PSYCO347 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Random Assignment, Experiment, Statistical Significance

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCO347
• Professor: Jennifer Passey

Document Summary

Before any investigation can begin, the researcher must first generate a hypothesis (a testable prediction about the relationship between two or more variables. If there isn"t enough existing info to generate the hypothesis, the researcher will instead propose a more general research question that clearly specifies the variables of interest but does not make specific predictions about the associations among them. Some studies include both a hypothesis and research question, these can stem from a researcher"s personal experiences. Most hypotheses and research questions are more commonly derived from existing research and theory. Essential feature for both is that it is testable. Variables must be specified that are being explored. Before and predictions about these variables can be tested, each variable must be precisely defined or operationalized. Operational definition- is an exact, specific and concrete definition of how the researcher chose to conceptualize and measure the variable.