Transcript Research Methods PowerPoint

chapter 1
Critical and Scientific
Thinking in Psychology
Critical Thinking
• Define
• What are Critical Thinkers able to do?
• What is it not?
• Why is Critical Thinking fundamental to
science?
8 Essential Guidelines to
Critical Thinking
Ask Questions; Be Willing to
Wonder
• Explain
Define Your Terms
• Explain
• For scientists?
• Hypothesis-Define
• Operational Definition- Define
Examine the Evidence
• Explain
• What must a claim be backed with?
• Give and Explain Autism Example
Analyze Assumptions and
Biases
• Explain
• What do researchers do with their own
assumptions?
• Principle of Falsifiability- Define
– How else would you say it?
Avoid Emotional Reasoning
• Explain
Don’t Oversimplify
• Explain
• Argument of Anecdote- Define
– Ex
• What do Critical Thinkers want?
Consider other Interpretations
• Explain
• Theory- Define
• What do Critical Thinkers do before
settling on an explanation?
Tolerate Uncertainty
• Explain
• Sometimes-1)
2)
• What happens in science?
• What does this not mean?
• What is true Critical Thinking according
to Richard W. Paul?
Descriptive Studies:
Establishing the Facts
• Descriptive Methods- Def
Case Studies
• Define• May include?
• Used by?
• Illustrates?
• Drawbacks?
Observational Studies
• Define
• Naturalistic- Define
– Pros
– Cons
• Laboratory- Define
– Pros
– Cons
Psychological Tests
• Define
– Objective Tests- Define
• AKA
– Projective Tests- Define
• Used For?
• Standardized- Define
• Norms- Define
– How to develop norms?
• Reliable- Define
• Valid- Define
– How is it measured?
• Criticism of Tests
Surveys
• Define
• Representative Sample- Define
– What’s the problem?
– People don’t realize?
– Volunteer Bias- Define
– Another Problem?
– What might questions reflect?
Correlational Studies:
Looking for Relationships
• Correlational Study- Define
Measuring Correlations
• Correlation- Def
• Variables- Def
• Positive Correlations- Define
– Examples
• Negative Correlations- Define
– Example
• Uncorrelated- Define
– Examples
• Coefficient of Correlation- Define
– Perfect Positive
– Perfect Negative
– No Association
Cautions about Correlations
• Important to Remember?
– Stork Example
– Children and TV example?
• Moral of the story?
The Experiment:
Hunting For Causes
• Experiment- Define
– Informed Consent- Define
– APA treatment of Animals?
Experimental Variables
• Explain the Smoking Experiment?
• Independent Variable- Define
• Dependent Variable- Define
• Ideally?
• Ensures?
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Experimental and Control
Conditions
Control Conditions- Define
Control in smoking experiment?
Experimental in smoking experiment?
Random Assignment- Define
Placebo- Define
– In smoking experiment?
• Explain Divorced Parents Study
– Findings
– Flaws
Experimenter Effects
• Single-Blind Study- Define
• Experimenter Effect- Define
• Double-Blind Study- Define
– How would this be done in smoking
experiment?
Advantages and Limitations of
Experiments
• Limitations?
• Field Research- Define
– Example
Evaluating the Findings
• What needs to be done once you have
the results
– 1)
– 2)
– 3)
Why Psychologists Use
Statistics
• First step?
• Descriptive Statistics- Define
• Arithmetic Mean- Define
– Be careful?
• Standard Deviation- Define
• Inferential Statistics- Define
• Significance Tests- Define
– Smoking Experiment
From Laboratory to Real Life
• Choosing the Best Explanation-Explain
– Sometimes the best interpretation
emerges?
– Cross-Sectional Study- Define
– Longitudinal Study- Define
From Laboratory to Real Life
Con’t
• Judging the Result’s ImportanceExplain
– Meta-Analysis- Define
• What does it tell researchers?