5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology, 2014-2015 Edition

 51

Research Methods

IN THIS CHAPTER

Summary:In their scientific study of behavior and mental processes,

psychologists aim to describe, understand, predict, and explain psychological

phenomena.Theoriesare organized sets of concepts that explain phenomena.

Psychologists conduct research to answer behavioral questions. They system-

atically collect accurate data through a variety of carefully made observations

and measurements. Scientific experiments, naturalistic observations, interviews,

questionnaires, case studies, and psychological tests are some methods

psychologists use to explore our personalities, values, intelligence, talents, and

the effects of heredity and environment on our development. The scientific

method is a set of general procedures psychologists use for gathering and

interpreting data. Other researchers working independently must be able to

obtain similar results using the same methods; this is called replication.

This chapter examines research methods and statistics used to make sense

of research data.

Key Ideas

Experimental Method

The Controlled Experiment

Eliminating Confounding Variables

Quasi-experimental Research

Correlational Research

Naturalistic Observation

Survey and Test Methods

Case Study

Elementary Statistics

Descriptive Statistics

Measures of Central Tendency

Measures of Variability

KEY IDEA

CHAPTER

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