PSY 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Operational Definition, Institutional Review Board, Scatter Plot
29 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Goals of psychological science: describe what a phenomenon is, predict when it will occur, control what causes it to occur, explain why it occurs. Research -- a scientific process that involves the careful collection of data. Scientific method -- a systematic and dynamic procedure of observing and measuring phenomena, used to achieve the goals of description, prediction, control, and explanation; it involves an interaction among research, theories, and hypotheses. Theory -- a model of interconnected ideas or concepts that explains what is observed and makes predictions about future events. Replication -- repetition of a research study to confirm the results. Variable -- something in the world that can vary and that a researcher can manipulate (change), measure (evaluate), or both. Independent variable -- the variable that gets manipulated in a research study. Dependent variable -- the variable that gets measured in a research study.
