Major Movements in Psychology - Psychology as a Science

10 important questions on Major Movements in Psychology - Psychology as a Science

Wha is the purpose of psychological research?

Psychological research provides the absolute foundation of modern psychology. Research allows us to study the questions of psychology in a rigorous and systematic way so psychology can be more than a collection of subjective opinions and anecdotal observations.

Is psychological research ever completely objective?

Arguably, no. Human behavior is too complex, and influenced by too many factors to ever presume 100 percent certainty in our conclusions.

What is a variable?

It is the fundamental unit of a study. Any trait or behavior that we wish to study is translated into a variable so that we can measure it with numbers.

Operationalizing our traits of interest is turning them into variables. Having translated our traits of interest into numerical variables, we can now use mathematics to calculate the relationships between the variables.
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Do all psychological studies use numbers?

Most psychological studies are quantitative and rely on the translation of psychological traits and behaviors into variables that can be analyzed statistically.

In qualitative research a smaller number of subjects are observed or interviewed intensively. The observations are recorded not in numbers but in a long, detailed narrative.

How do the methods of the social sciences differ from those of the hard sciences?

In general, the role of math is different in the social sciences than in the hard sciences. In the hard sciences mathematics is predictive and deterministic. In psychology, mathematics is probabilistic. We estimate the likelihood that certain statements are true or not. Further, these estimates are based on the aggregate, on the behavior of groups.

Why is sample selection important?

It is critical to make sure the sample is similar to the larger population. Because it is virtually impossible to remove all problems from sample selection, researchers must carefully describe their samples so that the applicability to a larger population, or the study's generalizeability, can be assessed.

What are statistics and how do they work?

Statistics provide a mathematical technique to measure the relationship between two or more variables.

Measures of covariation assess the degree to which two or more variables change in relation to each other. When the distribution of scores is concentrated toward one end of the scale, we say there is a skewed distribution. In a normal distribution the majority of scores are in the middle with a few scores moving out toward the far ends of either side. When the distribution is skewed, the mean, median, and mode seperate from each other.

What is the difference between the median and the mean and why does it matter?

The mean is very sensitive to extreme values, also known as outliers, and so can give a distorted view of a population when some values are much higher than the rest. The median is not affected by outliers and thus can be a more stable measure of central tendencies. The mean, on the other hand, is more useful in statistical analyses.

What are the critical concepts one needs to know when interpreting the results of a study?

Validity: Are the results valid or is the study flawed to the extent that the conclusions are not supported by the data.

Internal validity refers to the integrity of the study methods.

External validity refers to the extent to which the results can be applied to a larger population.

In general, internal validity is more important than external validity.

What does a study confound mean?

A confound is something that biases the results of a study. It is a third, extraneous variable that accounts for the relationship between the two variables of interest.

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