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Research Methodoloogy in Psychology

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Discuss the science of psychology

Explain the scientific method

Distinguish between qualitative and quantitative data

Describe the process of scientific theory construction and testing

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Solution Summary

This solution discusses the fundamentals of resarch methodology including distinguishin g between qualitative and quantitative data.

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(a) Discussing the science of psychology

The science of psychology is referred to as a science focused on behavior. Psychology has a history in the discipline of philosophy (and religion to some degree) in which scientists speculated about the nature and identity of the human being. The role of psychology in the greater realm of science sought to answer questions regarding behavior and mental processes. For instance, different schools or thought developed in the field of psychology to understand the human being. Different sub-disciplines emerged within the psychology field that focused on the structure and function of the mind and body. Schools of thought developed depending on what area of psychology a researcher wished to study. For instance, the Personality psychologists would be interested in schools of thought that dealt with personality and/or abnormal behavior (e.g., Freud's psychoanalysis). The development psychologists concentrated on examining experiences that developed in infancy and childhood, and Cognitive psychologists studied processes as to how persons receive and store information (Brennan, 2002).

(b) Explaining the scientific method

The scientific method is focused on how to study and observe phenomena through research methodologies. The Research begins with questions and leads to strategies as to how to answer those questions. Thus, questions are developed to answer the questions through a workable hypothesis. A hypothesis is a ...

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