Chapter 1. The Scientific Method

Psychologists use the scientific method to conduct research. The scientific method allows researchers to collect empirical (objective) evidence by following a sequence of carefully executed steps. In this infographic, you can trace the steps of an actual research project performed by psychologists who were interested in the effect of interruptions on reading comprehension (Foroughi, Werner, Barragán, & Boehm-Davis, 2015). Notice that the process is cyclical in nature. Answering one research question often leads researchers to develop additional questions, and the process begins again.