RMC, W1

Question 1

Why is research important?

Answer 1

• Without research, the disciplines we know and recognise as Psychology and Neuroscience today would not exist.
• Our understanding of the mind, brain and behaviour has been established through a continuous cycle of theorisation and investigation and it’s continued to progress via this cycle.

Question 2

How do scientific methods work?

Answer 2

• Start with an observation (could start anywhere such as in public or from reading a journal article > starts with a question about something or wanting to understand/know more about something) >
• leads to a hypothesis, form a question we actually want to investigate (must be testable) + match your rationale
• next research is completed + methodology must be appropriate for the question being asked + justified (quantitative or qualitative)
• right kind of participants for hyp + consistent with rationale (data collected need to be answering the hypothesis) > if done well and justified then the outcome is a theory (cannot prove something with just one or a few studies but can give support

Question 3

What can go wrong at the stages of creating research?

Answer 3

• Is the hypothesis worded in a way consistent with your rationale and does it allow you to test what you want to test? How does the wording of your hypothesis influence your methodology?
• Have you chosen the best methodology you could to test your hypothesis? Have you selected the right sample? Is your data collected in the format which will allow you to test your hypothesis? Is your data collected in a format to allow you to apply the correct analyses you need to use to test your hypothesis? Did anything go wrong when you were collecting the data?
• Have you used the correct analyses? Have you interpreted them correctly? Does your interpretation allow you to talk about what it means for your hypothesis
• Have you contradicted a theory? If so, which is more likely to be more wrong? Have you disproven a theory or have you added support to it? etc

Question 4

Utility of Error

Answer 4

• The purpose of hypothesis testing is to check if we are wrong (e.g. is nothing actually going on).
• A low p value means that there is a very slim chance that we are wrong about nothing going on – it does not mean that it is likely that something is going on. This is an important distinction!
• When reporting, you do not need to mention the null hypothesis and your interpretation of your findings must be cautious – you can never prove something with one study – all it takes is 1 more study to disprove what you have argued.
• In research, do not use words like prove or disprove (one study is not enough to prove or disprove something) > use support/refute