BM CH1

• What does it mean to be an empiricist?

  It means basing one's conclusions on systematic observations
• How do scientists work?

  1) Act as empiricists

  2) Test theories through research and in turn revise theories based on resulting data

  3) Follow norms in scientific community

  4) Take empirical approach to both applied research and basic research

  5) Make their work public
• Define empiricism


  Involves using evidence from the senses or from instruments that assist the senses as the basis for conclusion
• What happens in the theory-data cycle?

  Scientists collect data to test, change or update their theories
• What is a theory?

  A set of statements - as simple as possible - that describes general principles about how variables relate to one another
• What is a hypothesis?

  It's stated in terms of the study design. It's the specific outcome the researcher will observe in a study if the theory is accurate
• What is data?


  A set of observations
• What does it mean for hypothesis to be preregistered?

  After the study is designed but before collecting any data, the researcher states publicly what the study's outcome is expected to be
• What do scientists say instead of 'prove'?

  They say that a study's data 'support' or are 'consistent with' a theory
• What does replication mean?

  Means that the study is conducted again to test whether the result is consistent. Scientists therefore evaluate their theories based on the weight of the evidence - the collection of studies, including replications
• What does falsifiability mean?

  A theory should lead to hypotheses that when tested, could fail to support the theory
• Recall Merton's scientific norms

  Universalism, communality, disinterestedness, organised skepticism
• Define universalism


  Scientific claims are evaluated according to their merit, independent of the researcher's credentials or reputation. The same preestablished criteria apply to all scientists and all research
• Define communality


  Scientific knowledge is created by a community and its findings belong to the community
• Define disinterestedness


  Scientists strive to sicker the truth, whatever that is; they are not swayed by conviction, idealism, politics or profit
• Define organised skepticism


  Scientists question everything, including their own theories, widely accepted ideas, and "ancient wisdom"
• What are the benefits of falsification?

  By being open to falsification and skeptically testing every assumption, science can become self-correcting: that is, it discovers its own mistaken theories and corrects them
• How is applied research done?

  With a practical problem in mind and the researchers conduct their work in a local, real-world context
• What is the goal of basic research?

  To enhance to general body of knowledge rather than to address a specific, practical problem
• What is translational research?

  The use of lessons from basic research to develop and test applications to health care, psychotherapy, or other forms of treatment and intervention. It represents a dynamic bridge from basic to applied research
• What is the difference between popular-newsstand magazines and articles in a scientific journal?

  The articles in a scientific journal are peer-reviewed