Chapter 2 Flashcards
Empiricism
The belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation
Scientific method
A procedure for finding facts by using empirical evidence
A theory
A hypothetical explanation for a natural phenomenon
The rule of parsimony
The simplest theory that explains all the evidence is the best one. (To start with at least)
Hypothesis
A falsifiable prediction made by a theory
Empirical method
A set of rules and techniques for observation
An instrument
Anything that can detect the condition to which a operational definition refers.
What does a good definition need?
Validity, the extent to which a concrete event defines a property
What does a good instrument need?
Reliability - the tendency for an instrument to produce the same measurement when measuring the same thing.
Power - an instruments ability to detect small magnitudes of the property.
Demand Characteristics
The aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave as they think others want or expect
Naturalistic Observation
A technique to gather info by unobtrusively watching people in their natural habits
Ways to avoid demand characteristics without naturalistic observation?
Privacy and control - Let people respond privately or anonymously, or record things hard to control (eye dilation)
Unawareness - have the people unaware of what they’re being observed for.
Observers bias
Observers will unconsciously lean towards what they expect to observe.
Double-blind observation
Both the observer and person observed don’t know the true purpose of the observation
Frequency distribution
A graphic representation of measurements arranged by the number of times each measurement was made
