After completing this chapter, you should be able to:
- Describe what is meant by the "discovery phase" of the scientific method.
- Provide examples of hypothesis-generating heuristics.
- Explain what belongs in a research proposal.
- Describe how reference materials can be found when doing a literature search.
- Explain the difference between operational and theoretical definitions of variables.
- Differentiate between a theory and a hypothesis.
- Discuss the three criteria for acceptable scientific hypotheses.
- Explain the purpose of a construct.
- Differentiate between independent and dependent variables.
- Provide examples of independent and dependent variables.
