Chapter 2: Where to Start
Hypothesis
a tentative answer to a research question; tentative idea or question
Theory
consists of a systematic body of ideas about a particular topic of phenomenon; grounded in data from prior research and multiple hypotheses
Meta-analysis
research technique to analyze the results of a number of studies using statistical procedures
Literature reviews
summaries of previous on a particular topic
Prediction
directly testable, and includes specific variables and methodologies; a deliberate guess at the answer to the hypothesis
Research question
first step in designing and conducting a research investigation; a good research question must be specific so that it can be answered with a research project; a description of the broad topic of study
PsycINFO
a searchable, online database that provides brief summaries of the scientific and scholarly literature in psychology