PSYC 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Psych, Social Desirability Bias, Confounding
19 Jul 2016
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Document Summary
Steps in the scientific process: identify a question of interest. What and you trying to find out: gather information and form hypothesis. If then statement, making a specific prediction: test hypothesis by conducting research, analyze data, draw tentative conclusions, and report findings, build a body of knowledge. As evidence mounts, theories can be made. A theory is a set of formal statements that explains how and why certain events are related. A good theory has several important characteristics: incorporates existing facts and observations, it is testable, predictions are supported by new research, conforms to the law of parsimony (simpler theory is the preferred one) Operational definition defines a variable in terms of the specific procedures used to produce or measure it. Social desirability bias: the tendency to respond in a social acceptable manner rather than what they actually do. Unobtrusive measures: recording behaviour in a way that keeps participants unaware the certain responses are being measured.
