PSYCH101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Phineas Gage, Naturalistic Observation, Confounding

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

Document Summary

Understand what it means when variables are positively or negatively correlated. Understand how experiments help demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships. Apply the terms and concepts of experimental methods to research examples. Analyze the pros and cons of descriptive, correlational, and experimental research designs. Psychologists always begin their research with a research question and make a prediction about the outcome they expect (hypothesis) research design: set of methods that allows a hypothesis to be tested. Researchers can create a research design, in uences how investigators: organize the stimuli used to test the hypothesis, make observations, evaluate results. Several research designs are available, researchers must choose the one that best addresses the research question and is most suitable to the subject of their research. Beginning of any new line of research must involve descriptive data. Answers the questions of what a phenomenon is (describes its characteristics)