Chapter 2 and 3 Flashcards
Sources of ideas
personal interest, observation, reading, problem solving
Research that is directed toward solving practical problems is often classified as ____ research
Research that is directed toward solving practical problems is often classified as APPLIED research
Studies that are intended to solve theoretical issues are classified as ___ research
Studies that are intended to solve theoretical issues are classified as BASIC research
Primary vs Secondary Source
Primary: firsthand report of observations or research results written by the individual who actually conducted the research and made the observation
Secondary: description or summary of another person’s work. Written by someone who did NOT participate in the research or observations being discussed.
Issue with secondary sources
- they could be biased or inaccurate
- not directly from the researcher/observer
- only pieces of the original study were taken and perhaps reshaped to fit their writing
- only share part of the truth. Sometimes can be distorted and false
What is an abstract?
a brief summary of the publication, usually about 2000 words
Do full-text databases usually contain more or less info on a subject?
less
What is in an introduction?
- the intro discusses previous research that forms the foundation for the current research study
- clear statement of the problem being investigated
- hypothesis and prediction
What is in the methods section?
details concerning the participants and the procedures used in the study
Results section
presents details of the statistical analysis.
Not usually important for generating new research idea
Discussion section
summarizes the results of the study, starting the conclusions, and noting potential applications.
- hypothesis supported?
- alternate explanations/limitations
What qualities must a hypothesis possess?
- must be LOGICAL: based on observation, previous research, etc.
- must be POSITIVE: indicates that a relationship does exist.
- must be TESTABLE: testable prediction for which data can be collected to support
- must be SIMPLE
- must be FALSIFIABLE: have a way to prove it wrong or support alternate hypotheses
hypothesis vs prediction
hypothesis is a more general statement, while a prediction is MEASURABLE and SPECIFIC
what is a testable hypothesis?
one for which all of the variables, events, and individuals can be defined and observed
What is a refutable hypothesis?
one tha can be demonstrated to be false. It is possible for the outcome to be different from the prediction
What is the problem with this hypothesis?:
“For adults, there is no relationship between age and memory ability.”
It is not positive, ie. it does not indicate that a relationship exists between variables.
A PREDICTION THAT DENIES EXISTENCE IS UNTESTABLE.
A researcher designs a study to determine whether the number of syllables per word influences people’s ability to recall a list of 20 words. This study can be classified as ___ research
basic
features of pseudoscience
-hypothesis not falsifiable–scientific-sounding terminology
-supoprtive evidene is anectodal or relies on “expert” testimony
“claims are vague, appeal to preconceived ideas
-claims are never revised to account for new data; conflicting data ignored
-If tests are reported, methodology unscientific, data questionable
4 GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH
- DESCRIBING BEHAVIOUR: careful observation and measurement
- PREDICTING BEHAVIOUR: systemically related variables/events
- DETERMINING CAUSE OF BEHAVIOUR: cause and effect
- EXPLAINING BEHAVIOUR
CRITERIA FOR CAUSAL CLAIMS
- covariation of cause and effect
- temporal precedence
- alternative explanations
What does “covariation of cause and effect” mean?
do the two events or variables happen together?
temporal precedence?
does one event happen before the other
in the claim: “violent crime and ice cream sales increase at the same time,” what is an alternate explanation/third variable?
warm weather causes an increase in both violent crime and ice cream sales
Applied vs basic research
applied: solving practical problem
basic: gaining theoretical understanding