Introductory Psychology Open Course: Unit 2
Research Methods in Psychology
In this unit we'll look at the importance of research methods in psychology, terms and concepts for statistics and data analysis, and the ethical implications of conducting research.
Unique challenges of psychological research
Why science requires skepticism & humility
How biases influence observation
Operational definitions and why they matter
Case studies & Survey approaches
Difference between a population and a sample
Correlational studies & thinking about causation
The third variable problem for correlational research
How the experimental method addresses the 3rd variable problem
How testable hypotheses allow us to refine or refute general theories
Finding central tendency using mean, median, and mode
Measures of how much scores differ in a sample
Visualizing how scores are distributed in a sample or population
Basic introduction to statistical significance and p-values
Assessing the internal validity of a study
Assessing the external or ecological validity of a study
Ethical guidelines & considerations in psychological research
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