Foundations of Research is a free micro course designed for anyone who wants to learn more about research methods in psychology. At the end of this course you will be able to:

1. Describe the scientific approach to the study of behaviour
2. Apply the ethical principles that govern research in psychology
3. Conduct a literature search using peer-reviewed sources
4. Design a research proposal

This course will help you to:

• Describe four approaches to obtaining knowledge
• Identify why the scientific method is the preferred approach in science
• Describe the key characteristics of the scientific approach
• Conduct a literature search using peer-reviewed sources
• Read a psychology research article
• Define the concept of a variable
• Distinguish quantitative from categorical variables
• Explain the difference between a population and a sample
• Describe two basic forms of statistical relationship
• Interpret basic statistics and graphs used to describe statistical relationships
• Explain why correlation does not imply causation
• Describe the ethical guidelines that apply to psychological research
• Describe several strategies for identifying and minimizing risks and deception in psychological research
• Design a research proposal
• 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