We've all stood in checkout lines and been amazed at the gullibility of our fellow human beings who drop into their shopping carts tabloids with headlines that scream, "Scientists prove the existence of aliens in tapioca pudding," or "Diets high in natural fiber cause lemming-like behavior in children of tourists abducted in rainforests." But then we go home and read our daily newspapers, quoting conclusions that have been condensed from scientific research by nonscientists. Reputable scientists are careful in their interpretation of data, taking into consideration the design of the research and the controls that have been implemented. The popular press seldom applies such rigor, and we hear too often that "science has proved" yet another "fact" while the researchers cringe in the background. Chapter 2 is critical in providing you with a basis for evaluating claims you will encounter throughout your life.
Lesson Objectives
- Discuss each of the following with respect to the development and evaluation of theory: falsifiability, gathering of evidence, replicability, predictability, and parsimony.
- Provide examples of the principles of good research (operational definitions, convenience vs. representative vs. random vs. cross-cultural samples, experimenter bias, blind studies, demand characteristics, ethical considerations, etc.).
- Identify the strengths and limitations of the following research designs and apply the strategies and concepts in parentheses to research studies:
- Observational (naturalistic observation, case history, and survey)
- Correlational (strength and direction of coefficients, and illusory correlation)
- Experimental (independent and dependent variables, experimental and control groups, and random assignment)
- Name the type of statistics used to summarize results and the type used to evaluate results, describe what is meant by each term in parentheses, and compute the terms in bold from a small data set.
- Descriptive statistics (normal distribution, measures of central score--mean, median, mode; measures of variation--range, standard deviation)
- Inferential statistics (confidence interval, statistical significance, p<.05)
