risky prediction

a prediction made on the basis of a scientific hypothesis that has a real possibility of proving that hypothesis wrong. According to Austrian-born British philosopher Karl Popper (1902–1994), certain ostensibly scientific theories and hypotheses, including many in psychology, can be stretched in order to explain a range of possible experimental results. To the extent that this can occur, the theory or hypothesis is not genuinely falsifiable and thus not genuinely scientific. Popper held that scientific theories must be tested by means of risky predictions. See falsifiability; falsificationism.

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Psychology term of the day

October 5th 2024

partition

1. vb. in statistics and measurement, to divide variance observed in the dependent variable into component elements on the basis of its nature and origin.

2. n. a specific component of the observed variance (e.g., variance due to a treatment effect and variance due to random error).