Theory testing
Theory testing
Theory testing
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THEORY AND RESEARCH<br />
METHODS<br />
Psychology of Gender
Write your answers to the following on<br />
a sheet of paper. True or False<br />
1. Science is a collection of facts<br />
2. Hard sciences are more rigorous and scientific than<br />
soft sciences.<br />
3. Scientific ideas are absolute and unchanging.<br />
4. The job of a scientist is to find support for his or<br />
her hypothesis.<br />
5. Scientists are completely objective in their<br />
evaluation of scientific ideas.
Science isn’t just a collection of facts<br />
Falsification<br />
Determinism<br />
Parsimony<br />
Systematic observations/Empiricism<br />
Asks answerable questions<br />
Public knowledge<br />
Tentative conclusions<br />
Based on theories that can be refuted
Science is flawed: People are flawed<br />
People are not objective; they are biased<br />
Choice of study<br />
How it is studied<br />
Previous beliefs<br />
Expectations<br />
Information processing/How evidence is evaluated<br />
Motivational<br />
selective attention, selective recall, confirmation bias<br />
Desire for social consensus<br />
Illusory correlations and personal contact
Science is flawed:<br />
Research methods are flawed<br />
There is no such thing as the perfect research study<br />
Measurement<br />
Observation<br />
Hypotheses and predictions<br />
Inferences drawn from observations<br />
People do science<br />
Still, what’s the alternative?!
Ways of knowing/<br />
Reasons for holding a viewpoint or position<br />
Authority<br />
Anecdote<br />
Direct experience/<br />
observation<br />
Intuition<br />
Faith, inspiration,<br />
emotions, gut feelings<br />
Deduction<br />
Logic, reason<br />
Systematic observation<br />
(empiricism)<br />
+<br />
Logic/Reason<br />
=<br />
Scientific Method<br />
Which method is the most valid? The most convincing?
WHAT IS A THEORY?
Theories<br />
testable framework for describing the behavior of a<br />
related set of social phenomena<br />
capable of predicting (and often explaining or<br />
describing)<br />
and capable of being tested through experiment or<br />
otherwise falsified (disproved) through empirical<br />
methods.<br />
Theories do not equal hypotheses or guesses!
Hypotheses<br />
Specific prediction based on a theory<br />
a large number of more specific hypotheses may<br />
be logically bound together by just one or two<br />
theories
Heredity<br />
<strong>Theory</strong>:<br />
Evolution<br />
Natural<br />
Selection<br />
Variations<br />
Hypothesis (based on Natural selection):<br />
Fishes with red tails are really healthy, therefore<br />
Fishes with really red tails will get more sexual<br />
partners
Popper: Falsification<br />
Theories and hypothesis cannot be proved<br />
All swans are white<br />
Evolution<br />
Newton’s theory of relativity<br />
<strong>Theory</strong> <strong>Theory</strong><br />
Consistent result - Inconsistent result<br />
= ?? = -T
Theories<br />
Theories cannot be proved<br />
All swans are white<br />
The earth is flat (or round); the earth (or sun) is the center<br />
of the universe<br />
Evolution<br />
Newton’s theory of relativity<br />
Good theories have some things in common:<br />
Make unique predictions<br />
Overtime, converging evidence supports the theory<br />
The theory has not been refuted
Re-test. True or False<br />
1. Science is a collection of facts<br />
2. Hard sciences are more rigorous and scientific than<br />
soft sciences.<br />
3. Scientific ideas are absolute and unchanging.<br />
4. The job of a scientist is to find support for his or<br />
her hypothesis.<br />
5. Scientists are completely objective in their<br />
evaluation of scientific ideas.
Soft vs. Hard Sciences<br />
Psychological Science<br />
Describes, predicts, and explains<br />
Thoughts, emotions and behavior of people<br />
Testing theories in psychology<br />
How might you design experiments that investigate<br />
aggression?<br />
Redness of a fishes tail?
Operational Definitions<br />
To conduct a study you must decide how to measure<br />
variables<br />
Even if there are observable variables (hair color)<br />
there may be more than one way to measure it.<br />
E.g. learning, aggression, sexual competition, fishy tail<br />
redness<br />
Nerdiness: an observed variable<br />
Valid vs. invalid measure?<br />
Learning: unobservable variable<br />
Valid vs. invalid measure?
Methods in psychological science<br />
Generate Ideas<br />
Come up with a hypothesis drawn from a theory<br />
Come up with a theory<br />
Chose a research design<br />
Create an operational definition<br />
Collect data<br />
Analyze data<br />
Communicate results
Research Designs<br />
Observational<br />
May measure or simply describe phenomena<br />
Survey/Correlational<br />
Examine the relationship between two variable<br />
Often provide a correlation or may provide some prediction<br />
capability<br />
E.g., SAT scores and GPA<br />
Experimental<br />
Use random assignment to groups, manipulate a<br />
independent variable, measure a dependent variable, and<br />
control for extraneous factors<br />
Examine causal claims
Correlation versus causation<br />
Alcohol consumption and publication rate (success<br />
rates)<br />
Direction<br />
Strength<br />
Issues?
Correlation vs. causation<br />
How might an experiment test the alcohol and<br />
success rate hypothesis?
Gendered research<br />
How to introduce sexism into science:<br />
Collect data on only one sex<br />
Use research assistants of only one sex<br />
Make predictions about only one sex<br />
Without <strong>testing</strong> competing or alternative predictions
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