Scientific Method
The scientific method is how psychologists gain knowledge about the mind and behavior. It is used by all scientists. The experimental method is the one way to engage the scientific method, and the only way to find a cause and effect in relationships. It is summarized in five steps, observing some phenomenon in the world, forming a hypothesis which is an educated prediction about relationships between two or more variables, examining the gathered information by using empirical research, determining what the results are and drawing them, and evaluating the results whether it will support the hypothesis or not. Researchers, at the end, submit their work for publication for all to see and read (King, 2016). There are three types of psychological research in the scientific method, descriptive research, correlation, and experimental research (King, 2016). The article The Effects of Negative Body Talk in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of College Students (Katrevich, Register, & Aruguete, 2014) is an example of the experimental method.
Experimental research is the one type of research that allows psychologists to make causal statements. It is where the researcher changes one or more variables that may have an effect on some other variables (King, 2016). The hypothesis is a specific expectation about what is going to happen in the experiment (King, 2016). In the research, the hypothesis was that women would perceive fat talk to be more socially acceptable than men (Katrevich et al., 2014). The other elements of experimental method are dependent and independent variables. The independent variable (IV) is the cause of the results, and it is changed by the experimenter to find the effects, but the dependent vari...
... middle of paper ...
...periment (King, 2016).
In the final step of evaluating conclusions, the research community makes an active conversation about what they have discovered, and they write down details about the study. Then, they publish their work in various types of journal in order to let others read and learn from them. In the Katrevich et al. (2014) study, the conclusions were published in North American Journal of Psychology. In this way, scientists can figure out a new idea to be tested or one that will change the thinking about some topics (King, 2016).
References
Katrevich, A. V., Register, J. D., & Aruguete, M. S. (2014). The effects of negative body talk in an ethnically diverse sample of college students. North American Journal of Psychology, 16(1), 43-
52.
King, Laura A. Experience Psychology. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2016. Print.
This essay examines the advantages and disadvantages of using a method primarily for gathering research on human subjects that can be examined for later use. It will give a basic outline of the methods of investigation, their uses and their suitability. I will also look at the scientific method as a whole and examine the criticisms of this method using the writings of Hume and Popper.
Hass, Cheryl J., et al. "An Intervention for the Negative Influence of Media on Body Esteem." College Student Journal 46.2 (2012): 405-418. Academic Search Complete. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
Psychology is a type of science because psychologists share a basic assumption with all other scientists. Psychology methods can range from simple to complex. There are several research methods in psychology, and the outcome is relatively different for each. Each method studies and tests different situations. “The goals of psychologist are to make predictions about the conditions that gave rise to them, and then use that knowledge to predict and possibly to control events in the future”. (Stephen F.Davis, 2007)
Several factors can affect the actual results of an experiment. Among them are experimental and subject bias. Experimental bias concerns anything that misconstrues the experimenter's comprehension of the relationship between the dependent and independent variable (Feldman, 1999). Subject bias is the tendency of the subject to behave atypically. The double-blind procedure evades experimental and subject bias as the experimenter evaluates results unbiased as the experimenter is uninformed about whether the subject has received the actual treatment or the placebo and the subject will behave normally as they do not know if they have received the actual treatment or the pseudotreatment, the placebo. Therefore, the results and any distinctions among the control and experimental groups are clearly based on the independent variable and has to be the effect of the treatment. For example, in an experiment to evaluate a drug that encourages engagement in conversations, after administering the drugs to the experimental group and the placebo to the control group, the experimenters talk with participants and evaluate the conversation's degree of excellence which are not easy to assess. Thus, the experimenter might be biased and unintentionally give the participants in the experimental group better evaluations because they know that this group has been administered the real drug (Carlson & Buskit, 1997).
The scientific method is an organized way to answer questions. The first step is to state the problem in a question, like “what happens to a person’s heart rate when they watch a movie?” The next step is to research things that would be helpful in resources like the internet, magazines, interviews, and books. Once information is researched, a hypothesis should be formed, usually in an if-then statement. For example, one could say, “If a person’s heart rate is 70 bpm, then his/her heartbeat will raise higher than that when watching a scary movie.” After, one must write the procedures down so that other people can repeat the experiment. Then it is time to test the hypothesis by doing the experiment. After gathering the data from the experiment, it has to be analyzed to draw a conclusion. If the results of the scary movie experiment show that a person’s heart rate increases over 70 bpm, then
Over the years, whenever a psychologist is undertaking an experiment, their goal is to discover and to experiment what the hypothesis, independent and dependent variables are of the experiment. Throughout this essay, I will be explaining what each of these terms mean and looking into an experiment and outlining what the hypothesis, independent and dependent variables are.
In the criminal justice system it is imperative to understand why crime occurs in order to prevent them from happening. Researchers look for the cause of crime and experimental research is considered the best when determining cause and effect relationships. However, causality can never actually be proven only be hypothesized to a certain degree. Experimental research is used a top standard for the evaluation of other research methods as they are able to control the validity of the research both internal and external. Internal validity is the accuracy within the study itself while external validity is the ability to say the outcome is applicable to other groups. There are three main types of experimental research designs classical
Experimental method allows researchers to have control over the variables of which they are studying. Researchers introduce a new change to whatever they are studying and monitor the effects it may have. Researchers are basically looking at cause and effect, looking at different influences on the variable. There are two different variables the dependent and independent. An example of an experimental study could be like in the video the effects of eating fast food and weight gain. The dependent variable would be gaining weight and the independent variable would be the amount of fast food you eat. So in the study you can change the independent variable like the amount of fast food you eat in a day or in a week. If the dependent variable changes depending on the independent, you can see the effect of the fast food having on your body.
The first method to be discussed and analysed are experimental methods. There is a variety of experimental methods including; laboratory, field and natural experiments. These methods are the most scientific method due to them being highly objective and systematic. In addition, this method is regarded as the most powerful research method used in psychology because of the potential to investigate the causes of events and therefore, identifying the cause and effect relationship. When carrying out an experiment the researcher intervenes directly in the situation being investigated. The researcher manipulates an independent variable (IV) in order to investigate whether there is a change in the dependent variable (DV). Any other variables that could have an
Medical studies performed are most commonly about drugs and their effects on people. Equipment, emotions, and relationships are all subjects of studies and experiments. Psychological studies are being held every day, by psychologists and aspiring ones alike. Any idea that someone has about two things interacting in some way can be the subject of a study. There are many different types of including clinical trials, case-control studies, cohort studies, and laboratory trials. The studies can be simple as a taking a survey or prolonged interaction with a stimulus in a controlled setting.
In this paper, the discussions focus on the purpose, advantages, and disadvantages of conducting experimental designs, importance of internal and external validity claims, define what is/are control, control groups, confound, cause, and how correlation and causation are related. Finally, concluding with specific questions identified for this assignment.
Experimental research gives out solid evidence of change in an independent variables casus differences in dependent variables but, non-experimental does not. This makes distinction in between experimental and non-experimental research. Generally experimental research is suitable for a specific research question or hypothesis about a causal relationship between two variables and if it is possible, feasible and ethical to manipulate the independent variables (Bushman, 2001). But, if these conditions are not met, non-experimental research is suitable and
Research is to find information and solve problem systematic and logically. In psychology, scientific research method is implemented to approach and reveal knowledge in better understanding of our human mind and behaviour. This research is known as basic research. Applied research is to solve and analysis on psychological problem. Psychology research is needed to identify the problem and find solution to solve problem encounter. These two researches are main category of research have done in psychology field. This scientific research psychology is usually carried out by the person with doctoral of philosophy and master’s degree holder in psychology area such as cognitive neuroscience, cognitive psychology and development psychology. There are 5 steps in doing psychological scientific research which are make a research question, empirical study, data analysis, make a conclusion and refer literature (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1).
Experimental psychology can be defined as the implementation of laboratory techniques that are used to investigate subjects about mind and behavior, such as memory, critical thinking, learning, and many more. Experimental psychologist will tend to focus on just one experiment at a time. Some of these experimental psychologists spend their whole lives on just one complex experiment. These experiments include all branches of psychology from behavioral, cognitive, educational, clinical, and many more. Without experimental psychology, we might not even still have psychology as a science today. Experimental psychology has impacted the progression made in this field of science and has given us so much information and helped us with many aspects of psychology such as diagnosing, pharmacological treatments and cognitive-behavior treatments.
Scientific methods refer to calculated research methodology that identifies a problem, provision of relevant data and a process of formulating the hypothesis based on experiments. The scientific method also involves systematic observation and testing of a specific hypothesis. Scientific methods constitute essential science experiments. The systematic methods are, used to determine naturally occurring phenomenon. This is a useful tool in explaining specific questions while maintain the area of focus. Scientific methods establish objective within the field of study. This enables the elimination of bias evidence within a discussion topic. The scientific methods allows for power control (Kosso, 2011). The experiments examined in a laboratory enable illustrations of casual relationships. The scientific advantages include permission to replication. The preservation of a given laboratory condition for future references. This is advantageous for a verification of given experiments and observation. The proof of the outcomes within the laboratory test affirms original facts of the same results.