| Chapter 1: Psychology as a Science (continued) To maintain a high degree of objectivity, we use: Operational definitions: precise definitions that allow the measurement of an abstract concept. Theories: possible explanations for an observed event. Hypotheses: precise predictions of the outcome of the study. In experiments we: Manipulate the Independent Variable Observe its effects on the Dependent Variable Correlational studies allow the study of the relationships between variables. A correlation of 0 means that there is no relationship A positive correlation means that the variables change in the same direction A negative correlation means that the variables change in opposite directions We cannot infer causation from correlations because of the directionality and 3rd variable problems. |
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