THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

Read the following passage silently.

Don’t stop when you find unknown words

Do it at an adequate reading rate

Answer these questions (English or Spanish)

1. What is the title of the passage?

2. How many paragraphs does it have?

3. What do you know about the scientific method?

4. Have you read anything about it?

The scientific method is a method of inquiry that allows us to determine the causes of natural phenomena. There are two basic forms of scientific research: experiments and observational studies. Only experiments permit us to be certain that a cause-and-effect relation exists. An experiment tests the truth of a hypothesis, which is a tentative statement about a cause-and effect relation between an independent variable and a dependent variable. Operational definitions are a necessary part of the procedure by which a hypothesis is tested; they also can eliminate confusion by giving concrete form to the hypothesis, thus making its meaning absolutely clear to other psychologists.

To perform an experiment, a scientist alters the value of the independent variable and looks for changes in the dependent variable. Because a hypothesis is stated in general terms, the scientist must specific the particular operations that he or she will perform to manipulate the independent variable and to measure the dependent variable. That is, the experimenter must provide operational definitions which may require some ingenuity and hard work of an operational definition refers lo the degree to which it adequately produces a particular value of the independent variable or measures the value of the dependent variable. The reliability of an operational definition refers to its consistency and precision. A careful researcher achieves high reliability by paying attention to the conditions of the study and ensuring that the procedures are followed carefully and correctly. lf a measurement involves some subjectivity, then the researcher should make sure that interrater reliability is high.

From: ‘Psychology the Science of Behavior” by Neill Carlson

1. - Identify the words you don’t know.

Guess the unknown words by context.

Try to understand the meaning of an unknown word through its morphology. (Prefix - suffix)

Identify the cognates.

Identify the clue words.

lf it is necessary, use the dictionary.

2. - Underline the main idea of each paragraph.

3. - Underline the secondary ideas.

4. - Write an outline about the reading

1. Main idea of the first paragraph

A. Secondary idea

B. Secondary idea

2. Main idea of the second paragraph

A. Secondary idea

B. Secondary idea

Details of the secondary idea (if there are)