PSYC 342 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Confounding, Content Validity, Standard Deviation
11 Mar 2013
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Document Summary
Methods in research and academia: the scientific method", important terms, hypothesis, operational definition, variable, data, must gather evidence to formulate a theory which then results in gathering more evidence. Essential components of scientific research: precision, skepticism, be skeptical on everything presented, area where most errors/problems come from, reliance on empirical evidence, cannot have a theory based only on insight, must have data and evidence. Scientists do not accept ideas on faith or authority. Skepticism means treating conclusions, both old and new, with caution: old beliefs (even in textbook) sometimes need to be reversed. Reliance on empirical evidence: a scientist relies on empirical evidence to determine whether a hypothesis is true. The principle of falsifiability" lies in the fact that there may be individuals who eat hamburgers and do not get fat. Had to put explosives in holes with a stone rod; an explo- sive exploded, drove stone rod through his brain. Ex- perimenter then projects: objective test: iq test.
