Research Methods 1

Question 1

Scientifically unacceptable sources of knowledge

Answer 1

Tenacity (incorrigible beliefs)
Intuition (gut feeling/revelation)
Authority (respected source)

Question 2

Scientifically critical sources of knowledge

Answer 2

Empiricism (systematic observation)
Rationalism (formally correct reasoning)

Question 3

Plato

Answer 3

Theory of ideas (innate knowledge)
Mistrust observations (against empiricism)
strong rationalist

Question 4

Aristotle

Answer 4

knowledge from ideas and observations
deduction and induction
strong rationalism, some empiricism

Question 5

Hellenism

Answer 5

spread of Greek culture to areas conquered by Alexander the Great
spread Greek philosophy further

Question 6

Alexandria

Answer 6

new centre of science
focus on astronomy and geography
strong empiricism (careful observations)
little rationalism (no focus on explanations)

Question 7

Geocentric solar system

Answer 7

Claudius Ptolemy
not questioned
no alternative explanation was considered

Question 8

Islamic civilisation

Answer 8

translated Greek knowledge and built upon it
created a numerical system and the number 0 (al-Khwarizmi)

Question 9

European medieval period

Answer 9

early: knowledge based on religion
late: rediscovery of Greek knowledge
conflict between biblical knowledge and proclamations from Aristotle and others

Question 10

Scientific revolution

Answer 10

natural philosophy (Athens)
observation (Alexandria)
mathematics
invention of the telescope and the microscope
introduced book printing

Question 11

Copernicus

Answer 11

heliocentric solar system

Question 12

Galilei

Answer 12

experimentation: gravitational acceleration > tower of Pisa; shattered Aristotelian physics
observation
mathematics: s=1/2gt^2

Question 13

Kepler

Answer 13

orbits of planets around sun are elliptical

Question 14

Modern science

Answer 14

theories are tested by observations
self-correcting: weak theories disappear, strong ones remain

Question 15

Philosophy

Answer 15

concerns itself with the deepest questions in life
“Mother of Science”

Question 16

Assumption

Answer 16

a statement accepted without proof

Question 17

Constructs

Answer 17

invisible things that, based on data, we make inferences about

Question 18

Hypothesis

Answer 18

a testable explanation of a phenomenon; a mini theory
a prediction must be derived from a hypothesis

Question 19

Prediction

Answer 19

observable consequence of a hypothesis; tied to a specific situation

Question 20

Theory

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Pseudoscience

Answer 21

• unfalsifiable theories
• claims based on incidental/biased observations
• ignore/deny counter-evidence

Question 22

Criteria of science

Answer 22

• systematic empiricism
• testable theories/hypotheses
• publicly accessible

Question 23

Variable

Answer 23

something that can take on different values (or levels)

Question 24

Measured variable

Answer 24

obtained from obervations

Question 25

Manipulated variable

Answer 25

determined through intervention

Question 26

Claims

Answer 26

• frequency claims
• association claims
• causal claims

Question 27

Correlation coefficient (r)

Answer 27

• 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

Question 28

Nominal scale of measurement

Answer 28

Identity: each number is different

Question 29

Ordinal scale of measurement

Answer 29

Identity: each number is different
Magnitude: order from small to large

Question 30

Interval scale of measurement

Answer 30

Identity: each number is different
Magnitude: order from small to large
Equal intervals: difference between consecutive numbers is the same

Question 31

Ratio scale of measurement

Answer 31

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

Question 32

High reliability

Answer 32

consistency or replicability of measurements

Question 33

High construct validity

Answer 33

the extent to which we measure the intended construct

Question 34

Observed score

Answer 34

true score + measurement score

Question 35

Possible sources of measurement error

Answer 35

• imprecise measurement devices
• response bias
• inconsistent measurement procedures

Question 36

Interrater reliability

Answer 36

different observers measure the same behaviour

Question 37

Test-retest reliability

Answer 37

two measurements of the same behaviour at different times

Question 38

Internal consistency reliability

Answer 38

interrelation of individual items of a measuring instrument

Question 39

Subjective validities

Answer 39

face validity: does it look like a valid measure?
content validity: does it cover all the aspects of the construct?

Question 40

Empirical validities

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Post-test design

Answer 41

experiment occurs after manipulation has occurred

Question 42

Pre-test design

Answer 42

experiment occurs prior to any manipulation