PSYC 308 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Level Of Measurement, Caffeine, Naturalistic Observation
Document Summary
Theory : an organized set of principles that can be used to explain observed phenomena. Also lays out predictions that others can test. Refining theory = determining boundary conditions, expanding explainable phenomena . Hypothesis: testable statement or idea about the relationship between two or more variables. Correlational (ex: to modified the relationship hit and aggression ) Unit of analysis: personal experience and open-ended responses. Allow for effects and differences to be measurable and tangible. Allow us to perform statistical analyses to draw more firm conclusions. Limits understanding of behaviours and thoughts to numerical representations of them. Allow for in-depth verbal understanding of human behaviour. Escapes issues related to distilling thoughts and behaviours into numbers. Conclusions drawn may be due to random chance or personal biases. Can be extremely time-consuming and difficult to interpret. Obtain/gather/record information from people in the field (anywhere not in the lab) The observer is participating along with the people being observed.
