PSYC - Ch 1 Flashcards
Why study RM?
- To conduct research and evaluate the work of others
- To distinguish between science/fact and pseudoscience/fiction
- To protect yourself and others from “non professionals” (ie Dr. Oz, Trump)
- To learn to think like a scientist and develop a systematic way of asking questions and determine if finding support conclusions.
In science, we keep track of hits and misses (True pos/neg and false pos/neg)
Sources of knowledge
- Method of Tenacity - from habit or superstition - ideas accepted as truth because they have been around for a long time (cats and dogs can’t be friends) OR because they are based on superstition (no 13th floor in a hotel, Friday the 13th)
- Method of Intuition - from hunch or feeling - ideas accepted as true because it makes sense, seems plausible or feels right. ( if you go outside with wet hair you’ll catch a cold)
- Method of Authority - from an expert - knowledge obtained from authority figure or expert (2 in 3 dentists recommend, NFL start promoting an energy drink)
OR Method of Faith - knowledge obtained from authority figure and based on complete trust - parents, clergy… (God says this…) - The Rational Method - from reasoning, a logical conclusion - knowledge acquired through logical reasoning.
Begin with known facts/assumptions (premise statements), and use logic (arguments) to arrive at an answer (conclusion).
Careful! A faulty premise statement can lead to the wrong answer conclusion.
ie: All peppers are hot
ie: All cats have 4 legs. A dog has four legs. Therefore, it is a cat.
The logic is right, but the premise statement is faulty; therefore, conclusion is wrong.
- Empiricism - from direct sensory observation - Knowledge acquired through direct observation/personal experience.
BUT you can’t always trust your observations
Scientific Method
- Systemic way of examining an issue or problem.
- Series of techniques for acquiring new knowledge and also for correcting previous knowledge, as knowledge is constantly evolving. What’s true today may be proven false tomorrow.
- What we know about something depends on the investigative techniques available to us. (MRIs)
- SM allows us to put forth a best guess based on evidence.
- We have NEVER proven something as there is always more to learn.
- This is a strength and vulnerability of SM. Naysayers say science is hogwash cause there is never a definite answer. No one has definitive answers.
Fundamental assumption of SM
- The world is orderly and governed by natural laws
- There are links between events - cause/effect relationships
- SM helps uncover these laws.
Importance of Logic
Logical thinking leads to discovering natural laws. It helps us arrive at an understanding of various cause/effect relationships.
SM - 4 key steps
Observe
Describe
Explain
Predict
ODEP
Theory Definition
A statement explaining the cause/effect relationship between events.
It must:
- Organize our observations and ideas
- Explain our observations
- Predict events not yet observed
3 Conditions of a Good Theory
Parsimony - be able to explain many results with few concepts (simplest way)
Precision - different investigators can agree about its predictions
Testability - can be tested empirically, falsifiability
Key Points About Theories
No confirming finding can prove a theory. The data either supports a theory or not.
The more supporting data, the more confidence we have in a theory.
No disconfirming finding leads to theory rejection; it leads to further testing or an adjust meant in the theory
Accumulation of Evidence
Data supporting the theory
vs
Data disconfirming the theory
Types of Reasoning
Inductive
- data/observations to generate theory/hypothesis
- make a generalization based on a few observations.
Deductive
- theory/hypothesis to predict data/observations
- begin with a general statement to make a prediction about a specific situation.
Theory - Data Cycle
Continuous back and forth between theory and data with an ongoing process of testing and correcting.
Theory - Deduction (hypothesis) - Data - Induction (theory)
Steps in the SM
- Observation - observe something and reach a conclusion
- Formulate a hypothesis - a proposed relationship between variables, tentative explanation that must be tested/evaluated
- Generate a testable prediction - specific statement about the expected relationship
- Make systematic, planned observations - collect and analyze data
- Evaluating the original hypothesis - based on observations, support, refute or refine the hypothesis. Do other factors need to be considered? Do we need to test other hypotheses?
Variables
Independent - the cause / is manipulated by the experimenter
Dependent - the effect that results from the manipulation of the independent variable
3 Important Principles of SM
Empirical - A phenomenon must be systematically observed to be accepted.
Public - The methods used must be available to others (transparency) to allow for verification and replication.
Objective - Observations and conclusions must be free of bias and personal opinions.
