Scientific Method

Research Methods
Not only search for truth Not just mathematics BUT also collecting data constitute for fact repeatable data and can be publicly observable in some forms science involved assumption

Scientific Method

Theories and Hypotheses

Theory ~ an explanation of why an event or outcome occurs

Theory

Hypothesis

Research

Hypothesis ~ a specific prediction about what should occur if the theory is valid Operational definition ~ transform our conceptual variables into operational variables

Method of getting information

Naturalistic observation: ~ participants are observed as they behave in real-world settings ~ But inner thoughts could not be observed Participant observation: ~ sometimes researchers participate in the same behaviors as the people they are observing

Method of getting information

Interview/ Questionnaire:
~ get inner thoughts information ~ assumes people are able and willing to report on their own behavior ~ socially desirable responding ~ sampling error ~ wording, reliability, validity are key considerations

Reliability and Validity

Reliability refers to the consistency of a measurement process ~ test-retest: consistency over time ~ inter-rater: consistency across judges Validity refers to the accuracy of a measurement process ~ a valid measure should be predictive of future behavior

Correlational Research
Surveys provide data for correlational analyses study relationship between variables A correlation coefficient (r) describes the linear relationship between two variables ~ range from -1 to +1 ~ tells you the strength and direction of association between the variables

Correlation between two variables

Interpretation for Correlation

Knowing that two variables are related, however, does NOT reveal their causal relationship

C A

No causal relationship: A causes B or B causes A? Third variable might exist

B D

Experimental Research
To determine causality, researchers need to conduct experiments Independent variable (IV) is manipulated by the experimenter whereas dependent variable (DV) is the measured outcome Confounding variables are potential sources of error in the experiment that should be controlled

How to improve the experiment

Bias from experimenters and from subjects Thus, in order to eliminate bias, a double blind, random assignment procedure will be employed Double blind- both experimenters and subjects would not have any cue to know the experimental manipulation (i.e., who will receive alcohol) Random assignment- equal chance to be allocated to any level of the independent variable (i.e., alcohol or no alcohol)

Statistics
Central Tendency: the scores in a distribution tend to be clustered together Mode: the most frequent score in the distribution Mean: Average score. Most common measure, use all numbers in the distribution Median: Score which divides distribution in half Why use three different measures?
no no

Three measures of central tendency

In normal distribution: Mean = mode = median

median

score In skewed distribution: Mean mode median score

mode

mean

Variability
Range: highest-lowest scores e.g., 1, 10, -5, 3, 7, 190. Range is -5 - 190 Variance: a measure of how spread out a distribution is. Standard Deviation: average distance between each data and the mean Z scores: (Score mean) / SD

Ethical Issues
Human study: Participants must give their informed consent before taking part in an experiment Participants must be informed about potential danger or harms Involve deception only when necessary

Ethical Issues
Animal study: Treatment of animal is humane (e.g. living condition, manipulation, pain)