WHY IS A METHOD/STATISTICS COURSE IMPORTANT?

·      It will assist you in other psychology classes because you will learn

How to conduct a study

How to evaluate other people’s studies

·      You may end up doing research after graduation

·      It will help you get into graduate school

·      It will help you become a knowledgeable consumer of research in terms of

Making better decisions about research claims

Being a more critical thinker

The difference between the method/statistics course and other psychology courses is the difference between process and content

A method/statistics course teaches you how to acquire knowledge (the process of acquisition is common in all courses). 

Other psychology courses differ in terms of the specific content areas each represents.

SCIENCE or SCIENTIFIC METHOD

A process of disciplined inquiry. A way of knowing based on empirical methods, methods based on experience.

OTHER SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE

AUTHORITY: Rely on information or answers from an expert.

INTUITION: Information is accepted on the basis of a hunch or “gut feeling.”

TENACITY: Information is accepted as true because it has always been believed or because superstition supports it.

RATIONAL METHOD: Seeks answers by the use of logical reasoning.

A PRIORI ASSUMPTIONS: Belief without prior study or examination. What everyone knows.

EMPIRICISM: Uses observation or direct sensory experience to obtain knowledge.

FIVE-STEP ANALYTIC PROCESS

1.  What am I being asked to believe?

2.  What evidence is available to support the assertion?

3.  Are there alternative ways of interpreting the evidence?

4.  What additional evidence would help to evaluate the alternatives?

5.     What conclusions are most reasonable (given the evidence available so far)?