Exam 1 Flashcards
experimental research
- Carefully controls and manipulates variables
- Quantitative research → focuses on numerical data (statistics)
- Tries to reveal cause-and-effect relationships (causality)
non-experimental research
- No manipulation of variables
- Can be qualitative as well as quantitative
- Reveals relationships, not causation
theory
a set of statements that describes general principles about how variables relate to one another
parsimonious theory
simple, concise, and elegant, with few hypotheses and constructs
data cycle of theories
theory –> research questions –> research design –> hypothesis –> data
components that make a good theory
testable, coherent, economical, generalizable, explain known findings, principle of determinism, principle of parsimony, principle of testability, principle of empiricism, all principles repeated
principle of determinism
seeks to establish explanations for events
principle of parsimony
seeks the simplest explanation possible
principle of testability
relies on testable, falsifiable statements
principle of empiricism
requires objective observations
all principles repeated
seeks replicable results
non-falsifiable theory
a theory or assertion that is impossible to prove wrong because there is no way to test it
- ex. beaches are better travel destinations than mountains (subjective); aliens exist (cannot disprove this)
basic research
enhance the general body of knowledge rather than to address a specific, practical problem
applied research
conducted in a local, real-world context
translational research
the use of lessons from basic research to develop and test applications to health care, psychotherapy, or other forms of treatment and intervention
Merton’s scientific norms
how scientists should act
- universalism
- communality
- disinterestedness
- organized skepticism
universalism
everyone can do science; scientific claims are evaluated by the same pre-established criteria
communality
scientific knowledge is created by a community and its findings belong to the public
disinterestedness
scientists should not be invested in whether their hypotheses are supported by the data
organized skepticism
what can be tested should be tested, including one’s own theories, widely accepted ideas, and “ancient wisdom”
four sources of evidence
experience, intuition, authority, empirical research
experience as a source of evidence
- has no comparison group
- confounded (several possible explanations for an outcome; difficult to isolate variables in our personal experiences)
- research is better than experience
- research is probabilistic (findings are not expected to explain all the cases all the time; multiple causes exist for a single outcome)
intuition as a source of evidence
- our hunches about what seems “natural”
- accepting a conclusion just because it makes sense or feels natural
- can be biased
ways intuition can be biased
- Being swayed by a good story
- Being persuaded by what comes easily to mind
(Availability heuristics) - Failing to think about what we cannot see
(Present bias → failing to look for absences) - Focusing on the evidence we like best
(Confirmation bias → looking only at information that agrees with what we want to believe) - Biased about being biased
(People think that biases do not apply to them)