Psychology Research Methods
- This type of experiment is conducted in a well-controlled environment – not necessarily a laboratory – and therefore accurate and objective measurements are possible.
- The researcher decides where the experiment will take place, at what time, with which participants, in what circumstances and using a standardized procedure.
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- These are conducted in the everyday (i.e. natural) environment of the participants but the situations are still artificially set up.
- The experimenter still manipulates the IV, but in a real-life setting (so cannot really control extraneous variables).
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- Case studies are in-depth investigations of a single person, group, event or community.
- Case studies are widely used in psychology and amongst the best-known ones carried out were by Sigmund Freud. He conducted very detailed investigations into the private lives of his patients in an attempt to both understand and help them overcome their illnesses.
- Case studies provide rich qualitative data and have high levels of ecological validity.
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- Correlation means association - more precisely it is a measure of the extent to which two variables are related.
- If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with an increase in the other then this is known as a positive correlation.
- If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with a decrease in the other then this is known as a negative correlation.
- A zero correlation occurs when there is no relationship between variables.
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- (informal) interviews are like a casual conversation. There are no set questions and the participant is given the opportunity to raise whatever topics he/she feels are relevant and ask them in their own way. In this kind of interview much qualitative data is likely to be collected.
- (formal) interviews are like a job interview. There is a fixed, predetermined set of questions that are put to every participant in the same order and in the same way. The interviewer stays within their role and maintains social distance from the interviewee.
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- Questionnaires can be thought of as a kind of written interview. They can be carried out face to face, by telephone or post.
- The questions asked can be open ended, allowing flexibility in the respondent's answers, or they can be more tightly structured requiring short answers or a choice of answers from given alternatives.
- The choice of questions is important because of the need to avoid bias or ambiguity in the questions, ‘leading’ the respondent, or causing offence.
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| Observations |
- Covert observations are when the researcher pretends to be an ordinary member of the group and observes in secret...
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Source: www.simplypsychology.org
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Goldsmiths, University of London is the operational name for Goldsmiths' College, a public research university located in London, United Kingdom which specialises in the arts, humanities and social sciences, and a constituent college of the federal University of...
