PSY 205 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Operational Definition, Dependent And Independent Variables, Naturalistic Observation

• School: Syracuse University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 205
• Professor: Shannon Houck

Document Summary

Section 2. 1: goals of the scientific enterprise. Measurement and description develop measurement techniques that make it possible to describe behavior clearly and precisely. Understanding and prediction understand events when they can explain the reasons for their occurrence, making and testing predictions. Application and control applying research findings to practical problems. Be able to identify these from an example. Hypothesis tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables. Theory system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations: steps in a scientific investigation. Familiarize yourself with each of the 5 basic steps. Step 2 select the research method and design the study. Step 4 analyze the data and draw conclusions. Be able to identify an operational definition if given an example. Operational definition describes the actions or operations that will be used to measure or control a variable: advantages of a scientific approach. Clarity and precision enhance communication about important ideas.