Читать книгу Methods in Psychological Research - Annabel Ness Evans - Страница 35

The method of science involves logical steps toward finding truth. The steps are as follows:

1 Assume a natural cause for the phenomenon (i.e., determinism)

2 Make an educated guess about the cause (i.e., generate a testable hypothesis)

3 Test your guess

4 Revise your hypothesis

5 Retest your guess

6 Make a conclusion

Consider a psychology student who lives in a small town in southern Alabama. She has noticed that people of the town often visit a recluse who lives outside of town when they have aches and pains. The townspeople believe that the recluse is a witch who has supernatural healing powers. Our psychology student decides to apply the scientific method to assess the beliefs of the townspeople. (This example is a variation on one given by Willie Runquist, the PhD supervisor of Annabel Evans.)

 Step 1. She assumes that there is a natural explanation for her observation that the townspeople do appear to feel better after they visit the witch.

 Step 2. She has noticed that the witch always gives the townspeople a potion to drink when they visit, and she assumes that the potion contains something medicinal. She has discovered that the potion contains eye of newt, desiccated bat wings, and ground poppy seeds. She decides that the eye of newt might be the active medicinal ingredient.

 Step 3. She finds a way to substitute an inert substance for the witch’s supply of eye of newt. For the next week, she observes the effects of the potion on the visitors. She finds that they report that they feel better as often as they did before she made the substitution.

 Step 4. She revises her hypothesis and systematically replaces the bat wing ingredient and the poppy seed ingredient.

 Step 5. She observes that the townspeople no longer report that they feel better after visiting the witch when the poppy seeds have been replaced.

 Step 6. She concludes that poppy seeds have a medicinal quality that promotes feelings of well-being.