PSYC 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3: Distressing, Central Tendency, Standard Deviation
Document Summary
Module 3: research strategies: how psychologists ask and answer. A self-correcting process for evaluating ideas with observation and analysis: psychologists arm their scientific attitude with this method. In science, a theory explains with principles that organize observations and predict behaviors or events: no matter how reasonable a theory may sound we must put it to the test. A good theory produces testable predictions, called hypotheses. By enabling us to test and to reject or revise our theory: theories can bias observations such predictions direct research. As a check on their biases, psychologists report their research with precise operational definitions of procedures and concepts. Hunger, might be defined as (cid:498)hours without eating(cid:499) Psychologists watch eagerly for new findings, but they also proceed with caution by awaiting other investigators" repeating the experiment to see if the finding will be confirmed (the result replicated). The starting point of any science is description.