Chapter 1
Introduction to Scientific Method
Learning Objectives
To be able to
Explain what knowledge is and how it is obtained.
Describe the current conception of science and describe its history.
Understand the basic assumptions underlying scientific research.
Describe the characteristics of the scientific research and understand why each of these
is necessary.
Explain the difference between logic of discovery and logic of justification.
Describe the characteristics that typify the person who is adept at pursuing scientific
research.
Describe the objectives of scientific research.
Differentiate pseudoscience from scientific research.
Multiple-choice questions
1) Which of the following is NOT a good reason for psychology students to take a research
methods course?
a) It will allow you to become a better consumer of the scientific literature
* b) It requires more rigorous thinking than is typically found in other psychology
courses
c) The content of psychology courses is typically based on scientific findings
d) You need to be able to evaluate the adequacy of the many claims you encounter
daily
,2) Jackie's friend tells her what to do in her personal life based on her "gut instincts.” A
more formal name for this source of knowledge is
a) rationalism.
b) hypothesis testing.
c) appeal to authority.
* d) intuition.
3) If you accept your physician’s explanation for your illness without researching your
condition or asking how she came to her conclusion, you are relying on ___________ as a
source of knowledge.
* a) authority
b) reason
c) intuition
d) science
4) After every trip Pete takes to the automatic carwash he finds a new ding in his car. He
concludes that this automatic carwash damages cars. He is relying on what source of
knowledge?
a) Intuition
b) Rationalism
* c) Empiricism
d) Science
5) One approach to gaining knowledge is known as ___________ and involves using reasoning
to acquire knowledge.
a) determinism
b) logic of discovery
* c) rationalism
d) naturalism
,6) Tom was experiencing dizziness just before he ate his lunch and noted that after he
started eating his dizziness disappeared. From this he inferred that dizziness was due to a
lack of nutrition and whenever someone complained of dizziness he encouraged them to
eat. His inference that dizziness is due to lack of nutrition demonstrates what reasoning
process?
a) deduction
b) hypothesis testing
* c) induction
d) naturalism
7) Which of the following is the best example of using inductive reasoning?
a) Developing a hypothesis based on an established theory
b) Developing a theory of aggression based on your observation of children
* c) Predicting a child’s level of aggression after they play video games
d) Developing a theory based on intuition
8) Suzy was working on her doctoral dissertation and in her social psychology class she
learned that social facilitation, or the presence of others, influences performance. Based on
this information she hypothesized that a person would run faster when running in a group
of people than when running alone. In forming this hypothesis, Suzy used what type of
reasoning process?
* a) Deduction
b) Naturalism
c) Social rationalism
d) Induction
9) __________ was a philosophical approach that influenced the development of the scientific
method because of its emphasis on verifying scientific information through experience or
observation.
, * a) Logical positivism
b) Falsificationism
c) Rationalism
d) Revolutionary science
10) Karl Popper advocated a deductive approach to science that focused on attempting to
disprove hypotheses. His approach is known as
a) logical positivism
* b) falsificationism
c) determinability
d) naturalism
11) Logical positivists advocated ________________ as an important scientific method.
a) induction
b) deduction
* c) hypothesis testing
d) naturalism
12) If, in your attempt to study science, you took an empirical approach you would take the
approach which has come to be known as
a) revolutionary science.
b) logical positivism.
c) falsificationism.
* d) naturalism.
13) In the past there were a group of psychologists that were known as behaviorists
because the approach they advocated was bound by a set of beliefs regarding the way
behavior or responses are acquired and changed. These psychologists took the position
Introduction to Scientific Method
Learning Objectives
To be able to
Explain what knowledge is and how it is obtained.
Describe the current conception of science and describe its history.
Understand the basic assumptions underlying scientific research.
Describe the characteristics of the scientific research and understand why each of these
is necessary.
Explain the difference between logic of discovery and logic of justification.
Describe the characteristics that typify the person who is adept at pursuing scientific
research.
Describe the objectives of scientific research.
Differentiate pseudoscience from scientific research.
Multiple-choice questions
1) Which of the following is NOT a good reason for psychology students to take a research
methods course?
a) It will allow you to become a better consumer of the scientific literature
* b) It requires more rigorous thinking than is typically found in other psychology
courses
c) The content of psychology courses is typically based on scientific findings
d) You need to be able to evaluate the adequacy of the many claims you encounter
daily
,2) Jackie's friend tells her what to do in her personal life based on her "gut instincts.” A
more formal name for this source of knowledge is
a) rationalism.
b) hypothesis testing.
c) appeal to authority.
* d) intuition.
3) If you accept your physician’s explanation for your illness without researching your
condition or asking how she came to her conclusion, you are relying on ___________ as a
source of knowledge.
* a) authority
b) reason
c) intuition
d) science
4) After every trip Pete takes to the automatic carwash he finds a new ding in his car. He
concludes that this automatic carwash damages cars. He is relying on what source of
knowledge?
a) Intuition
b) Rationalism
* c) Empiricism
d) Science
5) One approach to gaining knowledge is known as ___________ and involves using reasoning
to acquire knowledge.
a) determinism
b) logic of discovery
* c) rationalism
d) naturalism
,6) Tom was experiencing dizziness just before he ate his lunch and noted that after he
started eating his dizziness disappeared. From this he inferred that dizziness was due to a
lack of nutrition and whenever someone complained of dizziness he encouraged them to
eat. His inference that dizziness is due to lack of nutrition demonstrates what reasoning
process?
a) deduction
b) hypothesis testing
* c) induction
d) naturalism
7) Which of the following is the best example of using inductive reasoning?
a) Developing a hypothesis based on an established theory
b) Developing a theory of aggression based on your observation of children
* c) Predicting a child’s level of aggression after they play video games
d) Developing a theory based on intuition
8) Suzy was working on her doctoral dissertation and in her social psychology class she
learned that social facilitation, or the presence of others, influences performance. Based on
this information she hypothesized that a person would run faster when running in a group
of people than when running alone. In forming this hypothesis, Suzy used what type of
reasoning process?
* a) Deduction
b) Naturalism
c) Social rationalism
d) Induction
9) __________ was a philosophical approach that influenced the development of the scientific
method because of its emphasis on verifying scientific information through experience or
observation.
, * a) Logical positivism
b) Falsificationism
c) Rationalism
d) Revolutionary science
10) Karl Popper advocated a deductive approach to science that focused on attempting to
disprove hypotheses. His approach is known as
a) logical positivism
* b) falsificationism
c) determinability
d) naturalism
11) Logical positivists advocated ________________ as an important scientific method.
a) induction
b) deduction
* c) hypothesis testing
d) naturalism
12) If, in your attempt to study science, you took an empirical approach you would take the
approach which has come to be known as
a) revolutionary science.
b) logical positivism.
c) falsificationism.
* d) naturalism.
13) In the past there were a group of psychologists that were known as behaviorists
because the approach they advocated was bound by a set of beliefs regarding the way
behavior or responses are acquired and changed. These psychologists took the position
