Task 1 - Welcome to Science

Question 1

What is science?

Answer 1

a set of methods used to collect information about a phenomena that has the aim of developing explanations for behaviour, while looking for empirical evidence for a claim.

Question 2

Other explanations of behaviour.

Answer 2

Common-sense explanation (our own sense => conformation bias, which is a tendency to seek for information that is already believed)
Belief-based explanation (no evidence)
Non-science (philosophy)
Protoscience (at the edge of scientific understanding)
Pseudoscience (claims it is science = astrology)

Question 3

Scientific explanations must be:

Answer 3

Empirical (evidence of senses)
Rational
Testable
Parsimonious (easy)
General
Tentative 
Evaluated

Question 4

Failures of a scientific explanation is mostly due to

Answer 4

Circular explanation
Tautology
Pseudo-explanation

Question 5

An independent variable is

Answer 5

Manipulated by the experimenter

Question 6

What is a dependent variable?

Answer 6

The event expected to change when the ind. var. is manipulated.

Question 7

What are the two forms of research?

Answer 7

Basic research = general information

Applied research = information that can be related to a real-world problem.

Question 8

The 5 steps for conducting a research/scientific method are:

Answer 8

1. Observation
2. Hypothesis induction
3. Performing the experiment (correlational study, quasi-experimental study or experiment)
4. Analyse data (reform hypothesis if necessary)
5. Report (invite others to reproduce the results)

Question 9

What is a fraud?

Answer 9

Making up data or results while manipulating materials, equipment, results of the research or via plagiarism.

Question 10

What are the characteristics of a theory?

Answer 10

• scientifically acceptable explanation or system of ideas
• general principles
• testable / well sustained
• more variables
• aspects of the natural world
• predict or explain a set of phenomena.

Question 11

The characteristics of a hypothesis are:

Answer 11

• scientifically educated guess
• testable / not well sustained
• one less complex variable
• always positive (something does exist)
• proposed explanation
• limited evidence

Question 12

Heuristic value means

Answer 12

Giving new ideas for a research, after finding a set of anomalies. Does not depends on its validity.

Question 13

What are the 5 characteristics of a. good theory?

Answer 13

1. Account for (existing) data
2. Explanatory relevance (logical link)
3. Testability
4. Prediction
5. Parsimony

Question 14

The three main ways of testing a theory are:

Answer 14

1. Confirmation strategy (more precise theory = less chance of confirmation)
2. Disconfirmation strategy ( does it nevertheless happen?)
3. Strong inference

Question 15

What does strong inference mean?

Answer 15

Developing alternative explanations and rule out till one remains.

Question 16

Which 2 of the main ways of testing a theory should always go together?

Answer 16

Researchers must to both confirmation and disconfirmation.

Question 17

A research can be …../….. driven.

Answer 17

Theory driven or data driven research.

Theory driven (deductive) = theory evolves with each new challenge.

Data driven = simple test, relationship between variables, valuable without a theory.

Question 18

What is deception?

Answer 18

Propaganding a belief that is not true.

Question 19

What are the types of deception?

Answer 19

Active = misrepresenting the purpose of the study
Passive = unrecognised conditioning.

Question 20

Why is deception bad?

Answer 20

Once deception was used, people may react differently and therefore interfere with the validity of a study.

Question 21

What are the 4 solutions for solving the ethical problems caused by deception?

Answer 21

1. Role playing (informed participants play a role)
2. Prior agreement to being deceived
3. Debriefing (talking about oneself, inform and restore self-esteem)
4. Dehoaxing (talking about the experiment, convince them it was necessary).