CHAPTER 1&2 PPT NOTES

Question 1

WHY STUDY RESEARCH METHODS

Answer 1

• Appreciation of information science brings to modern life
• Avoid falling pray to pseudoscience
• Learn skills transferable beyond research setting
• Learn limits to research
• Consider research as a career

Question 2

RESEARCH SKILLS

Answer 2

• Critical thinking
• Data tracking and analysis
• Problem solving
• Application of ethics
• Report writing
• Preparation & delivery of presentations
• Locating, organizing & evaluating information from multiple sources

Question 3

COMMON METHODS FOR ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE

Answer 3

• Method of tenacity- believe because it seems to make sense
• Intuition- requires little intellectual effort
• Authority- we believe because an authority figure says it is so

Question 4

CHARACTERISTICS OF SCIENCE

Answer 4

• Deterministic- all natural, social & psychological phenomena are casually determined by preceding events or natural laws
• Empirical- objectively measurable, has reproducible evidence & is not based on pure reason, emotion, subjective experiences, or bias
• Falsifiable- a theory or hypothesis is not scientific unless it can be tested & shown to be false
• Provisional- a scientific theory is always open for revision. All scientific knowledge is open to further testing & revision
• Public- knowledge that results from scientific inquiry has value independent of any economic value that may result from the research

Question 5

STEPS OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Answer 5

Step 1: observe a phenomenon 
Step 2: ask a question 
Step 3: Literature review 
Step 4: Form a hypothesis 
Step 5: test the hypothesis 
Step 6: Analyze the data 
Step 7: Draw conclusions 
Step 8: Revise theory

Question 6

RESEARCH APPROACHES

Answer 6

• Descriptive: map out situation of events
• Correlational: when two or more conditions or variable are measured & related to one another
• Experimental: attempt to find cause and effect relationships

Variable types:

• Association: predictor / outcome
• Manipulation: independent/ dependent

Question 7

PSYCH LEARN DEFINITION OF WHAT MAKES A GOOD RESEARCH QUESTION:

Answer 7

Good research questions are essential to science because they determine how researchers design studies, analyze data & make claims based on the results. It also reminds the researcher about the purpose of the study

Question 8

WHERE RESEARCHERS GET THEIR IDEAS

Answer 8

• Serendipity (kitty genovese)
• Conflicting results (Zajonc- social facilitation)
• An old idea that needs improving upon (Milgram)
• Theory, a set of statements connected by a logical argument (seligam- learned helplessness & depression)

Question 9

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD THEORY

Answer 9

-Falsification: the variables of interest can be adequately measured & the relationships between the variables that are predicted by the theory can be shown through research to be incorrect
Ex:phrenology
-Parsimony: ideally theories should include only the minimum number of constructs & assumptions necessary to adequately explain & predict