Advantages And Disadvantages Of Psychological Research Methods

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Like any other science, psychology is concerned with theories and data. Psychologists use a wide range of research methods and techniques that allow them to gather and make sense of the data that they produce. The methods that psychologists use to research and analyse the experience and behaviours of individuals or groups are called psychological research methods. This essay will be investigating and analysing three research methods to include; experimental, observational and surveys, also, reflecting on their strengths and weaknesses of each in addition to their usefulness in the psychology field.

The first method to be discussed and analysed are experimental methods. There is a variety of experimental methods including; laboratory, field and natural experiments. These methods are the most scientific method due to them being highly objective and systematic. In addition, this method is regarded as the most powerful research method used in psychology because of the potential to investigate the causes of events and therefore, identifying the cause and effect relationship. When carrying out an experiment the researcher intervenes directly in the situation being investigated. The researcher manipulates an independent variable (IV) in order to investigate whether there is a change in the dependent variable (DV). Any other variables that could have an …show more content…

Observational methods are of a non-experimental design where the absence of the IV does not allow any cause and effect relationship. There are different types of observations to include; participant, nonparticipant, structured, non-structured and naturalistic. This method includes an observation of the respondent by the researcher in the respondent’s natural social settings. The researcher has no influence over the behaviour of the respondent. Observations are commonly used to study aspects of development, including physical, social, emotional and intellectual

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