Chapter 4 Flashcards
What are the characteristics of a good scientific theory?
They are logically consistent.
It’s testable and can be refuted.
It shows relationships among variables.
It’s objective.
What is a scientific theory?
A scientific theory answers questions about observations and reveal relationships about the real world.
What does logically consistent mean?
Logical consistency issue up of two definitions, concepts and operation definition. Defining the concept as clearly as possible will help measure the concept.
What is a concept?
It’s a explanation that describes a group of individuals in certain class with phrases, words or ideas.
What is a operational definition?
Concepts in a theory that are allowed to be observed and measured.
What is the operational definition?
Concepts in a theory that are allowed to be observed and measured.
What is a testable theory?
Comparing the interactions with two or more variables help to observe the accuracy of theories and hypotheses which can be disapproved if wrong or not.
What is a hypotheses?
Testable ideas about the world that can be observed and disapproved.
What is the principle of falsification?
A scientific theory must lead to testable hypotheses that can be disapproved if they are wrong.
How would we make sure a theory is valid and reliable?
we make sure the measure reflects the content of the study and contains consistency that produces the same results over and over again without using bias
What is validity?
The measure reflects the phenomenon under study.
What is reliability?
A measure that consistently produces the same results repetitively.
What is bias?
A personal or unreliable data, such as not telling the truth, that can distort and misrepresent the true nature of a study.
How does theories show relationships amongst variables?
Coming up with a correlation between multiple variables which shows casual relationships. And spurious relationships.
What is a correlation?
When two or more variables are associated with one another.