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Research Enterprise in

Psychology
Goals of scientific Enterprise
• The goals of scientific enterprise of psychology are:
1.To observe, m easure and describe a phenom enon.
2.To understand and m ake predictions.
3.Psychologists form hypotheses about how variables
interact. A hypothesis is a tentative statem ent of
prediction about the relationship betw een tw o or
m ore variables. Variables are the things that are
observed and controlled in a study.
4.To controland apply. Inform ation gathered by
scientists m ay be of som e practicalvalue in helping
to solve problem s in schools, business, m entalhealth
centers etc.
Steps in scientific investigation
•Step 1. M ake an O bservation
Before a researcher can begin, they m ust choose a topic to study. O nce an
area of interest has been chosen, the researchers m ust then conduct a
thorough review of the existing literature on the subject. This review w ill
provide valuable inform ation about w hat has already been learned about the
topic and w hat questions rem ain to be answ ered.
•Step 2. Ask a Q uestion
O nce a researcher has observed som ething and gained som e background
inform ation on the topic, the next step is to ask a question. The researcher w ill
form a hypothesis, w hich is an educated guess about the relationship betw een
tw o or m ore variables
For exam ple, a researcher m ight ask a question about the relationship betw een
sleep and academ ic perform ance. D o students w ho get m ore sleep perform
better on tests at school?
In order to form ulate a good hypothesis, it is im portant to think about diff
erent
questions you m ight have about a particular topic. You should also consider
how you could investigate the causes.
• Step 3. Test Your H ypothesis and C ollect D ata
O nce you have a solid hypothesis, the next step of the scientifi c m ethod is
to put this hunch to the test by collecting data. The exact m ethods used
to investigate a hypothesis depend on exactly w hat is being studied.
There are tw o basic form s of research that a psychologist m ight utilize
-descriptive research or experim entalresearch.
• Step 4. Exam ine the Results and D raw Conclusions
• O nce a researcher has designed the study and collected the data, it is
tim e to exam ine this inform ation and draw conclusions about w hat has
been found. U sing statistics, researchers can sum m arize the data,
analyze the results, and draw conclusions based on this evidence.
• Step 5. Report the Results
The fi n alstep in a psychology study is to report the fi
n dings. This is often
done by w riting up a description of the study and publishing the article
in an academ ic or professionaljournal. 
Advantages of Scientific Approach
• An advantage of applying the scientifi c m ethod to
psychology is that researchers have increased controlover
and can have standardized procedures, w hich increases the
researches’ reliability. e.g. Loftus and Palm er show ed the
sam e participants the sam e clips of the sam e car crash and
gave them the sam e questionnaires (apart from one
diff
ering leading question), and they w ere alltested in the
sam e environm ent. This helped ensure the reliability of
their eyew itness testim ony.
• The advantage of having scientifi c research in psychology is
that it generally m eans people are m ore likely to trust it as
science is seen as reliable. It also m eans researchers can
apply results to drug treatm ents and psychosurgery to treat
m entalillness. Increased validity and reliability can be
ensured as psychology uses m ethodologicalpluralism is
used – psychology has varied m ethods of m easuring
behavior.

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