Investigating the psychological world : scientific method in the behavioral sciences /
By: Haig, Brian D
Material type: BookSeries: Life and mind: Philosophical issues in Biology and Psychology.Publisher: Cambridge, Mass. : A Bradford book, The MIT Press, c2014.Description: xix, 197 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.ISBN: 9780262027366Subject(s): Psychology -- Research -- Methodology | Psychology -- ReferenceDDC classification: 150.72/1 Online resources: Location MapItem type | Home library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
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REGULAR | University of Wollongong in Dubai Main Collection | 150.721 HA IN (Browse shelf) | Available | T0051753 |
, Shelving location: Main Collection Close shelf browser
150.72 WA RE Research methods and statistics | 150.72 WI IN Introducing qualitative research in psychology / | 150.721 GR RE Research methods for the behavioral sciences / | 150.721 HA IN Investigating the psychological world : | 150.721 WI RE Research methods and data analysis for psychology | 150.723 YO OB Observational measurement of behavior | 150.724 CH RE Research methods, design, and analysis / |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Method, methodology, and realism -- Detecting psychological phenomena -- Theory generation: exploratory factor analysis -- Theory development: analogical modeling -- Theory appraisal: inference to the best explanation.
This book considers scientific method in the behavioral sciences, with particular reference to psychology. Psychologists learn about research methods and use them to conduct their research, but their training teaches them little about the nature of scientific method itself. In Investigating the Psychological World, Brian Haig fills this gap. Drawing on behavioral science methodology, the philosophy of science, and statistical theory, Haig constructs a broad theory of scientific method that has particular relevance for the behavioral sciences. He terms this account of method the abductive theory of method (ATOM) in recognition of the importance it assigns to explanatory reasoning. ATOM offers the framework for a coherent treatment of a range of quantitative and qualitative behavioral research methods, giving equal treatment to data-analytic methods and methods of theory construction. Haig draws on the new experimentalism in the philosophy of science to reconstruct the process of phenomena detection as it applies to psychology; he considers the logic and purpose of exploratory factor analysis; he discusses analogical modeling as a means of theory development; and he recommends the use of inference to the best explanation for evaluating theories in psychology. Finally, he outlines the nature of research problems, discusses the nature of the abductive method, and describes applications of the method to grounded theory method and clinical reasoning. The book will be of interest not only to philosophers of science but also to psychological researchers who want to deepen their conceptual understanding of research methods and methodological concerns.