Slides to accompany Weathington, Cunningham & Pittenger (2010), Chapter 1: Research and the Social Sciences 1

Objectives Rationale for the course Role of science in everyday life The scientific method History of psychological science Assumptions of science Requirements for scientific research 2

What Scares You about Science? 3

Why Should I Care about RM? 1 of 3 core areas of psychology and social sciences –Statistics and tests/assessments are the others Provides a systematic approach to learning, understanding, and questioning that you can use in all areas of life 4

Role of Science in Life What are some examples of science in your life? Have you “researched” anything today? What are some big decisions or questions you are currently considering? 5

The Scientific Method H ypothesize O perationalize M easure E valuate R eplicate, revise, report 6

Psychological Science is... A way of thinking A way of explaining Based on determinism and measurability Research methods + statistics help us to be scientists 7

The Science of Psychology Young  late 19 th century (i.e., late 1800s) Informally, an ancient field of study –Philosophy –Literature –Religion 8

Tastes like Bacon! Sir Francis Bacon’s novum organum –“new instrument” for finding answer = Scientific method Human biases  “idols” can prevent us from thinking clearly and critically –Intellectual fallacies 9

Idols of the Tribe Error in logical reasoning  allowing our intuition or common sense to get in the way Examples: –Selective perception –Self-fulfilling prophecy –Gambler’s fallacy –Tendency to look for simple explanations –Emotion over reason (e.g., road rage) Why is this a limitation? 10

Idols of the Cave Perception dictated by personal experiences –Tied to culture, society, upbringing –Engineer seeing all problems as an engineer –Judging people based on similarity to others you know –Failing to explore issues on more than one level Why is this a problem? 11

Idols of the Market-place Thought processes influenced by language –Misuse of words –Misunderstanding of words/language –Slang Why is this a limitation? 12

Idols of the Theatre Accepting explanations without critical evaluation Often associated with the power of authority or lasting myth –You know what they say… –Religion –Political systems Why can this be a problem? 13

Requirements for Scientific Research 1.Empirical analysis 2.Public verification 3.Systematic observation 4.Environmental control 5.Rational explanation 6.Parsimony 7.Tentative explanation/conclusions 14

What’s Next *Instructor to complete as a heads-up to the students 15