Unit 2 Outcomes

Outcomes

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