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Chapter 2: The Research Enterprise In Psychology

The Scientific Approach to Behaviour

Goals of Scientific Enterprise

Three sets of interrelated goals :

Measurements and description - Science's commitment to observation requires that an investigator figure out a way to measure the phenomenon under study.

Understanding and prediction - A higher level goal of science is understanding events when they can explain the reasons for the occurrence of the events. To evaluate their understanding, scientists make and test predictions called hypothesis.

Application and control - The information they gather will be of some practical value in helping to solve everyday problems. Apply to practical problems.

Steps in a Scientific Investigation

Step 1 : Formulate a Testable Hypothesis - Translate a theory or an intuitive idea into a testable hypothesis. To be testable, scientific hypotheses must be formulated precisely, and the variables under study must be clearly defined. Researchers achieve these clear formulations by providing operational definitions of the relevant variables.

Step 2 : Select the Research Method and the Design the study - In a scientific investigation is to figure out how to put the hypothesis to an empirical test. The research method chosen depends to a large degree on the nature of the question under study. The researcher has to ponder the pros and cons and then select the strategy that appears to be the most appropriate and practical. make detailed plans to execute their study.

Step 3 : Collect the Data - Collect the data. Researchers use a variety of data collection techniques.

Step 4 : Analyze the Data and Draw Conclusions - The observations made in a study are usually converted into the numbers, which constitute the raw data of the study. Researchers use statistics to analyze their data and to decide whether their hypothesis have been supported.

Step 5 : Report the Findings - Fundamental aspect of the scientific enterprise. Scientific progress can be achieved only if researchers share their findings with one another and with the general public. The final step in a scientific investigation is to write a concise summary of the study and its findings.

A hypothesis is a tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables.

Variables are any measurable conditions, events, characteristics, or behaviours that are controlled or observed in a study

A theory is a system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observation.

By integrating apparently unrelated facts and principles into a coherent whole, theories permit psychologists to make the leap from the description of behaviour to the understanding of behaviour.

An operational definition describes describes the actions or operations that will be used to measure or control a variable.

Participants, or subjects, are the persons or animals whose behaviour is systematically observed in a study

Data collection techniques, which are procedures for making empirical observations and measurements.

A journal is a periodical that publishes technical and scholarly material, usually in a narrowly defined area of inquiry.

Key Data Collection Techniques in Psychology

- Direct observation

-Questionnaire

- Interview

-Psychological test

- Physiological recording

-Examination of archival records