PSYB01H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Facilitated Communication, Pubmed, Serendipity
Document Summary
Motivation to conduct scientific research comes from a natural curiosity about the world. Most research studies are attempts to test a hypothesis=> a statement that makes an assertion about what is true in a particular situation; often, a statement asserting that 2 or more variables are related to one another. Data is then gathered and evaluated in terms of whether the evidence is consistent or inconsistent with the hypothesis. Sometimes hypotheses are stated as informal research questions. To develop a hypothesis a researcher begins with an idea there are 5 sources of ideas: common assumptions, observation of the world around us, practical problems, theories, and past research. Testing these assumptions is valuable b/c such notions don"t always turn out to be correct, or may be more complicated than believed forces us to go beyond a common-sense theory of behaviour. Taking a scientific approach to an everyday problem can lead to new discoveries and important applications.
