RESEARCH METHODS
CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
Types of Observation
Uses and Cautions
SURVEY METHOD
Use of Questionnaires
Sampling Procedures
Unobtrusive Measures
CASE STUDY
Interviews and Tests
Case History
EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
Classical Experiment
Design of Experiments
Multifactor Studies
RESEARCH IN PERSPECTIVE
Research Ethics
Comparison of Methods
SUMMARY
| SUMMARY |
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Naturalistic observation involves the study of behavior in its usual setting. In overt observation the researcher's presence is known to the subjects; in covert observation it is concealed.
Naturalistic observation may not appear complex, but it requires considerable training. The investigator must decide whether to participate in the subjects' activities and how to minimize personal bias. This approach is useful for generating hypotheses.
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The purpose of the survey is to obtain information from a large number of subjects in an efficient manner. A questionnaire, containing structured or open-ended items, is used and the results may provide norms indicating what is normal or expected for a certain group.
The people to whom the questionnaire is administered constitute a sample, which is a group of subjects drawn from a larger group called the population. When a sample accurately reflects the characteristics of a certain population, it is called a representative sample. As a rule, a large random sample is more likely to be representative than a small one.
Some surveys are based on unobtrusive measures, in which the subjects never know that they have been included in a research project. The lost-letter technique is a modified unobtrusive measure because the investigator presents potential subjects with a specific stimulus. Most unobtrusive measures provide little knowledge of the sample of subjects.
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The case study describes one person, a group of people, or an event in detail. Extensive information is gained through a series of interviews. Psychological tests also are useful for gathering information.
The case history includes social, educational, and medical information, as well as the psychological background, obtained from all available sources. Case histories, interviews, and psychological tests may involve idiographic analysis, concerned with discovering the underlying principles in a given case. They also may involve nomothetic research, which has the purpose of discovering general laws of behavior.
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The experimental method, involving control or manipulation of variables, is concerned with cause-and-effect relationships. In the classical experiment the investigator manipulates an independent variable, usually a stimulus, and notes its influence on the dependent variable, usually a response.
To control disruptive influences, subjects are studied under two conditions, experimental and control, which are equal except for the presence of the independent variable. This manipulated, and then the two conditions are compared. Sometimes the same subjects are used for the experimental and control conditions. In another design, two sets of subjects are used, and they are placed in comparable groups by matching or procedures for randomization.
The multiple bases of behavior prompt some psychologists to study the influence of several independent variables simultaneously. These multifactor studies can reveal additive effects, in which are simply cumulative, and interactive effects, in which the influences are interdependent.
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Research ethics with human beings require informed consent prior to participation, privacy during participation, and complete confidentiality of records at all times. At the end of the research, debriefing is required, in which the aim and research procedures are explained to the subject as fully as possible, and a written report is prepared, designed to enhance the value of the experience for all participants.
Each research method has advantages and disadvantages and makes its own contribution to our understanding of human and animal behavior, experience, and mental processes. These methods are used in complementary ways as investigators examine complex psychological questions.
| WORKING WITH PSYCHOLOGY |
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REVIEW OF KEY CONCEPTS | |
Naturalistic Observation
covert observation participant observation nonparticipant observation bias Survey Method
questionnaire norms sample population representative sample random sample incidental sample unobtrusive measures
Case Study
group tests individual tests case history idiographic research nomothetic research |
Experimental Method
classical experiment variable rule of one variable independent variable dependent variable 0 operational definition experimental condition control condition confounding variable placebo experimenter effects single-blind design double-blind design multifactor studies additive effect interactive effect
Research in Perspective
informed consent debriefing interview |
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CLASS DISCUSSION /CRITICAL THINKING | |
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The subjects in Stanley Milgram's obedience studies reacted in a surprising manner--not at all as psychiatrists had predicted. Suppose instead that they had behaved according to expectations. Would Milgram's research then have been largely meaningless? Explain the reasons for your view, including a discussion of psychology and common sense. Would this research have raised ethical issues? Again, explain the reasons for your view.
* Naturalistic Observation. Suppose that you want to study jaywalking in a moderately large city. Decisions about revealing your purpose offer two approaches to observation, overt and covert. Which approach would you use? Explain your reasons. * Survey Method. Sometimes surveys are administered to college students, and the |
results are reported as representative of the general population. Are students sufficiently different from one another and sufficiently similar to the general population that they adequately reflect our society? Explain your answer. * Case Study. It has been said that a test merely provides a sample of the subject's behavior. If, instead, the examiner had the opportunity to accompany the subject for 24 hours in daily life, that opportunity would yield more useful information than the test. Do you agree or disagree? Why? * Experimental Method. To what extent are confounding variables part of every type of investigation? Explain the reasons for your view. * Research in Perspective. Describe how each of the four basic research methods might be used in studying the effectiveness of a new pill for the common cold. |
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TOPICS OF RELATED INTEREST | |
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The design of research includes correlational studies, described in detail in the chapter on statistics (18). Research methods and |
instruments are also described in the context of biological foundations (3), intelligence and testing (13), and therapy (16). |
