions, contributions