Research Methods- The Scientific Process Flashcards
What does objective mean?
Independent of beliefs or opinions
What does empirical mean?
Based on data, not just theory
What is the best way to ensure methods used should be empirical?
To carry out an experiment that collects quantitative data and has strictly controlled variables
What does methods being empirical mean?
You should be able to replicate the research, and also establish cause and effect
How does science try to explain how and why things happen?
It tests hypotheses and constructs theories by asking questions
What is the scientific process?
- Ask a question
- Suggest an answer by forming a theory
- Make a prediction or hypothesis
- Carry out test
What makes a theory scientific?
If it can be tested
What must research undergo before it’s published?
Peer review
What is peer review?
Scientific work is sent to experts in the field so they can assess the quality of the work
What does peer review help?
Scientists being honest
What does repeating published theories and results involve?
Repeating the exact experiments and using the theory to make new predictions that are tested by new experiments
When is the theory thought of as a scientific fact?
If all the experiments in all the world provide evidence to back it up
What happens when a theory is questioned by another theory?
More rounds of testing will be carried out to see which evidence and which theory prevails
What did Popper argue?
That theories are abstract so it’s impossible to prove them wrong through empirical testing
What did Popper claim?
A theory is scientific if it’s falsifiable (if it can be proved wrong)
What is an example of a non-falsifiable (therefore non-scientific) theory?
Freud’s psychodynamic explanation of gender development- can’t be falsified because it’s based on the unconscious mind
Why does testing happen again even with a theory that has survived ‘trial by evidence’?
Scientific breakthroughs or advances
What is a paradigm?
A set of principles, methods and techniques which define a scientific discipline
What did Kuhn believe?
That something needs to have a paradigm in order for it to be a science
What did Kuhn’s beliefs lead to?
Two different opinions as to whether psychology is truly a science
Who believed that psychology has a paradigm?
Initially behaviourism but underwent a change to cognitive psychology
What is a paradigm shift?
Change in principles and practices
Who argue that psychology is in a state of pre-science?
Those who argue psychology is made up of mini-paradigms
What are two examples of economic implications psychological research can have?
People with untreated mental health disorders may need more time off work
Research into sleep behaviour can help shift workers
