Research Methods 1 Flashcards
Scientifically unacceptable sources of knowledge
Tenacity (incorrigible beliefs)
Intuition (gut feeling/revelation)
Authority (respected source)
Scientifically critical sources of knowledge
Empiricism (systematic observation)
Rationalism (formally correct reasoning)
Plato
Theory of ideas (innate knowledge)
Mistrust observations (against empiricism)
strong rationalist
Aristotle
knowledge from ideas and observations
deduction and induction
strong rationalism, some empiricism
Hellenism
spread of Greek culture to areas conquered by Alexander the Great
spread Greek philosophy further
Alexandria
new centre of science
focus on astronomy and geography
strong empiricism (careful observations)
little rationalism (no focus on explanations)
Geocentric solar system
Claudius Ptolemy
not questioned
no alternative explanation was considered
Islamic civilisation
translated Greek knowledge and built upon it
created a numerical system and the number 0 (al-Khwarizmi)
European medieval period
early: knowledge based on religion
late: rediscovery of Greek knowledge
conflict between biblical knowledge and proclamations from Aristotle and others
Scientific revolution
natural philosophy (Athens)
observation (Alexandria)
mathematics
invention of the telescope and the microscope
introduced book printing
Copernicus
heliocentric solar system
Galilei
experimentation: gravitational acceleration > tower of Pisa; shattered Aristotelian physics
observation
mathematics: s=1/2gt^2
Kepler
orbits of planets around sun are elliptical
Modern science
theories are tested by observations
self-correcting: weak theories disappear, strong ones remain
Philosophy
concerns itself with the deepest questions in life
“Mother of Science”
Assumption
a statement accepted without proof
Constructs
invisible things that, based on data, we make inferences about
Hypothesis
a testable explanation of a phenomenon; a mini theory
a prediction must be derived from a hypothesis
Prediction
observable consequence of a hypothesis; tied to a specific situation
Theory
system of logically coherent constructs and statements about a specific area of reality
Must be:
- falsifiable and parsimonious
- able to create a hypothesis from
- non-contradictory
Pseudoscience
- unfalsifiable theories
- claims based on incidental/biased observations
- ignore/deny counter-evidence
Criteria of science
- systematic empiricism
- testable theories/hypotheses
- publicly accessible
Variable
something that can take on different values (or levels)
Measured variable
obtained from obervations
Manipulated variable
determined through intervention
Claims
- frequency claims
- association claims
- causal claims
Correlation coefficient (r)
- is calculated by a formula by Karl Pearson
- measure of linear association between 2 variables
- sits between -1 and +1
- absolute value shows the strength of the association
- sign shows the direction of association
Nominal scale of measurement
Identity: each number is different
Ordinal scale of measurement
Identity: each number is different
Magnitude: order from small to large
Interval scale of measurement
Identity: each number is different
Magnitude: order from small to large
Equal intervals: difference between consecutive numbers is the same
Ratio scale of measurement
Identity: each number is different
Magnitude: order from small to large
Equal intervals: difference between consecutive numbers is the same
True zero: point where there is nothing
High reliability
consistency or replicability of measurements
High construct validity
the extent to which we measure the intended construct
Observed score
true score + measurement score
Possible sources of measurement error
- imprecise measurement devices
- response bias
- inconsistent measurement procedures
Interrater reliability
different observers measure the same behaviour
Test-retest reliability
two measurements of the same behaviour at different times
Internal consistency reliability
interrelation of individual items of a measuring instrument
Subjective validities
face validity: does it look like a valid measure?
content validity: does it cover all the aspects of the construct?
Empirical validities
criterion validity: does the measure correlate with the gold standard of the construct?
convergent validity: high correlations among different operationalisations of the same construct
discriminant validity: low correlations among operationalisations of different constructs
Post-test design
experiment occurs after manipulation has occurred
Pre-test design
experiment occurs prior to any manipulation
