PSYC 1010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Statistical Inference, Sampling Bias, Confounding

• School: York University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1010
• Professor: Myriam Mongrain

Document Summary

Step 1: formulate a testable hypothesis: translate a theory or an intuitive idea into a testable hypothesis, hypothesis are expressed as predictions, operational definitions, describes the actions/operations that will be used to measure /control a variable. Step 2: select method and study design: figure out how to put the hypothesis to an empirical test, various methods have advantages and disadvantages, e. g. experiments, case studies, surveys, naturalistic observation. Step 3: collect data: use a variety of data collection techniques, which are procedures for making empirical observation and measurements. Step 4: analyze data and draw conclusions: usually converted to numbers, use statistics to analyze their data and decide whether their hypothesis have been supported. Step 5: report the finding: final step is write a concise summary of the study and its findings. Journal: a periodical that publishes technical and scholarly material, usually in a narrowly defined area of inquiry, major strength of the scientific approach because it gradually takes out inaccurate findings.