1. Scientific Method

2. Bell ringer  Write what you know about the scientific method. How do you think it relates to psychology?

3. Take out a scratch piece of paper  Write a question you have about human behavior (one on each half)  EX: why did I/he/she. They do that? Think that? Live that way?  Fold your paper

4.  Trade with up to five people without looking at the questions  Open your questions and read share them with the people around you  Discuss the questions/answers  Pick the question your group finds most interesting or intriguing

5.  Read question out loud  Discuss how different psychologists would analyze

6. Scientific Method: Step 1  Select a topic

7. Step 2:  Develop a theory and Hypothesis

8.  Theory: An organized system of ideas that seeks to explain why two or more events are related  EX: low self-esteem feeds depression

9.  Hypothesis: An educated prediction about the nature of things based on a theory  Testable, makes a prediction, variables are specific  EX: People with low self-esteem score higher on a depression scale

10. Try it out! Write a hypothesis for the question you wrote

11. Write a hypothesis for one of the scientific questions  Does the size of a classroom affect learning?  Does age affect fundraising?  Create one in your group (topic, theory, hypothesis,)

12. Step 3  Select a scientific method and consider ethical issues  Method: Laboratory or natural setting

13.  Sample: The group of subjects who are selected to participate  Random selection/sample: sample that fairly represents a population because all people have an equal chance of being chosen  Variables: Factors in study that can be measured and are capable of changing

14. How do we know our biases aren’t affecting the outcome??  Operational Definition: A very clear description of how a variable is measured  EX: How is aggression measured in a study on TV’s influence on violence  Replication: operational definition allows another researcher to repeat the study and test the findings

15. Is the Experiment ethical  Studies evaluated by a panel of scientists and non scientists  Priority always given to welfare of participants  ****Handouts on human and animal guidelines (Is your experiment ethical?)  ****Analyze Zimbardo Experiment

16. Step 4  Collect and Analyze data  Report results