PSYB32H3 Chapter 5: Chapter 5 Notes
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Chapter 5 research methods in the study of abnormal behaviour. It is important that scientific methods be reliable (replicable- must occur under prescribed circumstances not one, but repeatedly) and testable (open to systemic probe) Theory: a set of prepositions meant to explain a class of phenomena. A primary goal of science is to advance theories to account for data, often by proposing cause- effect relationships. Hypothesis: expectations of what should occur if the theory is true. Scientists must often use theoretical concepts (unobservable states or processes that are inferred by observable data) to come up with a theory. Operationism, an earlier school of thought, suggested that each theoretical concept take as its meaning, only observable and measurable operation (i. e. the concept of anxiety could be thought as scoring over 50 on an anxiety test) The problem with that was each concept was too specific, and it lost its generality. A concept did not include events, only one specific one.