A Scientific Approach to Psychology• Science is more than collecting facts; it is

an attitude and a way of thinking. • All scientific study begins with a curiosity

about something, a question that you are wondering about. • In psychology, psychologists aim to

approach the world objectively.

What do we mean by a scientific attitude?• THE ABILITY TO BE HUMBLE• Because you may have to reject your theories, ideas or hunches in the

face of facts.• Because in scientific study, your opinion doesn’t count.

• SKEPTICAL INQUIRY• A psychologist, like a scientist, is open to new ideas but sceptical of all

ideas. All ideas must be put to careful scientific testing. There are many popular ideas about people that have not proven true when examined scientifically.• Ex. The idea that some people never dream• Ex. The idea that we are all affected by subliminal advertising

Why not just use common sense to explain behaviour?• THE HINDSIGHT BIAS• Certain historical facts or scientific results just seem to make sense

when we hear them. They seem very obviously true. The “I knew that all along” response. This doesn’t mean that common sense is wrong. It’s just that it describes what happens, after it has happened, rather than predicting what we think will happen in the future as scientists do.

• OVERCONFIDENCE• We tend to be overconfident about our ideas because we like to think

that our beliefs are correct.• For example, when college students entering a four year program are

asked how likely it is that they will complete their degree, only 2 % say there is a possibility that they will drop out or take a break and not finish in four years, but in fact 50% of students do not finish in 5 years.

Research MethodsPsychology 11

Scientific Method

• There are three broad categories of research methods in Psychology. Remember, these are scientific methods and are carried out objectively and systematically. Psychologists use the SCIENTIFIC METHOD to study behaviours. They develop their ideas by…

1. Descriptive Research

• To observe behaviors of one individual or ask large population to report their own behavior.• Keys:• Need a sample that represents an accurate portrayal of society,

not random• Need to craft questions that do not taint results• One case does not create a norm

• MAKING OBSERVATIONS… to DESCRIBE behaviour (More detailed power point tomorrow)• Case studies• Surveys• Naturalistic observations

2. Correlations

• Statistical measure of relationships; how effectively one event will predict another.• DETECTING CORRELATIONS (looking for relationships)…

to PREDICT behaviour• Keys:• Need to prove the connection with statistical data• Correlation does not mean causation

• Ex. Is success in high school RELATED to success in college?• Ex. Is money RELATED to happiness?

3. Experiments

• To determine cause and effect relationships by manipulating factors in a controlled setting; control all variables, except one.• CONDUCTING EXPERIMENTS (looking for cause and

effect)… to EXPLAIN behaviour• Keys: • Experiment must have: Hypothesis, Independent variable,

dependent variable, control group, experimental group• Results of experiment only prove (or disprove) a hypothesis for a

specific set of circumstances

• Experiments are the only way to EXPLAIN behaviour.

So Psychologists…

•Make observations.• Use their observations to identify

relationships between variables.•Make predictions (hypotheses) about how

this relationship works.• Test these predictions by conducting

carefully controlled experiments.

Ethics• Give Informed Consent• No Pressure to Participate/ Voluntary Participation• An Ethical and Honourable Contract• Freedom from Physical and Mental Stress/Restricted use of

Deception• Complete Debriefing and Follow up• Anonymity and Confidentiality