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How do we know things? The Scientific Method

This page discusses the scientific method and research methods in psychology. It explores how we acquire knowledge and the importance of testable hypotheses, control groups, and replication in scientific inquiry.

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How do we know things? The Scientific Method

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  1. How do we know things?The Scientific Method Psych 231: Research Methods in Psychology

  2. Why is this page upside down? • Does the course webpage show up in ReggieNet? • Quiz 1 is due Friday Aug 22st @ midnight • Anybody try quiz 1 yet? Does it work okay? • Lab news • This week labs are in their usual places, next week they will be meeting in the library. Milner 213C computer classroom Announcements

  3. Accept the myth or Test the myth • Testable hypotheses – is the phenomenon something that can be observed and tested • Method – what is best way to make the observations to be tested? • Control groups – comparisons are key • Replication – are you more likely to believe something that happens once, or happens multiple times The Science of Mythbusting

  4. Write down two things that you “know”. • Write down HOW you “know” those things. Exercise: How do we know?

  5. Type of knowledge Objective Subjective Our focus having existence outside of a person’s mind (“real”) existing in a person’s mind Analysis Rationalism Scientific Method Empiricism Ways of knowing Deduction Observation Persuasion Tenacity Faith Intuition Authority Instruction Regulation (rules & laws) Acceptance Reality is not this clear cut: Psychology uses objective techniques to examine what are often subjective things, so there are often some underlying assumptions that you need to keep in mind (later in the course: indirect measures, operational definitions) Methods of Inquiry

  6. The Scientific Method • A method used to test and analyze claims about behavior • Uses systematic observation and experimentation • 4 Cannons of the Scientific method: • Empiricism, Determinism, Parsimony, Testability • A 6 step process (your book breaks it into 7 slightly different steps, Figure 2.1) Methods of Inquiry

  7. Step 1: Observation (Empiricism) • Pay attention to the world around you, look for generalizations write down two generalizations that you have observed about people’s behavior • Two classes of generalizations • Descriptive generalizations – just describe how it is/what was seen, how frequent, without making predictions • Cause and effect generalizations – makes predictions about the observed relationship between two (or more) things. • (Determinism: phenomenon have identifiable causes) Scientific Method

  8. Variables • The characteristics of the behavior and the surrounding context • Step 2: Develop a theory or hypothesis • Identify the variables associated with your observations • An explanation for the observed behavior(s) • How are the variables related to one another? • May be based on past research, common sense, intuition, logic, etc. Scientific Method

  9. Step 3: Generate a testable prediction • Testability: Need to specify how your hypothesis can be tested through observation. • The relevant variables must be defined and observable. • Falsification is at the heart of the scientific method • Scientists don’t try to prove a theory, but rather set out to refute (“disprove”) theories • Refutable hypotheses - must be stated in a way that allows the potential for it to be wrong Karl Popper wiki Scientific Method

  10. Step 4: Make systematic observations • Observational and experimental methods • Which variables will we examine? • How do we measure these variables? • Which variables can we systematically manipulate? • What variables need to be controlled? • Were (from whom) will we collect the observations? Scientific Method

  11. Step 5: Evaluate your evidence • Refutes theory • Supports theory (not “proves the theory”) • Leads to the revision of the theory • Consider alternative theories • There are always alternative explanations • Parsimony: Simple explanations are preferred over more complex ones Scientific Method

  12. new hypotheses systematic observations predictions new hypotheses systematic observations predictions hypotheses • Step 6: Repeat observations Scientific Method

  13. Psychology as a science • Developing your research ideas • Reviewing the literature • Moving from ideas to hypotheses • Chapter 2 Next time

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