Scientific Processes

7 Key excerpts on "Scientific Processes"

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  eBook - PDF

  Experimental Design and Statistics for Psychology

  A First Course

  • Fabio Sani, John Todman(Authors)
  • 2008(Publication Date)
  • Wiley-Blackwell

    (Publisher)

  SCIENTIFIC PSYCHOLOGY AND THE RESEARCH PROCESS 7 SUMMARY OF CHAPTER • Ordinary people and professional psychologists are both interested in mental and behavioural issues. However, while ordinary people gather their knowledge by using a rather casual approach, psychologists use the scientific method. • The scientific method implies following a two-step research process. First, the researcher must formulate hypotheses – that is, formal statements pre-dicting that a specific change in one thing will produce a specific change in another – concerning the issue that is of interest. Second, the researcher must test the hypotheses, that is, he or she must design a study aimed at producing empirical evidence that the hypotheses are correct. • The experiment is the method that is used to establish a causal link between events. CHAPTER TWO The Nature of Psychology Experiments (I): Variables and Conditions In Chapter 1, we said that in order to investigate a psychological issue scientifically, you should comply with a two-step research process. First, you must formulate hypotheses. The kind of hypothesis that we will consider in this chapter is a formal statement predicting that a specific change in one thing will produce a specific change in another. We offered the following example of this type of hypothesis: ‘The more positive the mood of people, the better their intellectual performance.’ The second step consists of testing the hypothesis (i.e., providing evidence that the hypothesis is correct). Finally, we stated that the most commonly used technique for testing these types of hypothesis is the experiment. To design and conduct a sound experiment is a rather complex task, which implies acting in accordance with a set of very specific rules. In this chapter we will discuss the most important rules. However, we want to base this discussion on a concrete example.

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  Experimental Thinking

  A Primer on Social Science Experiments

  • James N. Druckman(Author)
  • 2022(Publication Date)
  • Cambridge University Press

    (Publisher)

  2 The Scientific Process and How to Think about Experiments This chapter serves as a precursor. Most treatments of experiments begin with a definition; yet, I start with prior considerations including the place of experimentation in the scientific process, as well as discussions of sampling and measurement. While these latter topics are often covered in research design or statistics textbooks, many experimentalists osten- sibly ignore them in practice. This leads to lower quality experiments and less progressive research agendas. I highlight essential points that need explicit attention prior to conceiving of an experiment. I then offer a discussion of causation, which leads me to an inclusive definition of “experiment.” I differentiate types of experiments and highlight vari- ations in experimental goals. I conclude the chapter with a brief discus- sion of analyses as it pertains to design issues. My goal is to highlight a host of often overlooked considerations and assumptions that underlie any experiment. I also aim to situate experiments in the larger social science research process – by this, I mean the role experiments play in the accumulation of knowledge (e.g., relative to theory building and other steps in the scientific method).    , ,   Science involves a process that produces systematized knowledge. For most, this involves the “scientific method.” The basic method involves five steps: (1) ask a question; (2) develop a theory to answer the question; (3) derive testable hypotheses; (4) collect data to test those hypotheses; and (5) analyze the data. Other components involve external review, 15 replication, and ensuring that hypotheses are falsifiable (i.e., can be proven incorrect) (Popper 1959, 1962). Let us consider an example, one I will invoke several times.

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  Psychology

  Modules for Active Learning

  • Dennis Coon, John Mitterer, Tanya Martini, , Dennis Coon, John Mitterer, Tanya Martini, (Authors)
  • 2021(Publication Date)
  • Cengage Learning EMEA

    (Publisher)

  If the goal is weight loss, for example, one goal-focused approach is to count down the pounds (only 10 pounds to go!), while one achievement-focused approach is to celebrate milestones (congratulations on losing the first 10 pounds!). Define the Problem The researchers also noted that maintaining a goal focus seems to inspire more goal-ori-ented behaviors. Thus, they defined their main problem as “Will people lose more weight if they maintain a goal focus compared to an achievement focus?” In closing, valid psychological principles are based, then, on critical thinking, scientific theory, and objective evidence, Applying the scientific method to the study of behavior requires careful observation. Here, two psychologists observe and record a session in which a child’s eating behavior is being studied. The Star-Ledger/Robert Sciarrino/The Image Works Gather evidence Test hypothesis Make observations Define problem Propose hypothesis Publish results Build theory Retain hypothesis Reject hypothesis ➤ Figure 2.3 The scientific method. Psychologists use the logic of science to answer questions about behavior. Specific hypotheses can be tested in a variety of ways, including controlled experiments, naturalistic observation, correlational studies, case studies, and surveys. Psychologists revise their theories to reflect the evidence that they gather. New or revised theories then lead to new observations, problems, and hypotheses. not superstitions, pseudoscience, fads, opinions, or wishful thinking. Scientific Research—How to Think Like a Psychologist Learning Outcome 2.3 Outline the six steps of the scien-tific method as applied in psychology Psychology generally follows the scientific method , a form of critical thinking based on the systematic collection of evidence, accurate description and measurements, precise definitions, controlled observations, and repeatable results (Jackson, 2016; Yanchar, Slife, & Warne, 2008).

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  Research in Psychology

  Methods and Design

  • Kerri A. Goodwin, C. James Goodwin(Authors)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  That is, theories must generate hypotheses producing research results that could come out as the hypothesis predicts (i.e., support the hypothesis and increase confidence in the theory) or could come out differently (i.e., fail to sup- port the hypothesis and raise questions about the theory). Research that consistently fails to sup- port hypotheses derived from a theory eventually calls a theory into question and can lead to its modification or outright abandonment. To sum up this section on science as a way of knowing, research psychologists can be described as “skeptical optimists.” They are open to new ideas and optimistic about using scientific meth- ods to test these ideas, but at the same time they are tough‐minded—they won’t accept claims without good evidence. Also, researchers are constantly thinking of ways to test ideas scientifi- cally, they are confident that truth will emerge by asking and answering empirical questions, and they are willing (sometimes grudgingly) to alter their beliefs if the answers to their empirical questions are not what they expected. One final point. Although we have been describing the attitudes and behaviors of psychologi- cal scientists, it is important to realize that virtually all of the points made in this section of the chapter are relevant to you as a developing critical thinker. To reiterate a point made earlier, it is not essential for you to become a researcher for the lessons of this book to have value for you. All of us could benefit from using the attributes of scientific thinking to be more critical and analyti- cal about the information we are exposed to every day. Psychological Science and Pseudoscience Because everyone is interested in human behavior, it is not surprising that many claims are made about its causes and inner workings.

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  Psychology and Culture

  Thinking, Feeling and Behaving in a Global Context

  • Lisa Vaughn(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  8 7 Chapter 5 C h a p t e r 5 Basic Psychological Processes and Culture ■ ■ Introduction 88 ■ ■ Biological Bases 88 ■ ■ Cognition 90 ■ ■ Emotion 92 ■ ■ Perception 93 ■ ■ Language 98 ■ ■ States of Consciousness 99 ■ ■ And So Forth (the Science of Happiness) 100 B A S I C P S Y C H O L O G I C A L P R O C E S S E S A N D C U L T U R E 8 8 T HERE IS DISAGREEMENT about the influence of culture on basic psychological processes making it difficult to summarize each of these areas in a simple fashion as they relate to culture. Many of the main characteristics of these basic psychological processes appear to be shared across human beings, however, the nuances and manifestations are more responsive to differences in the social, ecological, and cultural contexts. An additional challenge with this type of research is that some areas are political and controversial because of apparent biases regarding morality, intelligence, and behaviours of certain marginalized groups. Today, we view much of this early research as politically motivated and outrageously incor- rect. As Guthrie (2004) points out, ‘early psychological study was bound hand and foot with anthropological studies of “racial mix- ing” and with a maddening search for definitions of mulattoes and the implications of race mixtures for behavior’ (p. xi). The focus of such phrenology (which was taken seriously and viewed as a sci- ence), Guthrie (2004) says, was to establish that non-whites were intellectually inferior to whites via differences measured in skin col- our, skulls, skeletons, nerves, noses, ears, and lips. Such research was used as a method to get rid of less ‘desirable’ peoples and limit the proliferation of groups thought to be inferior (e.g., sterilization in the US, Holocaust, labelling of Southern Europeans as inferior com- pared with Northern Europeans during increased immigration, racist efforts of psychological tests in World War II, etc.).

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  Observing Children in Their Natural Worlds

  A Methodological Primer, Third Edition

  • Anthony D. Pellegrini, Frank Symons, John Hoch(Authors)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Psychology Press

    (Publisher)

  HAPTER 2

  Science, Psychology, and Research

  A t first blush, some readers may be taken aback by the use of the word “science” in the title of this chapter. Don't be, because I use the term “science” in a general sense whereby hypotheses are first generated and then tested, in a cycle of induction and deduction. Hypotheses, as you'll see, are educated “hunches,” derived from theory, that are held up for scrutiny: Does the evidence support or fail to support the hypothesis? Direct observations are a crucial part of this process for both basic research and for solving problems in everyday settings, such as in schools and families. In this chapter, I will discuss, generally, the nature of science and the scientific method, and how they are applicable to observational methods in the context of social science research. Positioning social science as “science,” rather than, say art, situates it in a context with extant rules and conventions for conducting research. Indeed, different definitions of science limit those activities which would be considered “research.” This chapter will serve to orient you to basic assumptions associated with conducting scientific research.

  What is Science?

  Science, and scientific research, helps us to understand the “nature of things,” though very few today would suggest that it enables us to approach knowing an absolute and unchanging truth. Additionally, scientific research can also have practical implications. By practical I mean, scientific research can be used to address and possibly solve problems in everyday life, whether they be in the work place, and at or in school. Sometimes these two areas of research are dichotomized as “basic” and “applied” science.

  Basic science is typically associated with generating and testing hypotheses derived from theory. Theory, as will be discussed, is an overarching explanation for some phenomenon. Basic science can be descriptive, explanatory, or predictive. Applied science, on the other hand, uses the scientific method to solve everyday problems, such as workplace bullying or children's noncompliance at school and home. As you will see, however, the basic vs applied dichotomy does have fuzzy boundaries. For example, you could invoke a theory (e.g. social cognitive theory), in the service of solving a practical problem (workplace bullying), to make predictions about causes (e.g. bosses tolerate and model bullying) and remediation (e.g. have positive models and do not reinforce negative models). If these predictions are framed in terms of hypotheses derived from a theory, the outcomes are certainly “basic” though possibly, as you will see below, at a lower level of abstraction than other hypotheses.

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  Education and Psychology in Interaction

  Working With Uncertainty in Interconnected Fields

  • Brahm Norwich(Author)
  • 2002(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Practitioner psychologists also use professional skills which have little grounding in the discipline of psychology. This means that there is a need to use psychology to make sense of the problems professional psychologists have to deal with. Without this, professional psychologists find it hard to give a rationale for their service contribution as distinct from the services of other allied non-psychologist professional groups. Watts does not make this particular point, but it has special relevance to the educational psychology which will be discussed in the next two chapters. But Watts does make the important point that the gap between basic research and applied professional psychology has a strong methodological basis to it. He considers that unless there is better integration between experimental and interpretive methods, research and professional psychologists are less likely to collaborate. This means that practitioner psychologists who make use of interpretive processes should be more familiar with systematic qualitative methods, which they can learn from social psychologists. He argues that experimental work has some relevance, especially in the single-case experimental design mode. Practitioners also need to be conversant with experimental results from basic research which have applicability to their work, and could collect empirical data themselves. But basic research psychologists also need a methodological integration. This arises from the difference between the process of generating fruitful ideas, or what Popper called insightful conjectures, and the process of testing them. This is sometimes called the difference between scientific discovery and verification. The context of discovery has been linked to a more intuitive grasp of phenomena and a familiarity with them. Linking back to Bruner’s account of the complementary relationship between explaining and interpreting, causal explanatory research can be considered to need more open-ended interpretive processes.

  Concluding comments

  I have explored in this chapter the key question within psychology of how we can be true to our notions of our humanity, to our human values and to a coherent concept of science. This raises important and difficult questions about the point of calling a field of study ‘scientific’. The theoretical diversity within psychology, which was introduced in the previous chapter, has been explored further. This showed that no simple dichotomies can be discerned between broad kinds of psychological theories. Mechanistic theories are so diverse that they are not simply distinguishable from alternative theories involving constructivist and holist principles. Psychology’s connections with philosophical and value questions were also discussed. The arguments about ideological issues in psychology were accepted as showing that values were at the foundation of the psychological field of study. Two broad sorts of values were suggested as helping us understand some of the differences within the field: epistemological values of participant or spectator perspectives and the well-being values of progressive or conservative tendencies. I argued that adopting exclusive positions with respect to these value differences engenders splitting and the emergence of similarly exclusive opposite positions. A purist, positivist scientific spectator approach to psychology engenders a similarly hard-line intepretivist participant approach. The case for seeing connections between participant and spectator perspectives was seen as compelling because the objects of psychology—ourselves as human beings—are also subjects who have intentionality. I also noted that a causal science model has had and continues to have a progressive form which seeks to identify alterable causal variables and promote human well-being. That well-being values influence the adoption of epistemological positions also needs to be recognised. But a causal scientific perspective, though sometimes associated with conservative values, is not necessarily so. Identifying causal mechanisms can support progressive values; they can empower and improve human conditions.

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