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Slides to accompany Weathington, Cunningham & Pittenger (2010), Chapter 1: Research and the Social Sciences

Slides to accompany Weathington, Cunningham & Pittenger (2010), Chapter 1: Research and the Social Sciences. Objectives. Rationale for the course Role of science in everyday life The scientific method History of psychological science Assumptions of science

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Slides to accompany Weathington, Cunningham & Pittenger (2010), Chapter 1: Research and the Social Sciences

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  1. Slides to accompany Weathington, Cunningham & Pittenger (2010), Chapter 1: Research and the Social Sciences

  2. Objectives • Rationale for the course • Role of science in everyday life • The scientific method • History of psychological science • Assumptions of science • Requirements for scientific research

  3. What Scares You about Science?

  4. Why Should I Care about RM? • 1 of 3 core areas of psychology and social sciences • Statistics and tests/assessments are the others • Provides a systematic approach to learning, understanding, and questioning that you can use in all areas of life

  5. Role of Science in Life • What are some examples of science in your life? • Have you “researched” anything today? • What are some big decisions or questions you are currently considering?

  6. The Scientific Method • Hypothesize • Operationalize • Measure • E valuate • Replicate, revise, report

  7. Psychological Science is... • A way of thinking • A way of explaining • Based on determinism and measurability • Research methods + statistics help us to be scientists

  8. The Science of Psychology • Young  late 19th century (i.e., late 1800s) • Informally, an ancient field of study • Philosophy • Literature • Religion

  9. Tastes like Bacon! • Sir Francis Bacon’s novum organum • “new instrument” for finding answer = Scientific method • Human biases  “idols” can prevent us from thinking clearly and critically • Intellectual fallacies

  10. Idols of the Tribe • Error in logical reasoning  allowing our intuition or common sense to get in the way • Examples: • Selective perception • Self-fulfilling prophecy • Gambler’s fallacy • Tendency to look for simple explanations • Emotion over reason (e.g., road rage) • Why is this a limitation?

  11. Idols of the Cave • Perception dictated by personal experiences • Tied to culture, society, upbringing • Engineer seeing all problems as an engineer • Judging people based on similarity to others you know • Failing to explore issues on more than one level • Why is this a problem?

  12. Idols of the Market-place • Thought processes influenced by language • Misuse of words • Misunderstanding of words/language • Slang • Why is this a limitation?

  13. Idols of the Theatre • Accepting explanations without critical evaluation • Often associated with the power of authority or lasting myth • You know what they say… • Religion • Political systems • Why can this be a problem?

  14. Requirements for Scientific Research • Empirical analysis • Public verification • Systematic observation • Environmental control • Rational explanation • Parsimony • Tentative explanation/conclusions

  15. What’s Next • *Instructor to complete as a heads-up to the students

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