Unit 0: Science Practices and Research Methods Vocabulary

Scientific Attitude

An approach characterized by three major characteristics: curiosity, skepticism, and humility.

Roadblocks to Critical Thinking

Three obstacles identified by Myers: hindsight bias, overconfidence, and perceiving patterns in random events.

Hindsight Bias

Also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon; the tendency for people to believe that they would have foreseen an outcome after already learning what it was.

Peer Reviewers

Individuals who check a study's theory, originality, and accuracy to help decide whether the study should be published.

Theory

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory.

Falsifiability

The possibility that an idea, hypothesis, or theory can be disproven by observation or experiment.

Operational Definition

Carefully worded statements describing the exact research procedures (operations) used in a study.

Replication

Repeating the essence of a research study, using different participants, materials, and circumstances, to see whether the basic finding can be reproduced.

Case Study

A non-experimental technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

Naturalistic Observation

A non-experimental technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation.

Survey

A non-experimental technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group.

Social Desirability Bias