Transcript santua - scientific_method.ppt

By Monique Santua
 “the
principles and procedures for the
systematic pursuit of knowledge involving
the recognition and formulation of a
problem, the collection of data through
observation and experiment, and the
formulation and testing of hypotheses”
-Mariam Webster Online
Hypothesis
Conclusions
Procedures
Data
 Empirical
 Controlled
 Unbiased
 Has
Operational Definitions
 Valid and Reliable
 Testable
 Critical
 Skeptical
 Acquires


knowledge through
Direct observation
Experimentation
 Experimenter

Independent Variable (IV)
 Which

controls one variable
controls another variable
Dependant Variable
 How
you define the variables that you are
testing

EX: An experiment on “long naps”


Long: over one hour
Long nap: over one hour that involves REM sleep
 Explains
 Explains
the variable precisely
the variable in terms of the
operations used to measure it
 Validity:
“Are you really measuring what you
claim to measure?”
 Reliability:
“Is it consistent?”
 Something
can be reliable without being
valid

EX: if you have data on the average number of
phone calls a high school student gets a week,
this will not answer the question “Do college
students make better grades when they have an
iPhone?”
Describe
Predict
Understand
Create Change
 Nomathetic


Establishes broad generalizations that apply to a
divers population
EX:Experiments on Chemical Properties
 Idiographic


Approach
Approach
More interested in the individual and their
unique differences
EX:Case Studies
 Correlation


Study
You use the effects of one variable to predict the
effects of another variable
Theory and Hypothesis


Theory: “A logically organized set of claims that
serves to define events, describe relationships
among these events and explain their
occurrence”
Hypothesis: A suggested explanation for these
occurences
 Provide
“Precision of Prediction”
 Follow the “Rule of Parsimony”

The simplest explanations are the ones that are
accepted
 Are
tested thoroughly
 Are tested to attempt to disprove the theory
 There
are three important conditions for
making a cause-effect assumption

Covariation
Two variables, independent and dependant, change together

A Time-Order Relationship
The experimenter changes the Independent Variable.
Then the Dependant Variable changes

No Alternative Causes
 Make
sure there is good control of the
environment which is tested

EX: Men did a better job of remembering 12
random letters but this was because men had
received a different clue.
 We
create experiments that test if one
variable has an effect on another variable
 The Scientific Method is empirical,
controlled, unbiased, valid, reliable,testable,
critical, skeptical, and has operational
definitions .
 The Scientific Method allows us to describe a
certain phenomenon, predict the outcome of
future reactions, understand why these they
happen, and create change.