Psychology 217: Methods of Research Dr. Benjamin Cheung, Section 003 Thinking about how things are supposed to work, how are they supposed to work and the effect they are supposed to have. - thinking about variables - thinking about the purpose/intent and consequences Lecture heavy (70%) vs textbook context (30%) Discussion form Lab dates: Sept 27, Oct 11, Oct 25, Nov 1, Nov 15 - go on eHarmony Chapter 1: Understanding Scientific Principles of Behaviour Learning objectives: - Explain reasons for understanding research methods - describe the scientific approach to learning about behaviour and contrast it with pseudoscience - define and give examples of the four goals of scientific research in psychology - compare and contrast basic applied research How does the scientific approach differ from other ways of learning about behaviour? - relying on intuition and authority can lead to biased conclusions; science offers ways to avoid biases while seeking high-quality evidence - intuition based on anecdotal evidence; used to draw general conclusions, but accepting unquestionably personal judgement or what other people tell you about the world - many cognitive and motivational biases affect perceptions; erroneous conclusions - illusory correlation: when we focus on two events that stand out and occur together; likely to occur when highly motivated to believe in the supposed causal relationship - authority: placing trust in someone else who we think knows more than we do, e.g. professional - research has shown that many health care workers and patients alike are prone to drawing incorrect conclusions from health-relevant statistics (they are not above mistakes) - Scientific method uses both intuition and authority as sources of ideas about behaviour - avoiding the unquestioned acceptance of anyone's intuitions
- ideas must be evaluated on basis of careful logic; results from structure investigations - mindset of scientific skepticism; to reject intuition and blind acceptance of authority - empiricism: knowledge based on structured, systematic observations 1. develop hypothesis 2. collecting data, etc. - scientists are human and science is an imperfect enterprise; met with pressure, e.g. pressure to publish many studies to build scientific career - Four norms characterizing scientific enquiry: 1. Universalism: scientific observations are systematically structured and evaluated objectively using accepted methods of the discipline: relying on empiricism, research can be criticized and evaluated by others 2. Communality: methods and research are to be shared openly, others can replicate the methods used to check the reliability of the results, replication helps to rule out false positives or random flukes, results can be combined in meta- analyses to examine the overall effects (important tool that relies on communality) 3. Disinterestedness: to be honest and careful in quest for truth; not motivated primarily by personal gain 4. Organized skepticism: peer review is part of organized skepticism, in that other scientists who have expertise evaluate the research and recommend whether the research should be published; helps to ensure that research with major flaws will not become part of scientific literature - relies on falsifiable ideas; can either be supported or