Psychology's Rules of Science Flashcards
Rules of Science List
C-cause & effect
C-control & standardisation
D-deduction
F-falsification
H-hypothesis testing
I-induction
M-manipulation of variables
O-objectivity
Q-quantifyable
R-replicability
Cause & Effect - Definition
- Cause and effect is how one variable can have an effect on another variable. For example, you could research how eating vegetables will have an effect on a person’s energy levels.
- In experiments, we look for how the independent variable can have an effect on the dependent variable.
- However, correlations only reveal relationships between variables and not how one variable will have an effect on another.
Cause & Effect - Methods
YES: lab experiments
NO: anything else
Control & Standardisation - Definition
Control & Standardisation - Methods
YES: lab experiments, structured observation, questionnaires
NO:
Deduction - Definition
Hypothesis, then test
Deduction - Methods
YES:
NO:
Falsification - Definition
- To be scientific, psychological ideas and hypotheses need to be falsifiable.
- This means that you should be able to conduct tests to see if research questions can be proved false.
- In modern psychology most research is falsifiable and can be tested scientifically. Some research, however, like Freud’s theory of the unconscious, is not falsifiable. This makes it unscientific.
Falsification - Methods
YES: all experiments, correlations
NO: interviews, observations, questionnaires
Hypothesis testing - Definition
Hypothesis testing - Methods
YES: all experiments, correlations
NO: interviews, observations, questionnaires
Induction - Definition
Test, then Hypothesis
Induction - Methods
YES:
NO:
Manipulation of variables - Definition
Manipulation of variables - Methods
YES: lab & field experiments
NO: quasi,
