Lecture 2 Ideal Characteristics of Science 1. Universalism -> Data Driven a. Empirical b. Evaluated using methods accepted by the discipline 2. Communality a. Methods and results are shared b. Replication 3. Disinterestedness a. Value truth over being right 4. Organized Skepticism a. Evidence must be evaluated on scientific merit b. Peer review Ways of knowing -> Non-Data Driven ? Intuition o Generate new research questions ? Illusory correlation: perceive a relationship between two variables that co-occur ? Common Sense ? Confirmation bias: only remember when it's true o Not falsifiable > Authority (eg. experts, news, social media) > Personal Experience/ Testimonial ? May or may not be representative of collection of all possible experiences ? Qualitative research: structured interview > Logic - deductive o Leads to internally consistent reasoning and decisions o Easy to analyze and critique o Requires correct premises/ information
Lecture 3 Canons of Science/ Standards 1. Determinism a. The Universe is orderly b. Required for research 2. Empiricism a. Structured, systematic observations 3. Parsimony a. Simplest explanation/ theory b. Occam's Razor 4. Testability a. Falsifiable: can be proven wrong/supported with empirical data Research Questions · Variables: concept we assign a number to Causal: X leads to Y Related · (X <- > Z) -> Y o Operational definition: crucial for replication Variable vs. Concept? Concept refers to an idea (eg. anxiety), variable is an idea that varies Example: RQ: What is the relationship between love and happiness between romantic partners? Variable: Happiness, love Concept: Romance
Lecture 4 Does exercise improve memory? 1. Identify variables: exercise, memory 2. Generate a hypothesis: Increase in exercise improves memory 3. Operational Definition: a. Exercise: how many hours is spent exercising per week b. Memory: how many words participant can memorize in memory test 4. Generate prediction (has to be connected with operational definition): Participants who exercise more hours/ week will score higher on a simple memory test Confound variable: Issue of demand characteristics Correlation # Causation - Criteria for claiming causality - Covariation of cause and effect - Temporal Precedence - Ruling out alternative explanations - Third variable explanation: mediating variable - Delineating b/t confounding and research variables *Random assignment Confound variable: · wake up naturally · get rid of the confound by making 8 hour sleep participants wake up to alarm as well