PSYC 260 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Internal Validity, Hawthorne Effect, Phycology
24 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
Common sense does not necessarily provide the best answers. Approach the social world with scientific methods. Research is guided by a specific theory: organized set of principles to explain observations: more broad than a hypothesis-theory may lead you to a specific hypothesis. Hypothesis: specific testable statement about the relationship between variables: apply to a specific study. Theories and hypothesis are linked: proving different hypothesis help build/change theory. Operationalization: a description of how to measure or manipulate variables in a study. Choosing how to bring a social physiological concept to life in a study. Psychology deals with abstract topics- need some way of measuring. Questionnaires, observing specific behaviors etc ( what counts ?) Need to be a specific operational definition for results to mean anything. Independent variable: the variable that the researcher is going to manipulate to see if it has an effect on the dependent variable: proposed cause.
