BRS 214Introduction to Psychology

Methodology used in psychology field

Dawn Stewart BSC, MPA, PHD

Psychologists and other social scientists regularly propose explanations for human behavior.

People make judgments about the intentions, motivations and actions of others on a daily basis.

While the everyday judgments we make about human behavior are subjective and anecdotal, researchers use the scientific method to study psychology in an objective and systematic way.

What Is the Scientific Method?

The goals of psychological studies are to describe, explain, predict and perhaps influence mental processes or behaviors.

In order to do this, psychologists utilize the scientific method to conduct psychological research.

The scientific method is a set of principles and procedures that are used by researchers to develop questions, collect data and reach conclusions.

What are the goals of scientific research in psychology?

Researchers seek not only to describe behaviors and explain why these behaviors occur;

they also strive to create research that can be used to predict and even change human behavior.

Methods of Data Gathering in Psychology

1. Experiment – The experiment is the most useful of all scientific methods because most of the basic facts in psychology are supplied by the results of experimental studies. This method is generally done in a laboratory setting involving many controlled variables. Socio-experiment:- mostly used studies related to social Psychology. This is an experiment that is conducted in the natural environment instead of a laboratory

2. SurveyThis is the most common method. There are two tools a researcher can use in a survey method – questionnaire and interview. The questionnaire is best used when study requires many respondents. This saves you more time. The interview is used when the no. of respondents is just small. Interview is also used when respondents cannot read or write.

3. Case Histories and Clinical Studies:

This method is used when an intensive investigation about a certain case is needed. In this method, the researcher has to dig into all sorts of records about the subject including hospital, educational, family background and all other necessary data.

4.Observation two kinds of observation method,

Participant Observation .The researcher has to join the group under study in order to gather deeper and more intensive data.

Non Participant Observation / Naturalistic Observation. The researcher is just a plain observer. Oftentimes, the subjects do not know that they are under study.

5. Test Method

This method uses Psychological Test as its instrument.

At a Practical level, methodology helps US understand and evaluate the merit of all the information we're confronted with everyday.

For example, do you believe in the following studies? 1) study indicated that the life span of left-

handed people is significantly shorter than those who are right hand dominant

2) study demonstrated a link between smoking and poor grades.

There are 3 types of studies:

  -1. Descriptive Studies (naturalistic observations, case studies). Example: Individuals observed in their environment.

  -2. Correlational studies Establishing correlations between non-manipulated variables. Relationships are not necessarily causal.

  -3. Experiments. Manipulating variables and testing cause and effect relationships.

Descriptive Research:

The goal of descriptive research is to portray what already exists in a group or population.

On example of this type of research would be an opinion poll to find which political candidate people plan to vote for in an upcoming election.

Unlike causal and relational studies, descriptive studies cannot determine if there is a relationship between two variables.

Descriptive research seeks to depict what already exists in a group or population.

An example of this type of research would be an opinion poll to determine which Presidential candidate people plan to vote for in the next election.

Descriptive studies do not seek to measure the effect of a variable; they seek only to describe.

The simple experiment is one of the most basic methods of determining if there is a cause-and-effect relationship between two variables.

A simple experiment utilizes a control group of participants who receive no treatment and an experimental group of participants who receive the treatment.

Experimenters then compare the results of the two groups to determine if the treatment had an effect. Find more information on the parts of a simple experiment and how results are measured.

Social psychologists use correlational research to look for relationships between variables. Conducting surveys, directly observing behaviors, or compiling research from earlier studies are some of the methods used to gather data for correlational research

Correlational studies are one of the two major types of psychology research.

Correlational studies are frequently used in psychology research to look for relationships between variables.

While correlational studies can suggest that there is a relationship between two variables, finding a correlation does not prove that one variable causes a change in another variable.

In other words, correlation does not equal causation. Learn more about the subtypes of correlational studies as well as methods of observation and scientific surveys.

Causal Research: When most people think of scientific experimentation, research on cause and effect is most often brought to mind.

Experiments on causal relationships investigate the effect of one or more variables on one or more outcome variables.

This type of research also determines if one variable causes another variable to occur or change.

An example of this type of research would be altering the amount of a treatment and measuring the effect on study participants.

Relational Research:- A study that investigates the connection between two or more variables is considered relational research.

The variables that are compared are generally already present in the group or population.

For example, a study that looked at the proportion of males and females that would purchase either a classical CD or a jazz CD would be studying the relationship between gender and music preference.

Correlational studies are one of the two major types of psychology research.

Correlational studies are frequently used in psychology research to look for relationships between variables.

While correlational studies can suggest that there is a relationship between two variables, finding a correlation does not prove that one variable causes a change in another variable.

In other words, correlation does not equal causation. Learn more about the subtypes of correlational studies as well as methods of observation and scientific surveys.

A theory is a well established principle that has been developed to explain some aspect of the natural world.

A theory arises from repeated observation and testing incorporates facts, laws, predictions, and tested hypotheses that are widely accepted.

A theory presents a concept or idea that is testable. In science, a theory is not merely a guess.

In psychology, theories are used to provide a model for understanding human thought, emotions, and behaviors.

A psychological theory has two key components: (1) It must describe a behavior. (2) Make predictions about future behaviors.

A hypothesis is a specific, testable prediction about what you expect to happen in your study.

While the terms are sometimes used interchangeably in general practice, the difference between a theory and a hypothesis is important when studying experimental design. Some important distinctions are as follows:

Theory predicts events in general terms, while a hypothesis makes a specific prediction about a specified set of circumstances.

Theory has been extensively tested and is generally accepted, while a hypothesis is a speculative guess that has yet to be tested.

The only consistent differentiation between hypothesis and theory which scientists actually use is that an idea is a hypothesis when it is being actively tested and investigated, but a theory in other contexts.

Science isn't perfect, but scientists know this and that's precisely what makes it so useful, so successful, and so much better than the alternatives.