1. How do we know things? The Scientific Method
Psych 231: Research Methods in Psychology

2. Announcements Why is this page upside down?
Does the course webpage show up in ReggieNet?
Quiz 1 is due Friday Aug midnight
Anybody try quiz 1 yet? Does it work okay?
Lab news
This week labs are in their usual places, next week they will be meeting in the library. Milner 213C computer classroom
Announcements

3. The Science of Mythbusting
Accept the myth or Test the myth
Testable hypotheses – is the phenomenon something that can be observed and tested
Method – what is best way to make the observations to be tested?
Control groups – comparisons are key
Replication – are you more likely to believe something that happens once, or happens multiple times
The Science of Mythbusting

4. Exercise: How do we know?
Write down two things that you “know”.
Write down HOW you “know” those things.
Exercise: How do we know?

5. Methods of Inquiry Type of knowledge Ways of knowing Our focus
Objective
Subjective
having existence outside of a person’s mind (“real”)
existing in a person’s mind
Empiricism
Observation
Scientific Method
Persuasion
Rationalism
Deduction
Analysis
Ways of knowing
Authority
Instruction
Regulation (rules & laws)
Tenacity
Faith
Intuition
Acceptance
Reality is not this clear cut: Psychology uses objective techniques to examine what are often subjective things, so there are often some underlying assumptions that you need to keep in mind (later in the course: indirect measures, operational definitions)
Method of authority
a person relies on information or answers from an expert in the subject area
Problems
people sometimes assume that a person’s status as an authority in one area transfers into some other area (e.g. athletes eating cereals are not nutrition experts)
authorities can be biased (e.g. psychodynamic vs. behavioral psychologists)
answers from an expert may represent subjective opinion rather than true expert knowledge
expert’s statements are often accepted without question
just being called an expert does not make someone an expert 
The method of intuition
information is accepted as true because it “feels right”; you rely on your intuition
Problem
reliability
there is not mechanism for separating accurate from inaccurate knowledge
The method of tenacity
information is accepted as true because it has always been believed or because superstition supports it (e.g. black cats and “opposites attract”)
accuracy
difficult to correct in the face of evidence 
The rational method
involves seeking answers by logical reasoning
uses arguments consisting of premises and conclusions
if the premise statements are true and the logic is sound, then the conclusion is guaranteed to be correct
Example:
     All 3-year-old children are afraid of the dark.
     Amy is a 3-year-old girl.
 Therefore, Amy is afraid of the dark.
unless the premise statements are absolutely true, we cannot draw any conclusions about Amy
people are not particularly good at logical reasoning 
Compare the logic of these two examples: 
Example 1 
All psychologists are human. 
Some humans wear glasses. 
Therefore, some psychologists wear glasses 
Example 2 
All apples are fruits. 
Some fruits are oranges. 
Therefore, some apples are oranges 
The method of empiricism
uses observation or direct sensory experience to obtain knowledge
we can not necessarily believe everything we see (e.g. illusions)
misinterpretation of observation
your perceptions can be drastically altered by prior knowledge, expectations, feelings and beliefs 
Methods of Inquiry

6. Methods of Inquiry The Scientific Method
A method used to test and analyze claims about behavior
Uses systematic observation and experimentation
4 Cannons of the Scientific method:
Empiricism, Determinism, Parsimony, Testability
A 6 step process (your book breaks it into 7
slightly different steps, Figure 2.1)
Methods of Inquiry

7. Scientific Method Step 1: Observation (Empiricism)
Pay attention to the world around you, look for generalizations
write down two generalizations that you have observed about people’s behavior
Two classes of generalizations
Descriptive generalizations – just describe how it is/what was seen, how frequent, without making predictions
Cause and effect generalizations – makes predictions about the observed relationship between two (or more) things.
(Determinism: phenomenon have identifiable causes)
Scientific Method

8. Scientific Method Step 2: Develop a theory or hypothesis
Identify the variables associated with your observations
Variables
The characteristics of the behavior and the surrounding context
An explanation for the observed behavior(s)
How are the variables related to one another?
May be based on past research, common sense, intuition, logic, etc.
Scientific Method

9. Scientific Method Step 3: Generate a testable prediction
Testability: Need to specify how your hypothesis can be tested through observation.
The relevant variables must be defined and observable.
Falsification is at the heart of the scientific method
Scientists don’t try to prove a theory, but rather set out to refute (“disprove”) theories
Refutable hypotheses - must be stated in a way that allows the potential for it to be wrong
Karl Popper wiki
Scientific Method

10. Scientific Method Step 4: Make systematic observations
Observational and experimental methods
Which variables will we examine?
How do we measure these variables?
Which variables can we systematically manipulate?
What variables need to be controlled?
Were (from whom) will we collect the observations?
Scientific Method

11. Scientific Method Step 5: Evaluate your evidence Refutes theory
Supports theory (not “proves the theory”)
Leads to the revision of the theory
Consider alternative theories
There are always alternative explanations
Parsimony: Simple explanations are preferred over more complex ones
Scientific Method

12. Scientific Method Step 6: Repeat new hypotheses systematic
predictions
systematic
observations
systematic
observations
predictions
hypotheses
observations
Scientific Method

13. Next time Psychology as a science Developing your research ideas
Reviewing the literature
Moving from ideas to hypotheses
Chapter 2
Next time