2. Psychologists
employ different research
methods depending on the subject matter.
Common research methods include:
Observation
Case studies
Self-report measures and surveys
Correlational studies
Experimental studies
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3. Psychologists frequently observe behaviour
and events as they occur in their natural
settings.
Scientific observation is made in a systematic
and objective manner, with careful record
keeping.
The primary goal of observational methods is
to describe behaviour as fully and as
accurately as possible.
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4. In order to observe behaviour in the real
world, psychologists may employ one of two
methods:
1) Naturalistic observation (observation
without intervention)
Involves observing behaviour in normal, everyday
settings in an unobtrusive manner
The observer acts as a passive recorder of events
and tries to be as inconspicuous as possible
E.g. Observing the activities of children on a
playground from a distance.
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5. 2)Participant observation (observation with
intervention)
Psychologists using this method observe people’s
behaviour while actively participating in the
situation they are observing.
E.g. joining a cult or sorority to observe the daily
activities of its members.
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6. Inparticipant observation, the observer may
be:
disguised - participants are not aware that
they are being observed; or
undisguised – participants know that they are
being studied
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7. A case study is a research design in which
one person or a small number of people are
studied in depth, usually over an extended
period of time.
Case studies are ideal for studying rare
phenomena and may be a useful tool when
studying new research topics.
These studies often involve collecting
evidence from a wide variety of sources such
as observations, interviews, documents and
artifacts.
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8. A questionnaire is a structured pencil-and-paper
interview, consisting of standardized written
questions.
Questionnaires are also called self-report
measures.
They are easy to administer and can be used to
collect data from a large group of people fairly
quickly.
On the other hand, respondents may not answer
questions truthfully: they may provide socially
desirable responses and minimize negative
attitudes and traits.
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9. The questionnaire is the primary research
instrument used in surveys.
Surveys involve the administration of a
questionnaire to a large sample of people
who are representative of the wider
population being studied.
They are often used in the study of public
opinion, and to assess knowledge, beliefs
and attitudes.
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10. In correlational studies, researchers examine the
extent to which two variables are associated.
Correlation is a mathematical way of
determining the relationship between two sets
of scores.
Correlations can be positive, negative or zero.
A positive correlation means that as the value of
one variable changes, the other also changes in
the same direction.
E.g. As level of education increases, income also
increases (or vice versa)
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11. A negative correlation means that as the
value of one variable changes, the other
changes in the opposite direction.
E.g. As self-esteem increases, social anxiety
decreases.
A correlation of zero means that the
variables are not related.
E.g. A person’s weight might tell us nothing about
their acting ability.
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12. Correlations reveal the existence and extent of
relationships but do not necessarily indicate
what causes what.
CORRELATION DOES NOT MEAN CAUSATION
The only research design that allows researchers
to make statements about cause and effect is
the experiment.
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13. An experiment is a careful and controlled study
of cause and effect through manipulation of the
conditions to which participants are exposed.
In a correlational study, researchers simply
measure preexisting differences among
participants (e.g. weight, aggression) but in an
experiment, they manipulate variables to see
whether these manipulations produce
differences in participants’ behaviour.
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14. An experiment consists of two key
components:
1) Random assignment of participants to
conditions
Participants are randomly assigned to either the
experimental group (which receives the
manipulation) or the control group (which does
not)
NB: random assignment means that each
participant has an equal chance of being selected
for either group.
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15. 2) Manipulation of an independent
variable:
The variable that is manipulated is called the
independent variable (IV).
The dependent variable (DV) is the one which the
researcher measures to see if the manipulation
had an effect.
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16. Example:
Researchers want to determine if Drug X is
effective in treating anxiety.
IV: the presence vs absence of the drug X
DV: level of anxiety
Researchers randomly assign half of the
participants to the experimental group, which
receives Drug X, and the other half to the
control group, which does not receive the drug.
After an appropriate length of time, researchers
then measure the level of anxiety of participants
in both groups to see if the drug caused a
difference.
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17. Researchers must ensure that the experimental
and control groups are treated equally in all
respects, except for the manipulation of the IV.
If not, there will be no way of telling if changes
in the DV were caused by changes in the IV or
some other variable.
E.g. If persons who received Drug X also
received regular psychotherapy sessions,
changes in their anxiety levels might be due to
these sessions and not to the drug.
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