PSYCH 1X03 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Observational Error, Random Assignment, Central Tendency
1 Dec 2018
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Informal answers: answers relying on personal experiences, common sense, and reasoning. Scienti c method: the set of techniques and concept to arrive at formal answers. Allows us to evaluate claims using operational de nitions to a set of rules that are designed to minimize the chances of being misled by stories that sound good but are unsupported by facts. Scienti c method forces us to examine and test the claims that we might otherwise be tempted to accept without much critical thought because they appeal to us for one reason or another. Psychology includes a wide variety of perspectives. Choices about research are guided by the level of analysis applied to the problem. Section 1: the scienti c approach to psychology i. 1. parsimony: when presented with two otherwise equally good explanations for some phenomenon, scientists tend to prefer the simpler of the two. Based on the number of assumptions it makes.
