Advantages And Disadvantages Of Psychological Research Methods
explanatory Essay
1598 words
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
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In this essay, the author
- Explains that psychology is concerned with theories and data. psychologists use a wide range of research methods and techniques to gather and make sense of the data that they produce.
- Explains that experimental methods are the most scientific method due to being highly objective and systematic. the researcher manipulates an independent variable to investigate whether there is a change in the dependent variable.
- Explains the advantages and disadvantages of laboratory experiments, such as their lack of ecological validity and mundane realism.
- Explains the field experiment, which is done in the everyday environment of the participants. the researcher controls the iv, but cannot control other extraneous variables.
- Explains that field experiments can conclude cause and effect, for the same reasons as a laboratory experiment. ethical issues arise when participants are not aware of being observed as part of the study.
- Explains that the quasi-experiment is conducted in the everyday life environment of the participants. the experimenter does not have control over the iv as it occurs naturally in real life.
- Explains that the natural experiment has high levels of ecological validity due to its natural setting and lack of direct intervention. this type of experiment can be used when it would be ethically unacceptable to manipulate the iv.
- Explains observational methods are of a non-experimental design where the absence of the iv does not allow any cause and effect relationship.
- Explains that naturalistic observation has high levels of ecological validity due to observing the behaviour in its own setting.
- Explains surveys are used in psychology research to collect self-report data from study participants. surveys investigate the characteristics, behaviours, or opinions of a group of people.
- Explains that surveys can be administered as structured interviews or as self-report measures such as questionnaires. written surveys are susceptible to nonresponse bias and social desirability bias.
- Explains that psychological research methods are important because research helps psychologists understand what goes on in the human mind and what causes individuals to act the way they act.
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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- Research methodsexplanatory essayResearch method To gain my secondary information I used such sources as the Internet, books and midwifery journals. My secondary information will consist of the benefits of breast-feeding for the mother and baby, the benefits of bottle-feeding for the mother and baby as well as statistics on breast-feeding. All information that I have gained for my secondary data is all reliable, because it has come from recommended sites, books and journals that have been approved from the Government or from hospitals and doctors themselves.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that they used the internet, books, and midwifery journals to gain secondary information, such as the benefits of breast-feeding for the mother and baby and statistics on breastfeeding.
- Explains that there are many research methods used to gain information, but it is important to use the right one to ensure that you get the best results possible.
- Explains the advantages and disadvantages of direct observation, such as it is easy to record, and you don't have a physical effect on the observation.
- Explains that participant observation is one of the research methods used, where you actively are involved in the observation. the disadvantages are that it can be very time consuming and may not be generalised.
- Explains that a structured interview can be replicated easily with different people. the disadvantages are the interviewees may lie, the answers can lack depth and the choice of answers is limited.
- Explains the advantages and disadvantages of an unstructured interview, which is conducted on the topic area and has no set questions.
- Explains their chosen method of research is a questionnaire to test their hypothesis. it is reliable and easy to replicate, and can be easily changed into statistical data.
- Explains that they have chosen to place their questionnaire in their local hospital, on the maternity ward where they are currently doing a work placement.
- Explains that while conducting their research, they will have to consider ethical issues, such as confidentiality, and be sensitive to people's feelings and beliefs.
1404 wordsRead More - The scientific method is how psychologists gain knowledge about the mind and behavior. It is used by all scientists. The experimental method is the one way to engage the scientific method, and the only way to find a cause and effect in relationships. It is summarized in five steps, observing some phenomenon in the world, forming a hypothesis which is an educated prediction about relationships between two or more variables, examining the gathered information by using empirical research, determining what the results are and drawing them, and evaluating the results whether it will support the hypothesis or not. Researchers, at the end, submit their work for publication for all to see and read (King, 2016). There are three types of psychological research in the scientific method, descriptive research, correlation, and experimental research (King, 2016). The article The Effects of Negative Body Talk in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of College Students (Katrevich, Register, & Aruguete, 2014) is an example of the experimental method.
In this essay, the author
- Explains the scientific method, which is used by psychologists to gain knowledge about the mind and behavior. the experimental method is the only way to find a cause and effect in relationships.
- Explains that experimental research allows psychologists to make causal statements. the hypothesis is a specific expectation about what is going to happen in the experiment.
- Explains that an operational definition provides a clear and specific interpretation and description of the variables, and describes how they are being measured through the study.
- Explains that random assignment refers to the use of the opportunity actions in experiments to make sure that each participant has the equal chance to be placed in any given group.
- Opines that if the results of the study support expectations, then the theory may gain credibility and the scientists will repeat by using other methods and work with different researchers to make another experiment.
- Explains that the research community makes an active conversation about what they have discovered, and they publish their work in various journals to let others read and learn from them.
739 wordsRead More - Qualitative Research Assessmentexplanatory essayExperimental research attempts to identify relationship by conducting controlled experiments psychological experiments; furthermore, the experimental is a quantitative approach designed to discover the effects of presumed causes (Christensen, Johnson, & Turner, 2014). The key feature of this approach is that one thing is deliberately varied to see what happens to something else to determine the effects of presumed cause. Some individuals use exercise to see if they can lose weight,
In this essay, the author
- Explains cause and effect and causation in relation to the various research methods discussed in lectures and readings from the textbook and articles.
- Explains that experimental research is a quantitative approach designed to discover the effects of presumed causes by conducting controlled experiments psychological experiments.
- Explains the three conditions for making a justified claim of cause and effect that changes in the independent and the dependent variables are related.
- Explains that correlational study is a non-experimental research approach, which lacks manipulation of the independent variable. multiple variables are used to improve the researcher's ability to make predictions.
- Explains qualitative research is an interpretive research approach that relies on multiple types of subjective data and investigates people in particular situations in their natural environments.
1180 wordsRead More - Sociological Research Methodologyexplanatory essayHere the experimenter seeks knowledge by forming and testing a hypothesis. Scientific Method consists of an experiment, systematic observation and measurement, and testing, formulation and modification of hypothesis, which aids in producing results and creating a conclusion. This method of research is used often, as to maintain the objectivity, focus, and consistency of the study, by following these steps: (1) Ask a question, (2) Research existing sources, (3) Formulate a hypothesis, (4) Design and conduct a study, (5) Draw hypothesis and (6) Report results. These steps help to ensure the reliability, accuracy, and validity of study, results, and
In this essay, the author
- Explains that sociologists use different methods and designs to study the society and social behaviors. fieldwork or ethnography is the most used type of sociological research used by du bois in the philadelphia negro study.
- Explains that qualitative and quantitative research methods can be used to collect data. the researcher can collect qualitative data from artifacts, archival records, interviews, and observation.
- Explains that experimental research is used to determine why and how something may have happened. it tests the direction of the factor that the experimenter manipulates (the independent variable) and directly affects the factors that they observe.
- Explains that all forms of research are used to help individuals and society in one way or another. social or psychology research helps the researcher in ways such as (1) builds knowledge, (2) understanding various issues, (3) proving false information and providing support to facts, and (4) makes awareness to the public about issues and provides them with workable solutions.
- Explains quantitative research methods is used to quantify the problem using generating numerical data, that's transferable into easily usable statistics.
879 wordsRead More - Research Methodology Essayexplanatory essayIn this chapter, the researcher discusses further on research methodology used in the current research to achieve the research objectives as previously highlighted in Chapter One. This chapter will discuss on research design, population, sampling design and data collection method.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that data collection is one of the important aspects in research study, as inaccurate data can impact the results of a study and may lead to invalid results.
- Explains that secondary data is easy to collect compared to primary data, but researcher has to review first the data and choose the best and suitable points to be included in the journal.
- Explains that the journal that researcher chooses to extract the question about hr effectiveness indicates organizational commitment, employee job satisfaction, and employee empowerment.
- Describes harold l. angle and james l perry's an empirical assessment of organizational commitment and organisational effectiveness.
- Explains that the journal that they choose to extract the question is related to the independent variable that we choose, which is relocation between leadership and hr implementation.
- Explains the likert scale is designed on a five point given to measure responses to know how strongly respondent agree or disagree with the statement.
- Explains that sampling can be defined as the process of selecting the right elements from the population to understand the characteristics of the research.
- Explains that the sampling method is divided into probability and non-probability. probability sampling refers to every element in the population has a chance to be included
- Explains that sekaran and bougie (2011) stated that each member of population has a known zero probability to be selected as sample subjects.
- Explains that unrestricted or simple random sampling refers to every member of the population has a known and equal chance to be selected as the sample. researchers used random number generator at stattrek to know the random numbers.
- Explains that research methodology is a set of procedures or methods used to conduct research.
- Explains that research design is a model of studies that allows the researcher to investigate the relationship between dependent and independent variables.
- Defines population as the entire group of people, events or any interest that researcher wishes to investigate. the population target in a research study comprises all those potential participants that could make up the study group.
- Explains colakoglu et. al. (2010) the effects of perceived organizational support on employee’s affective outcomes: evidence from the hotel industry.
- Explains that close ended questions were used to measure the reliable and significant information gathered, while to examine how strongly subjects agree or disagree with statement. in section a, researcher used multiple choice questions, easier for respondent to choose which answer suits them more.
- Explains that sample size refers to the number of elements to be included in the study.
1182 wordsRead More - Clinical Psychologyexplanatory essayWithin scientific research there is always a strong debate between those that prefer quantitative methods and those who prefer qualitative ones. proponents of quantitative methods have built the standards in experimental research and in researches performed on a large number of subjects and which use sampling criteria and statistical analysis techniques. On the other side, the qualitative method uses procedures of qualitative nature both at the level of collecting the data as well as the level of analyzing them (Tagliapietra, Trifan, Raineri & Lis, 2009). The gathering data procedures include: interviews, group discussions, observations, journals; while the analysis procedures include coding, categorizations and systematic confrontation between the categories and their dimensions. Such research is often defined as an explorative one, opposite to “classical” scientific research aiming to confirm / disconfirm initial hypothesis. Among the qualitative methods used in the scientific research we can list: Focus Group, Speech Analysis, Conversation Analysis, Grounded Theory and Phenomenological Interpretative Analysis (Tagliapietra, Trifan, Raineri & Lis, 2009).
In this essay, the author
- Explains the advantages of using qualitative methods in clinical context in comparison to the quantitative research.
- Explains qualitative research plays important roles in developing effective practice for clinical psychology and public health interventions.
- Explains that researchers have conducted qualitative studies of interventionists’ records or logs to describe patient problems and nursing interventions or to improve understanding of the nature of an intervention in its natural context.
- Explains that qualitative research has a wide scope of use within clinical trials. they can address issues such as informed consent and randomisation, and explore reasons for inequity of access to treatment.
- Explains that qualitative research methods are needed in addition to or concurrently with the quantitative perspective in improving the practices of clinical psychology.
- Explains that clinical psychology aims to reduce psychological distress and promote psychological well-being by systematic application of knowledge derived from psychological theory and data.
- Explains qualitative researches have improved our understanding of the experiences of people with dementia and could be used to improve the relevance of outcomes to patients, compliance and user involvement.
1674 wordsRead More - The Meaning of Quantitative and Qualitative Researchexplanatory essayThe most popular method of quantitative research is an experiment, which gives casual information and hard numbers (Guts, 2014). Experiments are easy to understand, and provide accessible information that helps predict human behavior (Guts, 2014). In experiments, researchers manipulate variables using experiment and control groups. (Guts, 2014). An experiment includes independent and dependent variables. An independen...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that quantitative and qualitative research complement each other from a numerical or descriptive perspective. they need to be elaborated on to get an overall understanding.
- Explains that quantitative research expresses data in a numerical fashion and its main focus is to supply information and determine relationships between variables.
- Explains that the most popular method of quantitative research is an experiment, which gives casual information and hard numbers.
- Explains that quantitative research is highly effective because the data is represented numerically, which makes it easier to understand, and repeats or replicates data meaning that an experiment can take place more than one time.
- Explains that quantitative research can advance the field of psychology because it can assist in diagnosing a patient or help to decide which medicine best suits the patient.
- Explains that quantitative research isn't the correct research approach for the subject being studied. the experimental method can be biased, giving results that are easy to understand, but are one sided toward the control group.
- Explains that qualitative research studies subjective human experiences, which makes it useful when studying unique cases and outliers.
- Explains that phenomenological research is done from a holistic point of view, meaning one must examine the human experience as whole rather than taking into account all the little details.
- Explains that qualitative research allows for the understanding of participants in greater depth. the data gathered through interviews, text, focus groups or natural observation can help learn specific details about the participant.
- Explains that qualitative research is known for its in depth descriptions and understanding of a particular subject, but can't provide hard numbers. smaller samples make it impossible to predict what can happen with each sample.
- Opines that ethical concerns need to be addressed and prevented when working with both quantitative and qualitative research.
- Explains that quantitative and qualitative research are often compared for their strengths and weaknesses, but both approaches compliment each other when attempting to understand human experience.
1170 wordsRead More - Watson and Rayner’s Classical Study with Llittle Albertanalytical essayIn response to the question set, I will go into detail of the study, consisting of the background, main hypotheses, as well the aims, procedure and results gathered from the study; explaining the four research methods chosen to investigate, furthering into the three methods actually tested.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes the study conducted by watson and rayner (1920) on a small child known as ‘little albert’. the experiment was an adaptation of earlier studies on classical conditioning of stimulus response, one most common by ivan pavlov.
- Describes the study's background, main hypotheses, aims, procedure and results, and explains the four research methods chosen to investigate.
- States that watson and rayner's study was to further the research of ivan pavlov, a russian physiologist whose most famous experiments involved that of animals, specifically the unconditioned and conditioned reflexes of canines.
- Explains that watson and rayner were interested in finding out about human responses and emotional reactions, based on conditioned responses.
- Explains that watson and rayner aimed to investigate 'can we condition fear of an animal by visually presenting it and simultaneously striking a steel bar?'
- Explains that watson and rayner conducted tests to determine if a fear induced reaction could be introduced by presenting rat to albert.
- Analyzes how watson and rayner's results show a completely conditioned fear response when albert is presented with the rat, supporting pavlovian techniques.
- Explains that for watson and rayner to investigate this, it was important to introduce the variables little albert originally encountered with no conditioned fear response.
- Explains that little albert showed a conditioned fear response, confirming stimulus generalization.
- Explains that when albert was presented with trials from watson, he began to show signs of stimulus generalization of emotional discomfort. the results of the second research question were confirmed.
- Compares watson and rayner's third research question: what is the effect of time upon such conditioned emotional responses?
- Illustrates the conditioned emotional response of fear in test 7. the rabbit touched the rabbit's ear with his right hand and began to cry.
- Explains that if fear can be induced, it leads to the question, can these fears also be removed?
- Concludes that watson and rayner's study shows that conditioned emotional responses are not only transferrable, but are still apparent with an absence of time.
- Analyzes how the effects of time on conditioned emotional responses are shown to display a slight decrease in fear and an increase of manipulation.
- Cites powell's international encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences, and jones' a laboratory study of fear: the case of peter.
1737 wordsRead More - Importance And Importance Of Research Methodologyexplanatory essayThe Importance and Appropriateness of Utilizing Different Methodologies for Research. Introduction The process of research entails the logical as well as systematic search for useful data and information with regard to a specific topic (Jha, 2008). It is also comprised of the investigation of the best, most cost effective and appropriate solutions to both social and scientific issues, following an objective and logical analysis. Jha, (2008) defines research as the search for knowledge and the discovery of the truth. During this process, the data can be gathered from a wide pool of sources among them interviews, books, nature among others.The data can then be analyzed with the appropriate data analysis tools, so as to report the findings
In this essay, the author
- Explains the importance and appropriateness of using different methods for research. research entails the logical as well as systematic search for useful data and information with regard to a specific topic.
- Describes the three primary paradigms used in research: quantitative, qualitative, and mixed. quantitative research relies on numbers, figures and statistics for testing the hypothesis and making predictions based on the amounts.
- Explains qualitative research uses narratives and deblockedions to offer a mental image of what the researcher observes. this methodology makes it difficult to use statistical procedures.
- Compares the approaches used by three different researchers in the field of health and housing with the aim of showing the importance of the research methodologies as used in different contexts.
- Explains the methodologies of gathering data used by s, including performance tests, personality measures,questionnaires that include both open ended and closed questions and finally content data.
- Explains that researchers can eliminate bias by using this approach since it relies on figures to report the findings rather than the personal opinions of s.
- Explains that terry allen's article improving housing, improving health uses qualitative research methodology to discuss the trends of housing and health over the past decades.
- Explains the advantages of using this approach in the context of health and housing, including the fact that the issues under analysis can be analyzed in detail as well as depth.
- Explains that the watcombe housing study uses a different methodology that combines the techniques of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.
- Explains that the study used this approach because it needed to gather booth data types while in the field. the same data collecting techniques are used among interviews, focus groups, content analysis, and secondary sources of data.
- Compares how the three journal articles employed different research methodologies. the second article used interviews and observations to understand the opinions,motivations and underlying reasons.
- Explains that the qualitative methodology enabled the researcher to offer more insight into the issue of housing and health and helped further in the development of ideas and hypotheses for the quantitative research.
- Describes how the research team used qualitative methodology to quantify housing and health issues through the generation of numerical data that was transformed into statistics.
- Explains that the third journal article made use of mixed methodology that combines qualitative and quantitative approaches in gathering data and the interpretation of results.
- Explains that mixed methods offers a comprehensive understanding of the issue compared to the other two approaches.
- Explains the research process entails many segments all of which are imperative. the research methodology helps in the search of literature, development of research questions, and the creation of the most suitable study design.
- Explains the watcombe housing study's short-term effect of improving housing conditions on residents' health.
1704 wordsRead More - Biological Level Of Analysis (BLOA)explanatory essayResearch methods are therefore used to collect and analyse information. Psychologists have used these 5 research methods for collecting and analysing data at the BLOA.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that laboratory experiments are the only research method that shows a cause and effect relationship.
- Explains that correlation studies show the biological connection between two variables. twin studies are useful in showing the genetic foundation between siblings, and showing genetic and environmental factors causing it.
- Explains that animal research can provide insight to human behaviour, as the anatomy of humans and animals is similar. the experiment by martinez and kezner was unethical to drug the rats.
- Explains that case studies are used at the bloa to obtain further data, and also study a variable that cannot be created in laboratory conditions.
- Explains that mri, pet, fmri and cat scans are brain-scanning technologies that are used to detect parts of defects in anatomy and function of the body.
- Explains that research methods are used to collect and analyse information at the bloa.
- Explains that biological level of analysis (bloa) deals with biological adaptations at a biological level.
2551 wordsRead More