Psychology 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Naturalistic Observation, Meta-Analysis, Trait Theory

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 1000
• Professor: Laura Fazakas- De Hoog

Document Summary

Steps in the scientific process: identify a question of interest, gather information & form a hypothesis, test hypothesis by conducting research, analyze data, draw tentative conclusions, and report findings, building a body of knowledge by asking further questions. A case study is an in depth analysis of an individual, group, or an event. They are a poor method for determining cause-effect relations. In naturalistic observation the researcher observes behaviour as it occurs in a natural setting, and attempts to avoid influencing that behaviour. In survey research, information about a topic is obtained by administering questionnaires or interviews to many people. A population consists of all the individuals about whom we are interested in drawing a conclusion. A sample is a subset of individuals drawn from the larger population of interest. Representative sample: one that reflects the important characteristics of the population. Remember, correlational research involves measuring variables, not manipulating them.