Week 1 introduction

Question 1

What is the purpose of scientific method

Answer 1

aims to protect us from biases, limitations and interest

Question 2

4 challenges in psychological research

Answer 2

1. Unobservable “object of investigation”
2. Subjectivity of “‘object of investigation”
3. Social construction
4. Ethics

Question 3

What does unobservable “object of investigation” refer to

Answer 3

psychological experiences cannot be directly observed from outside for example In clinical psychology pain and suffering cannot be observed from the outside

Question 4

What is the consequence of unobservable object of investigation

Answer 4

Psychological phenomena must be inferred by interpreting indirect measures or behaviour or reports leading to uncertainty of what does measures mean

Question 5

What does subjectivity of object of investigation refer to

Answer 5

Psychological insights are based on responses are reports of a person who subjectively interpret their environment for example in clinical psychology these are descriptions of conflict or suffering

Question 6

What is a consequence of subjectivity of object of investigation

Answer 6

difficult to understand what cause behaviour or experience

Question 7

What does social construction refer to

Answer 7

not physically given by the environment but exist because people agree on them and behave accordingly for example money

Question 8

What is the consequence of social construction

Answer 8

difficult to understand cause and effect

Question 9

What does the challenge of ethics refers to

Answer 9

negative consequences of scientific interventions for example experiments for human and other living things raise ethical concerns

Question 10

What is a consequence of ethics

Answer 10

we cannot freely manipulate our objective investigation because we deal with human beings and manipulations cause great harm

Question 11

Subjective

Answer 11

Depends on the person having that belief

Question 12

Objective

Answer 12

independent of the person having that belief

Question 13

Hypothesis

Answer 13

Unproven, provisional statement or proposition

Question 14

Conclusion

Answer 14

proven proposition

Question 15

3 types of causal influence

Answer 15

1. Necessary cause
2. Sufficient cause
3. Contributory cause

Question 16

necessary cause

Answer 16

The cause is necessary to produce the effect but it might not be sufficient

Question 17

Example of necessary cause

Answer 17

Bananas must be ripe to taste good(but not all ripe bananas taste good).

Question 18

Sufficient cause

Answer 18

The cause alone produces the effects but it might not be necessary

Question 19

Give an example if sufficient cause

Answer 19

Bananas from Kenya always taste good- but there are other good bananas

Question 20

Contributory cause

Answer 20

The cause alone contributes to the effect by increasing its likelihood it strength

Question 21

Example of contributory cause

Answer 21

Chocolate sauce increases the flavor in bananas, but if they are not ripe they are still not good, and their are ripe bananas that taste good even without chocolate

Question 22

What happens if you remove a necessary cause

Answer 22

The effect disappears, but it might still need other causes to produce the effect

Question 23

What happens if you add a sufficient cause

Answer 23

The effect occurs, but the effect may also occur in the absence of this cause

Question 24

What happens if you add or remove a contributory cause

Answer 24

The effect varies

Question 25

7 Factors of criteria of scientific propositions

Answer 25

1. logical consistency 2. Testability 3. Scope 4. Fruitfulness 5. Novelty 6. Simplicity 7. Conservatism

Question 26

Three types of logical inference

Answer 26

Deduction, induction and abduction

Question 27

Deduction

Answer 27

Infer a proposition about single cases from a general statement

Question 28

Give an example of deduction

Answer 28

All bananas are yellow, this fruit is a banana, hence it must be yellow

Question 29

Induction

Answer 29

Infer a general statement from statements about single cases

Question 30

Give an example of induction

Answer 30

These bananas are yellow so all bananas are yellow

Question 31

Abduction

Answer 31

Infer from cases to the most likely, best explanation ~ plausible

Question 32

Give an example of abduction

Answer 32

This fruit is yellow, all bananas are yellow, this is probably a banana

Question 33

What is the conclusion of deduction

Answer 33

Conclusion is necessarily true

Question 34

What is a conclusion of induction

Answer 34

Conclusion may be true

Question 35

What is conclusion of abduction

Answer 35

Conclusion may be true

Question 36

When is the scientific proposition fruitful

Answer 36

If it goes beyond the research question answers and inspires new research questions or new answers

Question 37

When is a proposition novel

Answer 37

If it’s surprising and informative or ground breaking

Question 38

Conservatism

Answer 38

Minimize new assumptions that contradict existing knowledge. Propositions that integrate with existing knowledge are more likely because it is unlikely that existing knowledge is wrong

Question 39

There is a fundamental tension between…

Answer 39

Conservatism, which is more likely and novelty, which has a higher impact

Question 40

Theory

Answer 40

A set of related statements that explain a variety of occurrences

Question 41

How can you evaluate whether the information on a website is scientific

Answer 41

Check if there are scientific references

Question 42

Why do scientists need to refer to other sources

Answer 42

To justify assumption they take for granted

Question 43

Why does scientific progress inherently necessarily depends on communication

Answer 43

Because scientific knowledge depends on specialisation

Question 44

What are stats not capable of

Answer 44

Quantify qualitative data