DP

Week 1 Discussion

In reference to the lecture powerpoint presentation and also the text reading and Scientific method Diagram, there are six steps in the approach of scientific study or branching disciplines, and psychology is no exception.

These six steps include observation, stating or defining a problem, proposing a hypothesis (or an educated guess) that can be tested, gathering evidence (data and results that can be collected through tests or experiments), publishing the results and finally, building a theory based on the gathered information from the tests performed.

It is important to begin with making observations, so that you can come up with ideas to help you identify a problem. This leads to the next step of defining a problem. You can identify and name a problem when you make an observation regarding something that causes you to ask a question like “why does this happen?” or “what causes this to occur?”

The next step is to propose a hypothesis. A hypothesis is “a tentative statement about, or explanation of, an event or relation-ship. In common terms, a hypothesis is a testable hunch or educated guess about behavior” (Coon, 2009, p. 20). An important thing to note when making a hypothesis is that it can be tested. From these tests, we should be able to gather results or evidence that either proves or disapproves the hypothesis, or provides for the reason to do further research. From this we publish the results to display and encourage others to do their own studies and test on the matter. And lastly, we can provide a theory based on the results and outcomes of the tests. “A theory acts a map of knowledge. Good theories summarize observations, explain them, and guide further research” (Coon, 2009, p.21).

Key things to remember:

“Hypothesis: the predicted outcome of an experiment or an educated guess about the relationship between variables.

Operational definition: Defining a scientific concept bby stating the specific actions or precedures used to measure it. For example, ‘hunger’ might be defined as ‘the number of hours of food deprivation.’

Theory: A system of ideas designed to interrelate concepts and facts in a way that summarizes existing data and predicts future observations” (Coon, 2009, p. 21).

REFERENCE

Coon, D. & Mitterer, J.O. (2009). Introduction to psychology: Gateways to mind and behavior with concept maps and reviews (12th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.