How Psychologists do Research

Question 1

5 things that make psychological research scientific

Answer 1

precision
skepticism
empirical evidence
falsifiability
openness

Question 2

precision

Answer 2

1) general to specific with observation then induction then theory and trying to make a theory based on what is seen
2) specific to general = theory then deduction then hypothesis then observation. you conduct your experiment and observe then test your hypothesis

Question 3

scepticism

Answer 3

never accepting research claims based on faith or authority and being open to new ideas that challenge established scientific models of world

Question 4

empirical evidence

Answer 4

rely on what you can observe in the natural world

Question 5

falsifiable

Answer 5

can be proved wrong, a theory should predict what happens and what should NOT happen

Question 6

Openness

Answer 6

lay all the parts of your experiment open for others to see so people can replicate your experiment and confirm your claims

Question 7

3 types of research methods

Answer 7

descriptive methods
correlation methods
experiments

Question 8

descriptive methods

Answer 8

try to describe and predict behaviour (ex. case studies, observational studies, tests, surveys, interpretive description)

Question 9

correlation methods

Answer 9

explain if 2 or more phenomena are related and how strongly
(Positive correlation means both values or high or low, and up to +1 co-efficient)
(negative correlation means one is high and one is low and the co-efficient is down to -1)

Question 10

experiments

Answer 10

try to explain if, ow, and why one event causes another - find causes

Question 11

independent variable

Answer 11

variable you vary to see if a change in behaviour occurs (manipulated)

Question 12

dependent variable

Answer 12

depends on independent variable