Chapter 2 Where do research ideas come from? Five broad sources of ideas for research: 1. Common assumptions 2. Observation of the world around us 3. Practical problems 4. Scientific theories 5. Past research Questioning common assumption: Features: question common-sense or folk-wisdom Examine more closely what actually occurs in the real world Observation of the world around us Develop intuitions about the world Take advantage of serendipity, fortunate coincidence, to generate research ideas e.g: classical conditioning: paring a neutral stimulus: tone unconditioned stimulus: food; to produce a reflex response: salivation Practical problems: Existence of real-world problems can trigger an idea for a research project Societal problems -> basic research (e.g: research on memory -> memory difficulties faced by people who had experiences some form of brain injury) Theories Theory: framework that organizes and explains various findings related to a particular phenomenon Functions: organize and explain a large number of previous observation Generate new knowledge (discover new aspects and generate new hypotheses about behavior) > Theory modified -> new research brings their limits into sharp relief Hypotheses: testable prediction Parsimony: if two theories are equally effective at explaining a phenomenon, the simpler of the two theories is preferable. (E.g: Theory B and Theory A are both wrong: Theory B is easier > more easier to show theory B is wrong than Theory A)
Past research: can inspire future research generate new research question Research Article: Six sections: 1. Abstract: summarizes the entire report 2. Introduction: explain the problem under investigation and specific hypothesis being tested 3. Method: exact procedures used 4. Results: presents the findings 5. Discussion: speculation on the broader implications of the result > address potential alternative explanations-> make suggestions for future research 6. References: cited in the article Abstract Brief summary of the article Introduction Outline the problem, tie to post research, point to question and method Tends to start broadly (with a statement of the topic) and narrow toward study method Methodology Detailed description of study design Results Objective report of study results Discussion Interpretation of study results Tends to recap results and then provide more general information References List of all works cted Abstract: briefly summarizes the entire study or studies No more than 12fl words Function: decide whether the article can help you learn about your research topic Instruction: outlines the problems has been studied Describe past research -> gap in the existing knowledge Function: find out the purpose of the study; the past research and theories relevant to the study and the hypothesis Method: how the study was conducted > involves details for the reader to replicate the study Function: find out characteristics of the participants (what they were asked to do, what materials were used, overall study design)
Generalization: finding tell us about the wider population from which that same was drawn. Results: present the findings, typically arisen from a statistical analysis of the data collected Functions: sentences, statistics, tables and graphs summarize the pattern of findings Discussion: review the current study from