Unit 2 Flashcards
what are 5 broad sources of ideas for research?
- common assumptions
- observation of the world around us
- practical problems
-scientific theories - past research
why is testing assumptions important / valuable?
research might show us that the world is more complicated than what we assume
EX. might believe that opposites attract but research shows otherwise
why is it important to make observations about the world?
lead us to develop intuitions about the world, then look at tit skeptically
how is Ivan Pavlov an example of observing the world around us?
pavlov discovered classical conditioning by accident, he was studying something else and noticed the dogs would salivate before actual feeding started
he observed the world
the purpose of applied research is addressing practical problems directly, what is it?
researching the very existence of real-world problems may trigger an idea
what is a theory?
organized system of logical ideas that attempt to explain the relations between the relevant events or factors that are in a particular area of research
what qualities does a good theory have?
- organize any given body of psychological knowledge
- must make a specific prediction that can be proven right or wrong
why is a theory important?
helps explain actual data from prior research
helps explain by specifying predictions about possible future observations (hypothesis)
theories serve 2 important functions in science, what are they?
- theories organize and explain a large number of previous observations
- theories help to generate new knowledge by pointing us in a direction where we can look to discover new aspects of behaviour
what is the scientific principal of parsimony?
- if multiple theories are equally successful at explaining the same phenomenon, parsimony dictates the least complex therapy is the most desirable because it is the easiest to falsify
the simpler theory is more parsimonious
how can past research generate research ideas?
- as you become familiar with the research literature on a topic you may notice inconsistencies in the result and create a new experiment
sources of psychological info can be divided into 2 main categories?
primary sources
secondary sources
what is a primary source?
first-hand reports of observations or research results written by the person who actually conducted the research
what are secondary sources?
descriptions or summaries of research findings written by people who did not directly participate in the research being discussed
author described another persons work
help to understand the material more quickly
would a review of a topic area be primary or secondary source?
secondary references
what is a downfall of secondary sources?
may contain biases
may be inaccurate info
(only used for an overview)
where do you find psychological literature?
- intro textbook in the topic, define broad topic areas
- compile a list of “key words” and “key authors”, to help research in databases
- psyc INFO to contain a brief summary of each article recently published
other data bases (ebsco host, pubmed, web of sci)
what are 5 things you must consider when researching on the internet?
- credible references
- current info
- site sponsored by a single individual or organization with a clear bias should be viewed with skepticism
- links from the site lead to legitimate organizations
- info is provided about the people responsible for the site
why do we not use wikipedia?
not intended nor considered a credible source for academic research
what is a hypothesis?
statement about a phenomenon that may or may not be true, informed by past research or derived from a broader theory and requires further evidence to support it or refuse it
if little or no research has been conducted previously on a topic, there might not be enough existing evidence to formulate a strong hypothesis
what types of questions does a hypothesis usually try to answer?
generally try to answer questions related to “how” and “why” things are the way that they are
what are the 2 categories of hypothesis?
- directional hypothesis
- nondirectional hypothesis
what is a directional hypothesis?
specify precisely or predict the outcome of any research project
EX. group z will score significantly higher than group t
what is a non-directional hypothesis?
do not precisely specify the outcome of a research project
EX. group z scores will differ significantly from the scores of group t
