Introduction to Research Methods and the Scientific Method
Methods of Acquiring Knowledge
Methods of acquiring knowledge are defined as the various ways in which a person can know things or discover answers to questions. While behavioral scientists focus on the scientific method, other nonscientific methods are frequently used and have specific characteristics and limitations.
The Method of Tenacity
Definition: Information is accepted as true because it has always been believed or because superstition supports it.
Basis: It is founded on habit or superstition. Habit leads individuals to continue believing something simply because they have always believed it, a concept often referred to as belief perseverance.
Examples:
Cliches: "You cannot teach an old dog new tricks" and "Opposites attract."
Superstitions: Breaking a mirror results in years of bad luck; avoiding walking under a ladder; avoiding black cats.
Practical uses: Advertisers use repetition (e.g., the fast-food jingle "I'm lovin' it") to encourage consumers to accept slogans as true through frequent exposure.
Personal rituals: Athletes wearing "lucky socks" or students using a "lucky pencil" for exams.
Limitations:
Inaccuracy: Clichés like "old dogs cannot learn" are often false (research shows the elderly can learn), and research suggests people are actually attracted to those similar to themselves, not opposites.
Lack of Correction: There is no mechanism for correcting erroneous ideas, even when contrary evidence is present.
The Method of Intuition
Definition: Information is accepted on the basis of a hunch or "gut feeling."
Basis: Relying on instinct or subtle cues (e.g., sensing a friend is having a bad day without being told).
Examples: Making personal choices such as what to have for dinner or whether to stay in or go out; resolving ethical or moral questions; psychics' predictions.
Benefit: It is often the quickest way to obtain answers when no data or rational justification is available.
Limitations: It provides no mechanism for separating accurate knowledge from inaccurate knowledge.
The Method of Authority
Definition: A person relies on information or answers from an expert in the subject area.
Basis: Seeking out experts directly or via libraries, websites (e.g., "Googling it"), or media.
Examples: Consulting physicians, scientists, stockbrokers, or lawyers.
The Method of Faith: A variant of the method of authority where people have unquestioning trust in an authority figure (e.g., children's faith in parents, religious followers' faith in sacred texts or clergy) and accept information without doubt.
Limitations:
Bias: Experts can be biased toward a specific orientation (e.g., political differences between Democrats and Republicans).
Subjectivity: "Expert" knowledge may actually be personal opinion (e.g., conflicting movie reviews).
Generalization Error: Assuming expertise in one area applies elsewhere (e.g., famous athletes selling soup; Linus Pauling, a Nobel-winning chemist, claiming Vitamin C cures colds despite scientific evidence to the contrary).
Unquestioned Acceptance: People may fail to check accuracy or seek second opinions.
False Experts: Media "experts" on talk shows may lack the actual credentials or training for their claims.
The Rational Method (Rationalism)
Definition: Seeking answers via logical reasoning.
Components:
Premise Statements: Facts or assumptions presumed to be true.
Argument: A set of premise statements logically combined to yield a conclusion.
Example (The Dog Case):
Premise 1: Having a frightening experience with a dog causes fear of dogs.
Premise 2: Amy has a fear of dogs.
Conclusion: Amy had a frightening experience with a dog in her past.
Example (The Football Case - Demonstrating Invalidity):
Premise 1: Violent head-to-head contact in football causes concussions.
Premise 2: John has a concussion.
Conclusion: John experienced violent contact in a football game. (This is invalid, as the concussion could have other causes).
Limitations:
Conclusion truth depends entirely on the truth of premises; if a premise is incorrect, the conclusion cannot be trusted.
Humans are generally poor at logical reasoning and often struggle to judge the validity of a logical argument.
The Empirical Method (Empiricism)
Definition: Using observation or direct sensory experience (seeing, hearing, tasting, etc.) to obtain knowledge.
Basis: Knowledge is acquired through the senses.
Examples: Checking a car's oil level with a dipstick; weighing students on a scale; knowing it is warmer in summer than winter.
Limitations:
Sensory Deception: The Horizontal-Vertical Illusion (where a vertical line appears longer than an equal-length horizontal line).
Influence of Prior Beliefs: Expectations can alter perception (e.g., enjoying a meal until told it consists of "fried worms").
Misinterpretation: Seeing the sun "rise" and "set" led to the incorrect conclusion that the sun orbits the Earth.
Practicality: Can be time-consuming or dangerous (e.g., testing if backyard mushrooms are poisonous via consumption).
The Scientific Method
The scientific method is an approach to acquiring knowledge that involves formulating specific questions and systematically finding answers. It combines elements of other methods to avoid their individual pitfalls.
Step 1: Observe Behavior or Other Phenomena
Begins with casual or informal observations or reading others' research.
Induction (Inductive Reasoning): Using a relatively small set of specific observations as the basis for forming a general statement about a larger set of possible observations. (e.g., eating sour green apples and concluding all green apples are sour).
Step 2: Form a Tentative Answer or Explanation (Hypothesis)
Variables: Characteristics or conditions that change or have different values for different individuals (e.g., height, personality, weather).
Hypothesis: A statement that describes or explains a relationship between or among variables. It is a tentative proposal to be tested, not a final answer.
Step 3: Use the Hypothesis to Generate a Testable Prediction
Taking the hypothesis and applying it to a specific, observable, real-world situation.
Deduction (Deductive Reasoning): Using a general statement as the basis for reaching a conclusion about specific examples.
Testability: A prediction must be able to be demonstrated as correct or incorrect via direct observation.
Step 4: Evaluate the Prediction with Systematic Observations
The research or data collection phase. Observations must be systematic and performed under specified conditions to rule out alternative explanations.
Step 5: Use Observations to Support, Refute, or Refine the Original Hypothesis
Comparing actual observations with predictions. Agreement supports the hypothesis; lack of agreement refutes it.
The process is circular/spiral: results often lead back to Step 2 to refine the hypothesis or generate new questions.
Principles of the Scientific Method
Empirical: Answers are obtained through structured, systematic observations. Verification is required regardless of how "obvious" a fact may seem.
Public: Observations are made available for evaluation by others via journals or conferences. This facilitates Replication (repetition of observations to verify findings) and peer review.
Objective: Observations are structured so that researcher biases (often stemming from personal theories) do not influence results. Researchers may use "blind" procedures to stay uninformed of certain details to prevent contamination.
Science versus Pseudoscience
Pseudoscience is a system of ideas often presented as science but lacking essential scientific components (e.g., aromatherapy, astrology, intelligent design).
Key Differences:
Refutability: Science uses testable and refutable hypotheses. Pseudoscience discounts negative results or explains them away without modifying the core theory.
Evidence: Science requires objective, unbiased evidence. Pseudoscience relies on testimonials and anecdotal reports, often handpicking successes while ignoring failures.
Change: Science is constantly evolving and challenging its own theories. Pseudoscience is stagnant and treats criticism as a personal attack.
Grounding: Science is grounded in past scientific theories and empirical support. Pseudoscience creates new disciplines unconnected to established science, often using vaguely scientific jargon.
Qualitative and Quantitative Research
Quantitative Research
Definition: Based on measuring variables for individual participants to obtain scores, usually numerical values, which are submitted to statistical analysis.
Examines variables that vary in quantity (size, magnitude, duration, amount).
Qualitative Research
Definition: Based on making observations that are summarized and interpreted in a narrative report.
Involves interaction and intensive note-taking rather than numerical scores.
Examples: Dian Fossey (mountain gorillas); Thigpen and Cleckley (multiple-personality disorder); Jean Piaget (child development).
The 10 Steps of the Research Process
Find a Research Idea: Select a topic and search the literature to find an unanswered question.
Form a Hypothesis: Propose a tentative answer to the research question.
Define and Measure Variables: Determine the specific procedures to define and measure all variables (transforming the hypothesis into a testable prediction).
Identify Participants/Subjects: Decide who will participate (human participants or nonhuman subjects), how many are needed, and plan for their ethical treatment.
Select a Research Strategy: Choose the general approach (e.g., experimental vs. correlational) based on the question and ethical constraints.
Select a Research Design: Choose specific methods (e.g., between-subjects vs. within-subjects).
Conduct the Study: Collect the data either in a laboratory or the field.
Evaluate the Data: Use descriptive and inferential statistics to interpret results.
Report the Results: Make findings public so they can be part of the knowledge base and be replicated.
Refine or Reformulate Your Research Idea: Use results to generate new questions, test boundaries, or investigate underlying mechanisms.