Science and the scientific method

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What is a science?  a department of systematized knowledge as an object of study  knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method (from merriam-webster.com)

Scientific method From Price et al., 2017

Psychology’s PR problem What do people say when you tell them you’re studying psychology? Why? Media coverage is affected by outside factors Everyone thinks they are an expert People aren’t good at evaluating evidence

Goals of psychology Understand why people and animals behave and think as they do Solve practical problems Basic vs. applied research

Step 1 in the scientific method Formulate testable hypotheses Can come from: Practical problems Personal observation Theory Previous research Empirical articles Peer-reviewed

What makes a good hypothesis? Specifies relationship between variables Specifies variables in a measurable way (operational definition) Operational definition= how you produce and measure a construct Why do they matter? Come up with operational definitions

Hypothesis assignment Come up with 2 testable hypotheses for each of the following ideas: Birds of a feather flock together. A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. Actions speak louder than words. A picture paints a thousand words. Opposites attract. Due a week from today

Evaluating research Bias study