Chapter 2 Flashcards
Thinking Signtifically
What are the steps involved in the scientific method?
O-bserve
P-redict
T-est
I-terpret
C-ommunicate
R-eplicate
Observe
researchers working with rats to observe their behavior
Predict
propose a hypothesis based in theory: Caffeine will make female ras seek more couplings with males.
test
collect data: how often do females on caffeine allow males to mate and how often fo females not on caffeine allow males to mate?
interpret
analyze resulting data to confirm or disconfirm the theory-prediction
communicate
publish findings of caffeine and mating behavior in female rats via peer review process.
Replicate
after findings are communicated in journals or at conferences, they need to be independently confirmed and replicated by other scientists before we can have faith in them.
Fact
statement that is capable of being proven to be true or false
T or F regardless of belief
Opinion
statements based on fact or emotion
personal
T or F because of belief!
whose opinion versus whose fact
What are the 5 ways we can think scientifically?
1) Keep belief and evidence distinct
2) make testable claims
3) evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence
4) try to disconfirm your idea after it has been confirmed
5) have your belief follow the best evidence.
replication
The repetition of a study to confirm the results; essential to the scientific process.
psuedo-science
(Claims to be a science)
Lack of cumulative progress
Lack of skepticism (of own assumptions) & testing of ideas
Vague explanation for how conclusions were reached
Loose and distorted logic
Disregard for empirical and established facts/results (see UFOs and next slide)
naturalistic/field study
main function: describe
steps: (single variable)
main question: what is x?
inter-rater agreement/reliability
can be a source of hypotheses, but no hypotheses are tested for possible relationships noted
what study is this an example of?
(1) how do people flirt?
(2) case study, observation, survey, or interview
(3) to find patterns that might lead to predictions for a more complete research project. ( to start describing observed flirtation behavior)
(4) hypotheses are not tested (cannot look at cause and effect)
naturalistic/field study
correlation
Main question: is X related to Y?
Hypotheses tested
Correlation is necessary but not sufficient for causation. Correlation does not imply causation
Correlations are expressed numerically by correlation coefficients (range between -1.0 and +1.0)
what study is this an example of?
(1) Is one variable related to another variable and how strong is the relationship? Is X related to Y? For example: Do certain styles of flirting get better results? How does this differ from men and women?
(2) questionnaire
(3) Most useful when the researcher is unable to manipulate the variable to examine questions
(4) Cannot look at cause and effect
Correlation
Experimental Design
The search for causal explanations
Independent Variable
Dependent Variable
Logic: Equalizes group; assures confounds are held constant
Main question: Does X cause Y?
True experiments have:
1. random assignment
2. experimental control
what design is this an example of?
(1) does the independent variable cause the dependent variable Does X cause Y? (do smiles with raised eyebrows versus those without lead to more offers of dates)
(2) random assignments of participants, controlled experimental conditions in a lab setting
(3) most useful for the researcher to infer the cause
(4) results cannot always be applied to the real world
experimental design
