PS295 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: General Idea, Research Question
Lecture 3:
Review:
1) What type of research is conducted w the goal of finding solutions to immediate problems?: applied
research
2) Science is defined in terms of: how something is studied
3) The goal of psychological research is to: predict, describe, explain behaviour
4) A variable that cannot be observed is called a hypothetical construct
5) Which best describes a theory?: set of principles that explain the relationship among concepts
(theories explain, models describe)
6) Which of the following statements is true: theories cannot be proved or disproved (just supported)
7) A statement about the predicted relationship between variables is called a hypothesis (hypothesis
answers research question)
8) Research ideas can come from: previous research, everyday observations, existing theories
9) Strategy of strong inference refers to: simultaneously testing conflicting theories
10) Data driven hypotheses are derived through: induction
Generating Hypotheses:
Steps involved in generating a hypothesis:
1) Read/explore textbooks and articles
2) Narrow your general interests to an area of psychology
3) Move from a general idea to a specific topic
