PSY 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Scientific Method, Operational Definition, Psy

• School: University of Kentucky
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 100
• Professor: Jonathan M Golding

Document Summary

Scientific research involves a set of procedures known as the scientific. Ex: people who smile get talked to a lot. Go to the library or surf the internet. Ex: people who smile will get talked to more at a party than people who do not smile. Operational definition: define what you are studying in terms of specific operations. At least 5 words (cid:374)ot (cid:862)hi(cid:863) 10 people go to a party (5 males & 5 females) and smile vs. 10 people (5 males & 5 females) who go to the party but do not smile. Determine if your hypothesis is accepted or rejected. Report findings precisely enough in a scientific journal so that others can test your hypothesis and replicate (repeat) your finding. All scientists follow the scientific method, but each science has research methods specific to their discipline. Research methods of psychology: descriptive method. Survey: questionnaire or interview administered to a select group (random sample)