PSYC 215 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Informed Consent, External Validity, Institutional Review Board
13 May 2013
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In a letter of a convicted felon explaining his predicament with open honesty, businesses from the south were more likely to send in sympathetic letters that excused him and commended his honesty than those of the north. Why do social psychologists do research (and why should you read about it?) Hindsight bias: people"s tendency to be overconfident at how well they could have predicted something in the past after finding out the answer. Hypotheses are predictions about what will happen under certain circumstances. Theory: a body of propositions designed to explain an aspect of the world. Theories are more general than hypotheses which are more general than their empirical evidence. Participant observation: observing a phenomenon at close range. Observations are unreliable and they must do further testing to prove their hypothesis. Looking at archives including police reports, newspaper articles and record books can prove a great deal without ever leaving the library.
