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8/13/2019 Research Methodology Ayesha 2013
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Ethics is very important when carrying out any type of psychological research. Before we can begin any
research method it is vital that we stick to a moral code of practice as we will be dealing with either
humans or animals.
Informed consent: before the study begins the researcher must online to the participants what the
research is about. For example if you think that your experiment might have any sort of psychological orphysical effect on the participants it is necessary to take their permission before beginning. Terms and
conditions should clearly be presented in order to avoid being held guilty in future. Not taking informed
consent is acceptable as long as what happens to the participants is something acceptable OR CAN
EASILY happen in daily life. For e.g if the research involves observing people in a us queue, those people
can be observed by anyone while standing. But if you are injecting any chemical then it is important to
take consent because the effect would mist probably be different with each individual.
DEBRIEFED and deception: participants must be thoroughly debriefed at the end of the study to avoid
any psychological harm to the participants as some might take a situation in the experiment too
seriously which would affect their lives tremendously. They should be given a general idea of what the
researcher was investigating and why, plus their part in the research should be explained. They should
be told if they were deceived during the course of experiment and given the reason why. They must be
asked if they have any questions regarding the whole experiment moreover those questions must be
answered honestly as fully as possible. It is not morally correct for a researcher to deceive his subject
sample, not truly telling them the purpose of the research or by hiding any important details. If the
subjects are deceived, they approach every act/question from the mindset they have been framed into,
plus, the informed consent taken from the individuals would be useless. This lowers the objectivity of
data collected. Thus deceiving as little as possible is accepted but none deception d should cause
distress.
WITHDRAWAL: The participants must be given the right to withdraw at any point of the experiment
because if he feels he cant go on with the experiment due to any psychological or medical reason, he
should be allowed to leave healthy condition than being effected by the experiment iin amy way.
CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY: participants and data collected must be kept anonymous unless given
full consent. This way their life chances are not affected, e.g if individuals names were published with
genes of autism they would be fired from their jobs thinking that this person is not normal and is less
functioning than any other individual. He might also be a social outcast. This would then be a huge
hurdle for the individual to get another job and normalize to his normal life before being a part of the
experiment. As its a universal that an individualsprivacy should not be invaded hence whether during
experiment or otherwise individuals personal activities should not be publicized.
Disadvantages of ethics
1) The use of ethics in psychological research prevents a lot of in-depth study of the human mind.
Deception ensures that the human mind can be looked into deeply and observe participants normal and
real behaviour. However psychologists are not allowed this luxury and their study is labelled as weak if
any ethical guideline is broken.
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2) Having a lot of ethical guidelines causes a hinderance in the validity of the study. Due to these rules
studies cannot depict the true picture of society because there are a lot of controls and precautions.
3) Using informed consent will give the participants a clear idea about the study and will lead to demand
characteristics. This will defeat the purpose of the studies, and will lead to low reliability.
4) Letting participants withdraw will weaken the study and might end the study altogether. It will also
result in the leakage of confidential information.
5) Few studies require breaking ethical guidelines such testing on babies which would be a significant
step in learning the nature vs nurture debate. However ethical rules prevent such studies to be
conducted.
Quantitative Data:
Advantages:
1) Use of numbers and statistics allows direct comparison.2) It has objective/subjective data that makes replication possible.3) Participants cannot give socially desirable answers.4) Less time consuming.
Disadvantages:
1) Heavy reliance on numbers is taken2) Does not give information as to why people behave this way.3) Often in snapshot studies and are not in depth, or have any details.
Qualitative Data:
Advantages:
1) Give in depth detail, are insightful and therefore not reductionist.2) Can help us understand why people behave in such a way.
Disadvantages:
1) Maybe problems in interpretation of results.2) Words and descriptions are more subjective than numbers and are open to be bias.3) Often cannot make statistical comparison.4) Maybe more prone to experimenter bias as can select the information best fit for the
hypothesis.
5) Participants may give socially desirable answers.
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Case Study:
Advantages:
1) Case studies provide a very in depth picture producing lots of qualitative data. And can alsohave quantitative data.
2) Case studies are longitudinal research.3) Detailed information on one person.4) Case studies are more holistic.5) Individual vs situational can be investigated.6) High in ecological validity as it is done in an every day environment without any controls.
Disadvantages:
1) Low to no generalization.2) Experimenter bias can be present .3) Ethnocentric bias as only one person is being judged and also being compared to the rest of the
world.4) Reliability is low.5) Issues with cause and effect are present.6) Pilot research.7) Difficulty in terms of replication of the study.
Longitudinal Study:
Advantages:
1) Conducted over a long period of time so very in depth. They are good to pick up long-termchanges in behavior etc.
2) Very resourceful for comparison.3) Researcher is able to find detailed information to prove their hypothesis.
Disadvantages:
1) Time consuming and hence tend to be expensive.2) Subjects may not want to be part of such a lengthy study and hence ethical issues may occur.
There may also be a sense of fatigue faced by the participants.
Lab Experiment
Advantages:
1. Experiments are the only means by which cause and effectcan be established. It has alreadybeen noted that an experiment differs from non-experimental methods in that it enables us to
study cause and effect because it involves the deliberate manipulation of one variable, while
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trying to keep all other variables constant. Sometimes the independent variable (IV) is thought
of as the cause and the dependent variable (DV) as the effect.
2. It allows for precise controlof variables. The purpose of control is to enable the experimenterto isolate the one key variable which has been selected (the IV), in order to observe its effect on
some other variable (the DV); control is intended to allow us to conclude that it is the IV, and
nothing else, which is influencing the DV.3. Experiments can be replicated. We cannot generalize from the results of a single
experiment. The more often an experiment is repeated, with the same results obtained, the
more confident we can be that the theory being tested is valid. The experimental method
consists of standardised procedures and measures which allow it to be easily repeated.
4. It is also worth noting that an experiment yields quantitative data (numerical amounts ofsomething) which can be analysed using inferential statistical tests. These tests permit
statements to be made about how likely the results are to have occurred through chance.
5. Lab experiments generate more accurate results as experiment is carried out in a controlledenvironment.
Disadvantages:
1. Laboratory experiments are based in artificial environments. A psychologist Coolican pointedout that:"In scientific investigation, it is often necessary to create artificial circumstances in
order to isolate a hypothesized effect." Therefore, they lack ecological validity.
2. Lab experiments use a number of controls and so decrease ecological validity.3. If participants know they are being watched it may effect their behavior. The participant may try
to work out the experimenters hypothesis and then act accordingly. It causes demand
characteristics and evaluation apprehension.
4. Lab experiments usually cause ethical issues such as withdrawal and deception.5. The results may be difficult to replicate or generalize due to researcher bias.
Field Experiment
Advantages:
1. As the experiment is in a real life situation, results can be applied to everyday life i.e. high inecological validity.
2. Results can be generalized to different settings and groups of people (as in the case ofRosenhan).
3. There will be fewer or no demand characteristics i.e. the subject will behave normally (covertfield experiments).4. In case of an opportunity sample, there are fewer chances of sample bias.
Disadvantages:
1. There is a problem with ethics, specifically, informed consent if the experiment is covert (as inthe case of Piliavin).
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2. Not as many controls as a lab experiment and therefore, less reliable.3. Less control over extraneous variables (i.e. other things that could affect the results other than
the IV).
4. They are time consuming and costly.
Observation
Advantages:
1. It provides direct access to the social phenomena under consideration. Instead of relying onsome kind of self-report, such as asking people what they would do in a certain situation, you
actually observe and record their behaviour in that situation. Thus, results are easier to obtain.
2. It is cheaper than other methods such as questionnaires and interviews.3. Data collected is very accurate in nature and also very reliable.4. Easier to replicate than less controlled methods.5. Observation can take diverse forms, from informal and unstructured approaches through to
tightly structured, standardised procedures and can yield associated diverse types of data, both
qualitative and quantitative. Observation, therefore, is applicable in a wide range of contexts.
6. Presence of two or more observers also allows results to be more accurate due to high inter-rater reliability.
Overt observation:1. The subjects are aware of the observers role and so there are no ethical issues such as
deception or invasion of privacy.
2. Cause and effect of behavior of subjects can be found out through careful observation and thereason behind their behavior known.
Covert observation:1. As observation is carried out without disturbing natural setting, there are little or no demand
characteristics leading to higher reliability and ecological validity.
2. Since subjects are unaware of the observers presence, it avoids problems surroundingobserver-effects and so may be considered to be higher in validity than overt observations.
3. It allows us access to social groups that normally would not provide consent to being involved instudies. Therefore, allowing us to research and expand knowledge on lesser-known social
groups.
Disadvantages:
1. One major problem with observation is observer bias. All results and interpretations are donefrom the observers point of view. Observers see what they want to see. Also, the observer's
mood that day will influence how he interprets data.
2. Observation is very time consuming and mostly the results can not be replicated.If theobservation is covert, there is an invasion of privacy and lack of informed consent.
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3. .If there is covert observation there is an element of deception as the group or person beingobserved do not know the true identity of the observer.
4. If observation is overt there may be demand characteristics by the group or person beingobserved. Also, people may not share information if they know they are being observed.
Self-report
Advantages:
1. An advantage of using self report measure is that it involves large number of sample and is afairly easier way to collect data.
2. Self-report methods are that they are allowing participants to describe their own experiencesrather than inferring this from observing participants.
Questionnaires:1. The responses are gathered in a standardised way, so questionnaires are more objective,
certainly more so than interviews.
2. Generally it is relatively quick to collect information using aquestionnaire. Potentially information can be collected from a large portion of a
group. This potential is not often realised, as returns from questionnaires are usually low.
Interviews:1. If the respondent lacks reading skills to answer a questionnaire.2. Are useful for untangling complex topics.3. The Interviewer can probe deeper into a response given by an interviewee.4. Interviews produce a higher response rate.
Disadvantages:
Questionnaires:1. Questionnaires, like many evaluation methods occur after the event, so participants may forget
important issues.
2. Questionnaires are standardised so it is not possible to explain any points in the questions thatparticipants might misinterpret.
3. Open-ended questions can generate large amounts of data that can take a long time to processand analyse.
4. Respondents may answer superficially especially if the questionnaire takes a long time tocomplete.
5. Students may not be willing to answer the questions. They might not wish to reveal theinformation or they might think that they will not benefit from responding perhaps even be
penalised by giving their real opinion
Interviews:1. The interviewer can affect the data if he/she is not consistent.2. It is very time consuming.3. It is not used for a large number of people.
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4. The Interviewer may be biased and ask closed questions.Psychometric Tests
Advantages:
- Can compare results easily to people- Easy to interpret as it is all quantitative data(strengths of quantitative data)- The format of psychometric test is standardized therefore everyone is treated equally and fairly- Psychometric tests are usually easy to administer
Disadvantages
- Reductionist- May not be valid- Some will not give true opinions. They will answer at their ease to get through the paper- Tests usually contain cultural bias, especially intelligence tests- One of the major dangers of psychometric tests is that when they are used by untrained
individuals
- The labeling of an individual as possessing a particular trait or ability will encourage conformityto that trait
- Most tests make the assumption that characteristics to be measured are fixed and unchanging- Designer bias, in the sense that the test is biased in the direction of authors view
Repeated measures designs:-
Take measurements on same subject over time or under different conditions.
Same basic idea as a randomized block design:
treatment effects measured on ``units'' that are similar as possible.
Repeated measures designs Advantages
Precision determined by variation within same subject; May be the only design that answers the questions of interest.
For example, how do measurements on an individual change over time?
Also the repeated measures design requires fewer participants, since data for all conditions
derive from the same group of participants.
Repeated measures designs Disadvantages
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Disadvantages:
1-The main disadvantage of a voluntary sample is that it will be biased towards a certain type of person
as only people with a personal interest in the research topic will volunteer. The sample will not
therefore be truly representative of the target population.
2- The response can be more than the expected response and organizing and filtering the volunteers
can be time consuming.
3-Can produce accurate results only if high proportion of the population voluntarily remains connected
with the experiment.
4- There is usually no way of finding out how volunteers are different from those who did not volunteer.