Research methods Flashcards
Who claimed that positive affirmations could heal the physical
Louise Hay
What are the main steps of the scientific method
- theory
- hypothesis
- research
- observation
Describe the process of scientific research and the types of reasoning associated with it
Ideas in form of theories and hypotheses are tested against the real world (deductive reasoning) and then those empirical observations lead to new ideas (inductive reasoning)
Define the word theory
Well developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena
What makes a good theory and a good hypothesis
A good theory;
- Contains a wide range of observations
- Allow us to make testable predictions
- Backed up by research
- Replicable
A good hypothesis;
- Is a testable prediction based on a theory
- Its predictions need to be falsifiable
What are the two steps involved in measuring psychological properties
- Generating an operational definition, need to have construct validity (extent to which the definition adequately characterizes the property)
- Designing an instrument to detect the property, instruments need to have reliability (consistency) and power (accuracy)
What are the 3 considerations to keep in mind while designing a research
- The location, will it be in a laboratory or on field research
- The timing of the data collection, will it be cross-sectional (at a single point in time) or longitudinal (over a period of time)
- Type of data collected, qualitative, quantitative or both
Describe what is a case study and what can they bring
A form of in-depth examination of an individual/group/event. Case studies can bring a better understanding of rare cases that are hard to reproduce and can help form future hypothesis.
Name some examples of case studies we’ve seen in class (5 max)
- Louis ‘tan’
- Phineas gage and frontal lobe
- HM and memory, hippocampus removed
- Piaget’s children and child development
- Sigmund freud and little hans
Define naturalistic observation
Technique for gathering information by observing the subjects without interfering
Define ecological validity
How generalizable the findings are to real-world settings
What is observer bias
Expectations can affect observations
Describe survey research and lists its pros and cons
It’s a broad type of research that aims to gather info from large groups of people.
Pros: Versatile, provides a lot of data, can assess correlation, can collect descriptive observation
Cons: Can’t assess causation, limited in scope compared to naturalistic observation, questions have to be easy to analyze in large volume, answers can be affected by how the questions are designed
What is generalizability based upon
- Sampling method
- Sample size
- Survey design
- Response rate
What does Pearson’s coefficient (r) indicates
- The coefficient indicates the strength and direction of a relationship
- It is assessed on a scale of -1 to 1
- Positive correlation means variables goes the same direction
- Negative correlation means variables goes opposite directions
