Psychology 205Experimental Design

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Psychology 205Experimental Design

• Mechanics
• Websitehttp//faculty.plattsburgh.edu/alan.marks/
  
• HTML and Word DOC files for downloading.
• Textbook--Research MethodsDonald H. McBurney,
  7th Ed., Wadsworth
• Problemsspeak to me early

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Grading

• Two tests and final 1020 each
• Library research assignment 510
• APA style exercise 510
• Write up of simple experiment (order effects)
  7.520
• A final projectresearch proposal
• A class survey with questions generated by the
  class and data collected by the class
• A group project
• Individual project
• Assignments for the final project will include
• Generation of a hypothesis 2.55
• Method 2.55
• Class presentation final projects 515
• Write-up of final projects 1530

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What is science

• What is science chaptera method for knowing the
  world
• Assumptions and methods
• Alternative ways of knowing
• Non empirical
• Authority
• Tenacity
• Logic
• Empirical
• Intuition
• Common sense
• Science

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ScienceCharacteristics

• A method
• Gaining knowledge
• Solving problems
• Empirical
• Observable
• Objective
• Replicable
• Quantitative(?)
• Empirical referentsoperational definitions
• Allows testability
• Systematic
• Self-correcting
• Tentative
• Progressive
• Parsimonious
• Theory orientedbasic concern why
• Differs from technology
• Public

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ScienceAssumptions

• Realism
• World is subject to investigation
• Rationalitylogic
• Regularity
• Results can be generalized
• Causalityworld is ordereddeterminism
• Discoverability or knowability of causes

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Goal of ScienceExplanation

• Discovery of regularitiesunderstanding the world
• Description
• Discover laws (regular association of events)
• Search for causes
• Reduce uncertainty
• Develop theories
• Set of statements that organizes a body of
  knowledge
• Unobservable/intervening variable(s)
• Observation?formulation?test
• FalsifiabilityKarl Popperphilosopher
• Science is
• Selective
• Problems, theories (proposed solutions),
  criticisms
• Scientific theories are falsifiable
• Forbids events
• Salvage through reinterpretation a no-no

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Role of Theories

• Organize data
• Generate predictions
• Guide research to test predictions
• Hypotheses
• Deductionspecific prediction from theory
• Tests theory
• Strong inferencehypothesis pits theories against
  one another
• Definitions of concepts
• Verbal or formaldictionary
• Operationalconcept is defined by operations used
  to manipulate (experimental) or measure
  (measured) it
• Clarify concepts
• Bridge gap between concept and research
• Problems
• Possibly wrong
• Multiple
• Converging operations

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Paradigms

• Thomas KuhnScience historian
• Much scientific activity is subjective
• Paradigms dictate
• Subject matter
• Methods
• Normal science
• Verify paradigm
• In-depth research
• Anomalies
• Produce crisis
• Paradigm replaced when better theory available

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Some notes

• Levels of analysis
• Molar to molecular
• Reductionism
• Emotional satisfactions of science
• Subjective experience studied through objective
  behavior