Chapter 1
Very brief chapter overview
The first part of this chapter tells you why psychology is a science. The second part shows you some of the pitfalls of blindly applying methods from other sciences to psychology (pay close attention the problems of internal, external, and construct validity, as well as ethical issues--you'll see these concepts again!). The last part explains why you should be able to understand and conduct research.
Chapter Summary
The essence of science is that we attempt to find the truth by unearthing observable, objective evidence that either supports or refutes our preconceived notions.
Psychology is a science.
Science does not require gadgetry--or even mathematics--contrary what you may have thought.
The text explained that psychology is a science because it meets the eight criteria of science, as Table 1.1 (pg.17) describes. The text places special emphasis on the fact that psychology meets the following criteria:
- produces objective evidence that can be replicated (indeed, replicated with the same success as physics experiments are replicated)
- tests ideas about human behavior to find out if they are wrong
- is willing to be open-minded about claims, even those that go against common sense
- is skeptical about ideas that, even though they make sense, have not been supported by any research evidence
- creates new knowledge.
Next, we take a closer look at the problems of using the scientific method to get answers to questions about behavior. At one level, there are two basic problems about doing research to get answers to questions about human behavior.
- The study you do may be unethical.
- The study you do may not answer the question.
At another level, there is only one problem: Is the study ethical?
According to APA"s ethical principles (which every researcher should consult before doing a study), a study is ethical if the potential benefits of the study outweigh the study's potential for harm. Thus, there are two ways to increase the chances that your study is ethical.
First, reduce the potential for harm. Following the nine tips in table 1.3 (pg 29) can help reduce the potential for harm.
Second, make your study worth doing. This means:
- Having an interesting, important research question; and
- Collecting data that will allow you to answer that question.
For example, if your research question is about whether something causes a certain effect, your study must have internal validity. As you'll see later, only experimental designs have internal validity, which allows you to make cause-effect statements.
Alternatively, if your research question is about what percentage of people do some behavior, you need a study that has external validity. One key to having external validity is to have a large, random, representative sample of subjects. This helps you to generalize your results to a larger population.
Or, if your research question involves measuring or manipulating some state of mind (hunger, stress, fear, motivation, love, etc.), then you need construct validity. As you'll see in Chapter 3, achieving construct validity is not easy.
Depending on the research question, you may often be interested in only one of these kinds of validity. Sometimes, you may want to have two of these kinds of validity. Rarely, however, will a study have all three types of validity.
Tip: Understanding the differences among the three types of validity takes some students a long time. To be one of the students who learns these key distinctions quickly, study Table 1-2. Then, test your understanding by doing some of the end-of-chapter exercises.
After reading the last part of the chapter (pages 33-38), you should be able to cite and explain eight reasons why you should understand research methods (the reasons are listed in table 1.6, p. 39).
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