How do we know things? The Scientific Method Psych 231: Research Methods in Psychology

Announcements Why is this page upside down? Does the course webpage show up in ReggieNet? Quiz 1 is due Friday Aug midnight Anybody try quiz 1 yet? Does it work okay? Lab news This week labs are in their usual places, next week they will be meeting in the library. Milner 164D computer classroom

The Science of Mythbusting Accept the myth or Test the myth Testable hypotheses – is the phenomenon something that can be observed and tested Method – what is best way to make the observations to be tested? Control groups – comparisons are key Replication – are you more likely to believe something that happens once, or happens multiple times Are elephants afraid of mice? long (~8 min) long

Exercise: How do we know? Write down two things that you “know”. Write down HOW you “know” those things. “Greatest football team ever” Coach Bill Walsh Joe Montana & Jerry Rice 5 Superbowls

Methods of Inquiry ObjectiveSubjective Analysis Acceptance Authority Instruction Regulation (rules & laws) Tenacity Faith Intuition Type of knowledge Ways of knowing having existence outside of a person’s mind (“real”) existing in a person’s mind Persuasion Rationalism Deduction Our focus Empiricism Observation Scientific Method Reality is not this clear cut: Psychology uses objective techniques to examine what are often subjective things, so there are often some underlying assumptions that you need to keep in mind (later in the course: indirect measures, operational definitions)

Methods of Inquiry The Scientific Method A method used to test and analyze claims about behavior Uses systematic observation and experimentation 4 Cannons of the Scientific method: Empiricism, Determinism, Parsimony, Testability A 6 step process (your book breaks it into 7 slightly different steps, Figure 2.1)

Scientific Method Step 1: Observation (Empiricism) Pay attention to the world around you, look for generalizations write down two generalizations that you have observed about people’s behavior Two classes of generalizations Descriptive generalizations – just describe how it is/what was seen, how frequent, without making predictions Cause and effect generalizations – makes predictions about the observed relationship between two (or more) things. (Determinism: phenomenon have identifiable causes)

Scientific Method Step 2: Develop a theory or hypothesis Identify the variables associated with your observations Variables The characteristics of the behavior and the surrounding context An explanation for the observed behavior(s) How are the variables related to one another? May be based on past research, common sense, intuition, logic, etc.

Scientific Method Step 3: Generate a testable prediction Testability: Need to specify how your hypothesis can be tested through observation. The relevant variables must be defined and observable. Falsification is at the heart of the scientific method Scientists don’t try to prove a theory, but rather set out to refute (“disprove”) theories Refutable hypotheses - must be stated in a way that allows the potential for it to be wrong Karl PopperKarl Popper wiki

Scientific Method Step 4: Make systematic observations Observational and experimental methods Which variables will we examine? How do we measure these variables? Which variables can we systematically manipulate? What variables need to be controlled? Were (from whom) will we collect the observations?

Scientific Method Step 5: Evaluate your evidence Refutes theory Supports theory (not “proves the theory”) Leads to the revision of the theory Consider alternative theories There are always alternative explanations Parsimony: Simple explanations are preferred over more complex onesParsimony

Scientific Method Step 6: Repeat observations hypotheses predictions systematic observations new hypotheses predictions systematic observations new hypotheses

Next time Psychology as a science Developing your research ideas Reviewing the literature Moving from ideas to hypotheses Chapter 2