Introduction to Scientific Research

Research Resear ch Methods, Design, and Analysis Eleventh Edition

CHAPTER 

1

Introduction to Scientific Research

Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

Copyright ©2011 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Why learn about the scientific research process? •

To learn the research process

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Provides a foundation for other courses

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To become a critical consumer of information

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To develop critical and analytic thinking

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Learn to critically read a research article

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Necessary for most graduate programs Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Methods of Acquiring Knowledge •

Intuition – knowing without reasoning  – used in forming some hypotheses (hunches)  – problem – no mechanism for separating accurate from inaccurate knowledge

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 Authority – facts stated from a respected source  – can be used in the design phase of a study  – problem – authority can be wrong Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Methods of Acquiring Knowledge (cont'd) •

Rationalism – knowledge from reasoning  – used to derive hypotheses

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Empiricism – knowledge from experience  – observation used to collect data in science  – potential problem is researcher bias

Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Science •

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 A more reliable and valid method of acquiring knowledge Different scientific methods have been popular historically

Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Scientific Methods •

Induction – specific to general reasoning  – used from late 17th to middle of 19th century  – still used today when generalizing from specific experiments to general hypotheses or theory

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Deduction – general to specific reasoning  – involved in forming hypotheses from theory

Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Scientific Methods (cont'd) •

Hypothesis testing – testing a predicted relationship from theory or experience  – prominent from mid 19th century to about 1960 but still used extensively today  – associated with logical positivists 

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philosophical position started by scholars at University of Vienna believed that statements meaningful only when verifiable by observation

Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Scientific Methods (cont'd) •

Hypothesis testing – testing a predicted relationship from theory or experience  – associated with logical positivists 

is an inductive position – observation confirming a general hypothesis

 – critic – Popper and his falsification position

Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Scientific Methods (cont'd) •

Naturalism – evaluate science empirically and methodology will evolve from this study  – Kuhn and paradigms 

paradigm – framework or thought or belief

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science governed by types of activities  – normal science-shared paradigm  – revolutionary science – replace one paradigm with another

Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Scientific Methods (cont'd) •

Naturalism – evaluate science empirically and methodology will evolve from this study  – Lakatos and research programs 

research program – framework in which a scientific activity takes place

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Scientific Methods (cont'd) •

Feyerabend’s Anarchists Theory of Science  – no prior approach identified a distinguishing feature of science  – advocated that science does not give knowledge superior to other forms of knowledge

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Scientific Methods (cont'd) •

Feyerabend’s Anarchists Theory of Science  – his position – the unchanging principle of scientific method is that ―anything goes‖ 

scientific knowledge is not better than other forms of knowledge

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What is Science? (cont'd) •

Method has to be defined at a single stage in the development of a field  – Consists of some specific aims to arrive at knowledge of some specific kind, methods for arriving at those aims together with the standards for judging the extent to which they are met, and specific facts and theories that represent the current state of play as far as the realization of the aim is concerned Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Basic Assumptions Underlying Scientific Research •

Uniformity or regularity in nature  – determinism – the belief that mental process are fully caused by prior natural factors  – probabilistic causes – a weaker form of determinism that indicates regularities that usually but not always occur

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Reality in nature – the assumption that the things we see, hear, feel, smell, and taste are real Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Basic Assumptions Underlying Scientific Research (cont'd) •

Discoverability – the assumption this is possible to discover the regularities that exist in nature

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Characteristics of Scientific Research •

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Control—eliminating the influence of extraneous variables Operationism—representing constructs by a specific set of operations  – original focus was on operational def.  – objections to strict operational definition 

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demands too strict each operational definition completely specified the meaning of the term

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Characteristics of Scientific Research (cont'd) •

Operationism—representing constructs by a specific set of operations  – operationalism focuses on features used to represent a construct 

is essential for communication

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many different ways of representing constructs

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multiple operationalism involves use of multiple measures of a construct

Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Characteristics of Scientific Research (cont'd) •

Replication— reproduction of results in a new study  – reasons for failure to replicate 

effect doesn’t exist

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replication study is not an exact replication

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effect may depend on context

 – meta-analysis – a quantitative technique for describing the relationship between variables across multiple studies Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Role of Theory in Science •

To summarize and integrate existing data

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To guide new research

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Continuous interaction between theory and empirical observation

Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Figure 1.2 Illustration of the relationship between theory and research. Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Role of Scientist in Psychological Research •

Curiosity

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Patience

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Objectivity

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Change

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Objectives of Psychological Research •

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Description –portraying the phenomenon Explanation – Identifying the cause(s) of the phenomenon Prediction – anticipating the outcome the occurrence of an event

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Objectives of Psychological Research (cont'd) •

Control – manipulation of the conditions that determine a phenomenon  – different meanings of the word control 

comparison

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eliminating influence of extraneous variables

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guidance

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Pseudoscience •

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 An approach that claims to be scientific but in fact violates many tenets of science  Attempted association with science made in an attempt to gain legitimacy

Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Strategies Used in Pseudoscience •

Overuse of ad hoc hypotheses to explain away negative findings  – characterized by statements that can’t be falsified or ad hoc hypotheses to explain problems with the claim

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Emphasis on confirmation rather than refutation  – science tries to prove hypotheses wrong

Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Strategies Used in Pseudoscience (cont'd) •

 Absence of self-correction  – does not try to verify or refute claims

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Reverse burden of proof  – asks critics to prove that their claims are wrong

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Overreliance on testimonials and anecdotal evidence

Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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Strategies Used in Pseudoscience (cont'd) •

Use of obscurantist language  – language that confuses versus clarifies  – uses scientific terms to sound respectable

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 Absence of ―connectivity‖ with other disciplines

Research Methods, Design, and Analysis , Eleventh Edition

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