PSYCH101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Ecological Validity, Blind Experiment, Demand Characteristics

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH101
• Professor: Paul Wehr

Document Summary

Scientific research strives because of its objectivity (assumes that certain facts about the world can be observed and tested independently from the individual who describes them eg. scientist) Subjectivity gets in the way of this and this is when prior beliefs, expectations, experiences and mood get in the way of knowledge of the event. Quality scientific research: based on measurements that are objective, valid, and reliable. Objective measurements the way a quality or behaviour is measured must be the same regardless of who is doing the measuring and exact tool they are using. (eg. 1kg is. Using measurement options, one can examine a variable (ex: blood tests and brain scans can be used to examine a disorder(variable)) Validity the degree to which an instrument or procedure actually measures what it claims to measure. Reliability consistent and stable answers across multiple observations and points in time: can be generalized.