How Do Psychologists Ask and Answer Questions

​Theories - a potential explanation of behaviors or events by offering ideas that organize what we have observed

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​Use facts as a guiding tool with theories to see if they stand or if they don't

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​A good theory will have testable predictions - Hypotheses

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​Our theories can bias our observation

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​Operational definitions - a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures (operations) used in research study.

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​Replication - repeat the procedure step by step

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​Good Theory will have the following

​- Effectively organizes a range of self reports and observations

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​- Leads to clear predictions that anyone can use to check the theory

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​-often stimulates research that leads to a revised theory which better organizes and predicts what we know. OR

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​- Research can be replicated AND supported by similar findings

​Testing our hypothesis and refining our theories can be done through the following process

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​-Descriptive methods describe behaviors, often by using (as we will see) case studies, naturalistic observations, or surveys

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​-Correlational methods associate different factors (anything that contributes to a result)

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​- Experimental methods manipulate, or vary, factors to discover their effects