PS102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Central Tendency, Standard Deviation, Frequency Distribution
Document Summary
Scientific theories and hypotheses: theory- explains and predicts observed phenomena , hypothesis- falsifiable and testable prediction confirmation , data- systematic observation (leads back to theory) Methods to achieve the goals: naturalistic and laboratory observations- playground versus big brother, case studies- special samples (e. g. genie in linguistic isolation, surveys- big samples/ self- report, quasi experiments, experiments. Analyzing data descriptive statistics: summarize actual study data, determine correlations (if there is a relationship between the variables) inferential. Statistics: extend conclusions to larger populations, determine the hypothesis has been supported or if there is a meaningful difference between the groups. Strength of a correlation: number- higher the number the stronger the correlation, the positive or negative reflects direction not strength, 0 to 1= positive and -1 to 0= negative. Why correlation studies: because you can have access to two pieces of information but may not be able to manipulate the variables, correlation is not causation (figure 2-7, experimental design (figure 2-4)
