In your responses to your Shantell and Jennifer post, discuss how applications of the material might look different in different professions in psychology as you respond to their career goals.

Shantell post

Before taking any psychology class, I believed that it was considered somewhat of a soft science. I thought this mostly because so many different aspects of psychology do with the brain and automatically assumed that the topic of the brain was considered a science and had no idea what it actually meant by “hard” or “soft” science. After reading the article I can see why people would consider it as a soft science, specifically because psychology doesn’t use scientific methods. From this perspective, many areas of psychology are every bit as scientific as traditional “hard” sciences, including physics and chemistry. In such domains as social and cognitive psychology, for example, the use of randomized control groups and blinded observations are de rigueur (Lilienfeld, 2011). At the end of the day I believe that with so many different aspects of psychology, depending on what on you are actually reading about it can be considered a “hard” or “soft” science.

This class has actually taught me a lot, from how to cite correctly to knowing what scientific method is better to use for research. A big take away will be that even with one research being done, there will always be further research no matter what. Everything I learned in this class will be extremely helpful in my future career as I hopefully start a career in the field of forensics psychology. It will also help me in my personal life and in other classes. I can use the lessons from this class in others for research papers and papers in general. I started off rough in this class but now I  feel confident, thank you for a great class and feedback was very helpfully.   

Jennifer post

I thought that psychology is a soft science until I have taken many psychology courses and I went through a lot of researches throughout the courses. I do not believe that Psychology is either soft or hard science because of their research method and experiments are used depending on the situation. “As many philosophers of science have noted, the belief that there is a monolithic scientific method is almost surely a myth (Bauer, 1992)” by Scott O. Lilienfeld (June 13th, 2011, page 5). Psychology approached in different ways since it has to do with the mind and not every branch of science can be approached the same way. Over all, I think it depends how a psychologist would describe it. 

The skills I have learned in this course are very helpful for my future courses and of course my career in the field of psychology. With this course I understand investigating, communicating, participating and contributing in science because psychology is science. This course have made me understand more about interpreting data, use evidence to support ideas, and engage with science and the important that this course help me understand better which research methods fits different research studies. Also, having a better understanding of why we operate the way we do will help me to better understand myself and the others around me.

DISCUSSION QUESTION

The focus of the discussion this week is on reliability and validity of statistics. All sorts of statistics are thrown at us all the time by individuals, news media, and in social media. Do you accept any statistics thrown at you? You should not. What questions would you ask to verify the reliability and validity of the statistics that you see or hear? Please complete all the activities of the zyBook text chapter for week 4 to get a better idea about the questions that you should ask to verify the accuracy or validity, and the reliability of statistics thrown at you.

Do you believe any statistics thrown around? I do not accept any statistics in social media. What sort of questions should we ask from the person or the source that gave us any statistics, to verify the validity and reliability of such statistics? 

I give you an example that we have seen a lot recently: “Statistics show that vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna are more than 95% effective”. The first question to ask about any statistics should be about the source of the statistics and if the source is credible. Next, the population and subpopulation selected for the tests must be considered. What was the target population? The population of the United States or the population of a handful of developed countries, or most of the world? The next question to ask should be about the sampling design (demographic, geographic, and other characteristics of the test subjects). We should also question the sample sizes that were used to conclude the given statistics.

Another example that one of the students in a previous class had discussed was: “Statistics show that more than 90% of the women in the workplace have been subjected to sexual harassment”. This statistics are questionable for me. We have very strong women in the workforce today (including my three daughters) who will not allow anyone to harass them sexually or otherwise. In addition we have had stringent laws on the book for several decades that punish the sexual harassers severely, and has been a deterrent. Therefore, we must ask questions that I have discussed earlier to scrutinize statistics like that.

Make sure to use concepts and vocabulary from this week, such as population, subpopulations, sampling design and sample size, and credibility of the source(s) of statistics to guide your response.

RESPOND TO MAGGIE AND JESUS BE CONSTRUCTIVE AND PROFESSIONAL.

Maggie post

I choose to look at Southwest airlines. The main industry they are in is the airline, they compete against many other airlines to be the best and the cheapest. The bussiness level strategy that I believe that they are trying to achieve is the differentiation strategy. The differentiation strategy is a way the company can distinguish themselves from another company such as using a design, quality or a sales service. Southwest has main safety their top priority with Covid- 19 on the rise. The company took time to research with scientist regarding public safety. With this they concluded that the cleaning protocols that they would need to follow, installing Plexiglas at counters, requirement of mask and the use of disinfectants on surfaces. They also installed HEPA filters to help filter the air in transit. With these items in place, I also think it covers diversification, which is a cooperate level strategy, which expands the business into a new industry to produce new goods or services. The new service that they are now providing is a healthy way to fly without worrying that you may contact something due to the uncleanness of the aircraft. They had to make these changes to help survive since they were not where they were with travelers. It seemed that it dropped down by 60%. They have to adjust accordingly by making sure the protocols are in place with the cleaning and also, they believe other items they offer such as first bag flies for free unlike competitors also they believe the great hospitality they offer makes them stand out and helps place them on top of the flying list.

With the following items above I think that the company has gone over the SWOT analysis. They have gone over potential strengths they have and what markets they can cover. The weaknesses they have encountered such as Covid-19 they have taken in great strides and even have seen the threats of losing money. But they have sat down and continue to do what they do best, have the best customer service that keeps us flying with them.

Jesus post

TJX Companies Inc is one of the three bigger players in the family clothing store market, competing basically in the retail industry for apparel and home fashions. The first TJ Maxx store was open in 1976, nowadays TJX Companies Inc retail network reaches 4500 stores.

The principal business-lever strategy is to have a better customer traffic. Based on the TJX Companies Inc investor relations on its web page, is clear customer traffic is the way the organization will be able to grow the sales. Taking this strategy to the SWOT analysis, for this brick-and-mortar retail store driving customers traffic is his strength, this is the way TJX Companies Inc makes money and has been doing it well.

Regarding corporate-level strategy, TJX Companies Inc is pursuing to increase the store base. The organization wants to increase its network by around 40% midterm period. Also, TJX Companies Inc will focus its effort on the US market because the strategy includes 75% growth for Home Goods stores in the US. In terms of SWOT analysis, TJX Companies Inc network growth strategy represents a good called opportunity, due to it is the sales and income can be raised.

TJX Companies Inc was highly impacted per covid pandemic. The organization had to close its stores for some months, and after reopening them, it had to focus on safety measures and limited capacity to protect its clients and employees. Before the pandemic I can note the strategy offered good prices to its customer after TJX Companies Inc lost some clients and saw its revenue reduces due to the COVID pandemic, the company adjusted its strategy to grow the stores to reach more clients, reinforce existing markets, and grow online sales.

TJX Companies Inc had a clear weakness, its online sales are in developing stage. Even is the organization has made efforts to improve and increase its inline store and sales, it is clear online sales are not good enough yet to compete with other online sellers. On the other hand, the still ongoing pandemic and the growing tendency of online shoppers represent TJX Companies Inc a threat because its sales and income are still strongly linked to the sales in physical stores.