Course Syllabus amp Mechanics COURSE WEBSITE httppsychfilesnet Recommended Texts Assignments Completed CITI Certification Pairled class discussion on readings My Favorite Experiment ID: 702531
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Slide1
Chapter 1
Introduction to Scientific ThinkingSlide2
Course Syllabus & Mechanics
COURSE WEBSITE:
http://psychfiles.net
Recommended Texts:
Assignments:Completed CITI Certification Pair-led class discussion on readings“My Favorite Experiment” – 15 minute presentationResearch Proposal (written)Presentation of Proposal (~30min)
Privitera
, Gregory J. Research Methods for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd Ed)
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6
th
Ed) Slide3
Chapter Outline
How do we come to know things?Science as a method of knowing
The scientific method
The goals of science
Approaches in acquiring knowledgeSlide4
How do we come to know things?
There are several nonscientific ways of knowing. Four common nonscientific ways of knowing are:
Intuition
Authority
RationalismEmpiricismSlide5
Intuition – Method of knowing based largely on an individual’s hunch or feeling that something is correct
Ex. Students may use their intuition to choose a major that fits their interestsDisadvantage: No definitive basis for the belief
Intuition has some value in science
Researchers can use intuition to some extent when developing a research hypothesis
In science, researchers’ intuition is then tested using the scientific methodHow do we come to know things?Slide6
Authority – Method of knowing accepted as fact because it was stated by an expert or respected source in a particular subject area
Ex. Health agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) often create regulations that most Americans will trust without ever questioning themDisadvantage: Knowledge is often accepted without question
Authority has value in
science
How do we come to know things?Slide7
Rationalism – Method of knowing that requires the use of reasoning and logic
Ex. If a spouse is unfaithful to a partner, the partner may reason that the spouse does not love him or herDisadvantage: Often leads to erroneous conclusions
Rationalism has some value in science
Researchers can use rationalism to develop research hypotheses, then subject their hypothesis to the rigor of the scientific methodHow do we come to know things?Slide8
Empiricism – Method of knowing based on one’s experiences or observations
Reflects the adage “seeing is believing”
How do we come
to know things?Slide9
How do we come
to know things?
Social Cognition Biases
Belief perseverance
– the tendency to hold onto a belief, even in the face of contradictory evidence.Confirmation bias – the tendency to seek out information only in support of belief, ignoring contradictory informationAvailability heuristic – tendency to overestimate the frequency with which unusual or memorable events occurSlide10
How to correct for bias.
One way to correct for empiricism is to operationally define variables observedDefined in terms of how the observed variable is measured such that other researchers could observe that variable in the same waySlide11
Science as a Method of Knowing
Science is specifically the acquisition of knowledge using the scientific methodThe
most reliable way to develop a belief; independent of pre-existing bias and
opinion
AssumptionsDeterminism – All events have causes; statistical determinismDiscoverability – through systematic observation, these causes can be foundSlide12
The Scientific Method
Step 1: Identify a Problem – The research process begins when you identify a problem to be investigated, or a problem that can be resolved in some way by making observations
(1) Determine an area of interest
(2) Review the literature
(3) Identify new ideas in your area of interest(4) Develop a research hypothesisResearch hypothesis: Specific, testable claim or prediction about what you expect to observe given a set of circumstancesSlide13
The Scientific Method
Step 2: Develop a research plan – The development of a research plan, or a strategy for testing a research hypothesis, is needed to complete steps 3 and 4 of the scientific process
(1) Define the variables being tested
Variable: Any variable that can change or vary across observations
Operational definition: Defines how each variable is measuredSlide14
The Scientific MethodSlide15
The Scientific Method
Step 2: Develop a research plan continued
(2) Identify participants or subjects and determine how to sample them
Population: Set of
all individuals, items, or data of interest about which scientists will generalizeSample: Set of selected individuals, items, or data taken from a population of interest(3) Select a research strategy or designThe plan will largely depend on how variables are defined(4) Evaluate ethics and obtain institutional approval to conduct researchSlide16
The Scientific Method
Step 3: Conduct the studyThe goal of step 3 is to execute a research plan by actually conducting the study
Step 4: Analyze and evaluate the data
(1) Analyze and evaluate the data as they relate to the research hypothesis
Data (plural): Measurements or observations that are typically numeric
(2) Summarize data and report the research results
Data are often reported in tables or graphically
Statistical outcomes are reported by specifically using guidelines identified by the American Psychological Association (APA)Slide17
The Scientific Method
Step 5: Communicate the results
(1) Method of communication
Communicating work allows other professionals to review your work, learn what you did, test whether they can replicate results, or use the study to generate new ideas
Most typical ways to share results of a study are oral, written, or as a poster(2) Style of communicationWritten research reports must conform to the style and formatting guidelines provided in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA)Slide18
The Scientific Method
Step 6: Generate more new ideas
When the study is complete, publish the work and allow other researchers the opportunity to review and evaluate findings
If support for research is found, refine and expand on existing knowledge
If support for research is not found, propose a new idea and begin againSteps 1 to 6 of the scientific process are cyclic, not linearSlide19
Scientific methods are characterized by
objectivity.
Scientists need not be perfect; their results simply need be publicly verified and replicated.
Specific, detailed descriptions of method.
Scientists
are
data-driven
.
Science produces
tentative conclusions.
Science asks
answerable
questions.
Science develops
theories
that can be disproven (falsifiability).
The Scientific Method: key conceptsSlide20
Pseudoscience: any field of inquiry that appears to be scientific but is based on inadequate scientific methods and typically produces false conclusions.
May seem convincing! Anecdotal
evidence; effort justification
Sidesteps disproof
Psychological science vs pseudoscienceSlide21
Humanistic perspective
- - science should produce knowledge that serves people People
are best understood when studied in their natural environments rather than when isolated in laboratories
F
ull understanding of people comes through empathy and intuition rather than logical analysis The same data can be interpreted in many ways. Represents the aspects and interpretations of the true state of the world that best serve the interests of the status quo.. Logical positivism - knowledge results from empirical observation, tightly controlled experiments, and analysis of data. Scientists must be dis-interested
observers, generating knowledge for its own sake There is only one correct interpretation of scientific data; scientific knowledge accurately represents the true state of the world.
THE epistemology of science & Approaches in Acquiring KnowledgeSlide22
Approaches in Acquiring Knowledge
Applied Research – Uses the scientific method to answer questions concerning practical problems with potential practical
solutions
Basic Research – Uses the scientific method to answer questions that address theoretical issues about fundamental processes and underlying mechanisms related to the behaviors and events
being
studiedSlide23
Quantitative Research – Uses the scientific method to record observations as numeric data
Most research conducted in the behavioral sciences is quantitative because the data are numeric allowing for a more objective analysis of the observations made in a studyEx. A researcher may define fear as the time (in seconds) it takes to walk through a scary portion of campus. By defining fear as a number (seconds), the analysis is more objective
Approaches in Acquiring Knowledge
Qualitative Research – Uses the scientific method to make nonnumeric observations, from which conclusions are drawn without the use of statistical analysis
Ex. A researcher studying attraction may interview a small group of participants about their experiences with attraction. Each participant is allowed to respond however he or she wants. The researcher will look at how participants described attraction in order to interpret and explain attraction.Slide24
Does science need falsifiability?
Psychoanalysis, religion, physics?Is this what scientists really do? Try as hard as they can to falsify their most cherished hypotheses and then throw them away immediately?
Scientists
don't drop their
favorite theories when new empirical evidence suggests those theories are wrong. Most science is done within a particular "paradigm" and scientists are resistant to changing paradigms. (Kuhn, 1962)Paradigm shifts: Ptolemaic to Copernican astronomy, the move from Newtonian to Einsteinian physics, the "cognitive revolution" in psychology.Thoughts?Slide25
Feyerabend’s
anarchistic view of science “Any ideology that makes man question inherited beliefs is an aid to enlightenment. A truth that reigns without checks and balances is a tyrant who must be
overthrown.”
“Consider
the role science now plays in education. Scientific "facts” are taught at a very early age and in the very same manner in which religious "facts” were taught only a century ago. There is no attempt to waken the critical abilities of the pupil so that he may be able to see things in perspective.” “Science has now become as oppressive as the ideologies it had once to fight.”Science is a “stupid religion”Slide26
“Do ideas come from experience alone, or from experience plus an active experiencer? Is the individual merely the recipient of the ideas, contributing nothing except the tabula rasa upon which experience writes its message, or does the individual in some sense create the ideas through a modification of the stuff of experience?” –Cornelius Benjamin,
Philosophy of Science, 1943
Is the scientist an unbiased observer?