Thinking Critically What is Science Psychology 1106 Introduction

Thinking Critically, What is Science? Psychology 1106

Introduction n What is science? • Guys in lab coats? • Test tubes? n n n Hmmmmmmm Well, more than anything, science is a method of inquiry There are many ways to ‘seek the truth’

Conventional Wisdom or Common Sense n n n If most people say or think something is true it is Basically what gets us through everyday life Old sayings • There are many contradictory ones n I don’t need any of your fancy science to understand human behaviour science boy. • Umm, that’s Dr. Science Boy…

Conventional Wisdom n n n ‘Intuitive physics’ Male-female differences in cognition ‘Crime is increasing’ ‘The world is flat’ So, conventional wisdom or common sense, except for things like ‘I should wear pants’ is pretty much useless

Religion n n Belief based on faith Seems to be designed for dealing with the metaphysical • Why are we here • What does it all mean n n One does not usually believe in God because of some bit of evidence or rigorous experimentation It is called faith for a reason

Legal Method n n n Getting at the truth based on the presentation of evidence Not all evidence is admissible Fairness is the key System is weighted Sometimes your defense is as good as your lawyer

Legal method n n Laws are based on what society sees as fair At one time the law said it was ok to smoke in public buildings We decided that it no longer was Try doing that with oh, Newton’s second law…

Scientific Method n n Takes a bit from each method Used for a certain set of problems For specific reasons too Started really in the late 1600 s or so, Newton, Bacon and others

Characteristics of Scientific thinking n Empiricism • Direct observation and experimentation n Objectivity • Rely on measurement • Carefully controlled measurement n No bias • Take results at face value

Characteristics continued n Testability • Popper’s falsifiability principle Predictions drawn from a theory must be specific enough to allow theory to be shown to be incorrect

Even more characteristics n Feasibility • Science deals with questions that are answerable using experimentation n Skepticism • Don’t believe it until you see it • Just because something seems right does not make it so • People who do not know what they are talking about see this as weakness of science n It is a strength, peer review is skepticism in practice

Key terms n Hypothesis • Statement about the relationship of variables n Independent variable • What you manipulate • Experimenter controlled n Dependent variable • Measured n n Note, there can be more than one IV and more than one DV Operational Definition • Defining a construct solely based on the operations used to measure it

Key Terms - Theory n n n We tend to say ‘just a theory’ like it’s a hunch It is different in science A set of statements that explain a variety of occurrences A good theory makes predictions, organizes data and is testable Theories change when new data show up to challenge them You CANNOT prove a theory, you can only disprove it

More terms, more excitement!!!! n Deduction • Going from theory to data n Induction • Going from data to theory • Tend to be more limited • Deduced ones are broader n Still the good ones are precise

Testing theories n n We test theories with many methods Correlational research • Measure two variables, see if they are related • Examples More smokes, more cncer n More IQ more money n Which way do they go? n • Impossible to tell

CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION

Observational Research n n Not just watching stuff happen Careful measurements • Still use operational definitions n Examples • Rosenhan (1975) ‘On being sane in insane places • Turnbull (1987) ‘ The Forest People’

Experimentation n n Have independent and dependent variables Manipulate IV, measure DV Control groups Double blind procedures

Making Causal Inferences n To say that X causes Y we need three things: • Temporal precedence • Covariation • Elimination of alternative explanations n n When we have an alternative explanation we call it a confound These can be avoided with careful design

Ethics n n n Research must be ethical Informed consent No coercion No deception unless necessary Debriefing There is a well established set of rules