Research Methodology.
Research involves two steps: Generating scientific hypothesis & testing hypohtesis.
Generating Hypothesis:
Hypothesis: a statement that can be tested - about the topic of interest
Eg: Adolescents tend to be more moodier than children or adults
How to generate hypothesis: by general observation
It also helps to be very familiar with the relevant scientific literature
Research Methodology:
Literature: previously published books and articles about the topic of interest
Often the most imp source of SCIENTIFIC HYPOTHESES, is SCIENTIFIC THEORY - an interrelated set of propositions about a particular phenomenon
Example of hypothesis
Hypothesis: sexual orientation may depend on GENETIC PREDISPOSITION toward heterosexuality or homosexuality
This leads to testable scientific hypothesis that Pairs of Identical twins who have identical genes- should be more likely to have same sexual orientation than pairs of Fraternal twins, who share only about HALF their genes
A competing theory emphasizes CHILDHOOD EVENTS as the source of individual's sexual orientation.....
....and generate a competing set of hypotheses that can also be tested
Competing hypothesis is important to advance our scientific knowledge
Scientific methods
Scientific means "the research METHOD used to collect the data are:
* Unbiased (do not favor one hypothesis over another)
* Reliable (other qualified people can repeat the observation and obtain the same result).
We discuss two methods Quantitative and Qualitative.
Experiments.
Most powerful scientific method:
They provide the strongest tests of hypotheses about CAUSE & EFFECTS
The investigator carefully CONTROLS conditions - often in a laboratory - and takes MEASUREMENTS in order to discover CASUAL RELATIONSHIPS among VARIABLES
For Eg: the hypothesis is that individuals perform better on a math performance if they are offered more money for good performance
The experimenter might randomly assign participants to one of the three conditions: Group A: $10, Group B:$5 Group C:...