LESSON 1 Flashcards
for something to qualify as a scientific theory, what did Popper say a theory must be?
falsifability
what is bayesianism?
bayesianism - statistical methods that assign probabilities based previous on experience or data
what is an ‘open science’?
open science - open access to studies to spread knowledge, and allow meta-research. Data must be based off replicable and reproducible experiments
what is reproducibility?
reproducibility - same data = same analysis
what is preregistration?
preregistration - submit plans for research (e.g aims, methods etc)
what are the 3 types of quantitative research?
descriptive
relational
experimental
what is descriptive research?
descriptive research - allows us to describe a behaviour/phenomena
what is relational research?
relational research - allows predictions based off relations with another phenomena
what is experimental research?
experimental research - allows us to determine he cause of behaviour/phenomena
why is triangulation important in research? (2)
1) methodological pluralism - multiple methods to discover diff aspects of a theory
2) convergence of findings in varying studies lends credence to a theory
what is a theory in psychology?
Theories in psychology aim to define and explain human behaviour, they attempt to predict human behaviour e.g lecturing leads to poorer cognitive performance
what are hypothesis?
Hypothesis = a direct or non-direct statement about the relationship between variables. They must be: falsifiable, testable, precisely stated, rational, the simplest explanation possible (parsimonious)
what are constructs in psychology?
Constructs = are the building blocks of theories e.g psychosis (a mental state) – it can’t be directly tested meaning that we have to operationalise it in order to test it
define the difference between theories, constructs and variables in psychology:
theory: schizophrenia is genetically determined
construct: the disintegration of personality expressed as disorder or feeling
variable: a score of 30 or lower on a personality scale
what are the 4 levels of measurement?
nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio