Deck 2: D: The Research Process: Ideas to Innovations

Question 1

Explain how a theory is different from a hypothesis.

Answer 1

A hypothesis is an educated prediction that provides a testable explanation of a phenomenon.A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world confirmed through repeated observation and experimentation.Hypotheses that are supported by data can become theories.

Question 2

When conducting a literature review,Carlita discovers conflicting information.How might she use this perplexing knowledge to further explore the phenomenon?

Answer 2

One method for generating a good research hypothesis is to consider matters of degree.This means that when thinking about a hypothesis it is often valuable to consider variables in terms of amounts rather than absolutes.Perhaps Carlita discovered that a variable can be beneficial,but at an extreme level it can be detrimental.This would mean that the matter of degree or amount of that variable influences its effect.Carlita can hypothesize the amount/intensity/degree at which that variable is optimally beneficial or at which it becomes detrimental.In this manner,her efforts to untangle the contradictory information would further the understanding of the variable under investigation.

Question 3

List and describe two ways to generate a good research hypothesis.

Answer 3

There are many strategies for generating good hypotheses.Some include: introspection - self-observation or reflecting on one's own thoughts and experiences to generate ideas;finding the exception to the rule - crafting a hypothesis that looks at outcomes that contradict established outcomes;matter of degree - considering how the amount of a variable,either in quantity,intensity,strength,volume,number,force,persistence,or effort,can change the relationship between variables;and change the directionality - thinking about ideas from both directions such that one variable may cause the other or vice versa.

Question 4

Carico wants to understand whether owning a sports car leads to reckless driving.Should he use an experimental or nonexperimental research design to investigate his research question?

Question 5

Martin wants to understand how academic performance may change as a student transitions from middle school to high school.How would he investigate this using a within-subjects research design?

Question 6

Why should individuals attend research conferences?

Question 7

Explain why literature searches using general search engines like Google and Bing are poor foundations for scientific investigations.

Question 8

Identify one time in your own life where you fell victim to the Barnum Effect.

Question 9

Marcy is a developmental psychologist interested in examining whether the number of presents a child receives for his/her birthday is related to how much the child misbehaves.Her hypothesis is that a children spoiled by too many presents will be more likely to act out negatively.If she designs an experimental study,what would be her independent variable and her dependent variable?

Question 10

Why don't researchers say "prove" when discussing their significant results?

Question 11

List and describe two characteristics of a good hypothesis.

Question 12

Riya would like to empirically test whether there is a heaven.Explain why this would NOT be a good research question.

Question 13

Preston hypothesizes that although children are unaware of it,they secretly harbor feelings of jealousy toward their parents.He conducts a research study examining children's self-reported jealousy toward each of their parents.Just as he expected,results of the children's self-report measures reveal no explicit jealousy toward their parents.Identify what is wrong with Preston's research hypothesis and detail why it is unsuitable for empirical investigation.

Question 14

Why might a researcher choose to use a nonexperimental design?

Question 15

Why do psychologists deal mainly in numbers?