PSYC 1001 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Statistical Significance, Statistical Inference, Frequency Distribution

• School: Carleton University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1001
• Professor: Elaine Waddington Lamont

Document Summary

Qualitative researchers - instead of working with variables they define in advance, they let the meaning emerge from the data collected. Make empirical observations of the work and report these observations as narratives. Quantitative researchers - study cause-effect relationships with pre-defined variables and the data is numerical. Involves empirical observations of the world reported in numeric quantities. 2. ) the understanding and prediction of behavior, 3. ) application of this knowledge to the task of controlling behavior. A theory is a system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations. Apparently unrelated facts into a coherent whole. Go from description of behavior to understanding of behavior (different) If hypothesis derived from a theory is supported by observations, confidence in theory grows. If findings don"t support theory, theory may be revised or discarded. Theory construction is gradual and always subject to revision. Must be formulated precisely and variables under study clearly defined.