After you have successfully completed this unit, you will be able to:
• Define a theory
• Explain why theories can be falsified but not proven
• Describe three dimensions along which theories in psychology vary
• Evaluate theories according to parsimony, precision, and falsifiability
• Explain how researchers in psychology test their theories, and give a concrete example
• Define measurement
• Explain what a psychological construct is
• Distinguish conceptual from operational definitions and create simple operational definitions
• Define and distinguish among nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio scales
• Identify a scale type
• Define reliability, including the different types and how they are assessed
• Define validity, including the different types and how they are assessed
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