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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 19th 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 Research1. Empirical analysis
2. Public verification
3. Systematic observation
4. Environmental control
5. Rational explanation
6. Parsimony
7. Tentative explanation/conclusions14
What’s Next
• *Instructor to complete as a heads-up to the students
15