Psychologists use the scientific method to conduct studies and research in psychology. The basic process of conducting psychology research involves asking a question, designing a study, collecting data, analyzing results, reaching conclusions, and sharing the findings

1. How do psychologists
conduct research
PSYCHOLOGISTS FOLLOW CERTAIN STEPS AND CONFRONT A
NUMBER OF CHOICE POINTS AS THEY STUDY QUESTIONS ABOUT
MENTAL PROCESSES AND BEHAVIORS.

2. State a hypothesis
 defines what you think will happen and states your prediction in a
way that can be tested and found to be either true or false.
In your hypothesis that you are saying that one thing results in
another thing. The two things are called variables.
A variable is a condition or event or situation—it can really be
many things.

3. A condition or event that is thought to be a factor in changing
another condition or event is known as an independent variable
the investigator manipulates it.
dependent variable observing the effects of independent Variable, upon
the second variable known as the dependent variable
operationalize the variables—develop very precise definitions of
the independent and dependent variables that allow you to measure
and test them.

4. Choose participants
populations of interest may be very large groups, such as all
Americans, adults, teenagers, men, or women.
sample the group of people studied in an experiment, used to
stand in for an entire group of people.
random selection identifying a sample in such a way that everyone
in the population of interest has an equal chance of being involved in
the study.

5. Research methods of psychology
two types of methods
Descriptive method
Experimental method

6. Cont..
descriptive research methods studies that allow researchers to
demonstrate a relationship between the variables of interest,
without specifying a causal relationship.
It includes
case studies,
Introspection
naturalistic observation
Surveys
They allow researchers to pursue the goal of description

7. INTROSPECTION most important
methods of psychology
•Made up of two latin words ‘intro’ which means ‘within’/
‘inward’ and ‘spiere’, which means ‘to look’.
•Therefore, introspection means to look within
•oldest known method employed for the study of
behaviour.
•It is a subjective method as it involves self examination,
which cannot be measured.
•initiated and started by the (School of Structuralism)

8. MERITS and demerits OF
INTROSPECTION
simple and readily available
 It gives us a direct and immediate insight into one’s own mental
processes without involving any extra expenditure or apparatus.
unscientific as personal biases may creep in while reporting about
the event or experience.
It is not authentic because there is no proof of whatever is reported,
individual’s introspective report cannot be generalized

9. naturalistic observation
study in which researchers
directly observe people in a study
behaving as they normally do.

10. Steps of Observation
To record behavior
To note down behavior
To analyze behavior
Generalization and interpretation

11. Characteristics of Good
Observation:
It should be specific
It should be systematic and planned
 It should be scientific and reliable
It should be qualitative

12. TYPES OF OBSERVATION
There are several ways of classifying observation.
On the basis of nature:-
Naturalistic Observation
Experimental Observation
On the basis of the usefulness of data :-
Systematic Observation
Unsystematic observation

13. Cont..
On the basis of role played by the investigator
Participant observation
Disguised or Covert participant observation.
Undisguised or Overt participant observation.
Non participant Observation

14. MERITS OF OBSERVATION
It is economical, natural as well as flexible.
It provides real life , ecologically valid information.I
n a few situations it is the only ethical method to use.
It checks socially desirable responses.
It is scientific and objective, if properly planned.
It is reliable and valid.
Behavior of children, abnormal beings and animals can
also be studied.

15. DEMERITS OF OBSERVATION
Difficult to know what is happening in the minds of
others,
only external behavior can be observed.
It lacks repeatability because each natural situation can
occur only once.
Inability to establish a proper cause and effect
relationship.
Subjectivity factors on the part of the investigator also
effects the results, as his interests, values and prejudices
may also distort the contents of observation.

16. case study
focusing on a single person.
A case study can be a good
resource for developing early
Ideas about phenomena.

17. SURVEY RESEARCH METHOD
Technique whereby the researcher studies the whole
population with respect to certain sociological and
psychological variables.
asks a representative sample of people oral or written
questions to find out about their attitudes, behaviors, beliefs,
opinions and values.
used to obtain information on political opinions, consumer
preferences, health care needs and many other things.
often repeated over long periods of time in order to track shifts
in public opinions or actual behavior.
gathers quantifiable data on behaviors and helps us test the
hypothesis

18. the survey can be
Structured
Unstructured.
A good survey design should have a clear purpose & standardized questions
Principles of Survey Design
Keep the language simple.
Keep questions short and on one issue.
Avoid technical terms.
Avoid leading questions.
Avoid emotional or moral questions.
The Should-Would questions should be avoided.

19. Experimental Research
Experimental Research: Manipulation and control of variables
Purpose: Identify cause and effect (Meets the explanation goal of
psychology)
Advantages: Allows Ethical concerns, researchers practical limits,
precise control artificiality over variables of lab conditions, and to
identify confounding cause and variables,
Disadvantages: effect researcher and participant biases

20. Types of Experiments
Three types of variables in an experiment are
Independent Variables
Dependent Variable
Control Variables
Types of Experiments
Lab Experiment
Field Experiment
Quasi Experiment

21. Groups in experimental study
study would be to divide your sample into two groups:
an experimental group (the one exposed to the independent
variable)
a control group (consists of people who are similar to those in the
experimental group but who are not exposed to the independent
variable)

22. Cont..
random selection identifies a sample in such a way that everyone in
the population of interest has an equal chance of being involved in
the study.
random assignment to make sure that everyone in their sample has
an equal chance of being in either the control or experimental group

23. Cont..
double-blind procedure
in which neither the participant nor the researcher knows which
group—experimental or control—the participant is in.
Double-blind studies help keep researchers from observing or
creating what they want to observe
and participants from intentionally acting in ways that confirm a
researcher’s hypothesis.

24. Ethical considerations psychologists follow
Obtain informed consent
Informed consent from participants requires that researchers give as
much information
as possible about the purpose, procedures, risks, and benefits of a
study
so participants can make informed decisions about whether they
want to be involved in the study.
If participants include children, researchers must obtain informed
consent from both the parents or caregivers and the child.

25. Cont..
Protect participants from harm and discomfort.
 researchers must avoid putting participants in situations that could
cause them undue emotional stress
Protect confidentiality
 Researchers must have in place,
and explain to participants
 careful plans to protect information about the identities of participants
 the confidentiality of their research responses.

26. Provide complete debriefing
if participants were to have full knowledge about the purposes and
goals of a study before it began, their responses during the study
might be influenced by that knowledge.
Researchers often try to balance giving participants enough
information before a study to protect their rights, yet withholding
information that may affect participants’ responses.
at the end of a study, researchers are required to offer a debriefing
to participants—an information session during which they reveal
any information that was withheld earlier.

27. Defining Islamic Psychology
The International Association of Islamic Psychology
defines
Islamic Psychology as the Psychology that is based on an
Islamic paradigm

28. Qalb
A distinguishing feature of Islamic Psychology is that it
acknowledges a spiritual centre at the centre of the
human being.
Western Psychology, in the main, ignores or denies such
a centre, the main exception being the marginalised
Psychology of Carl Jung.
 Some traditional scholars term the inner centre as ʿAql
(see below),
 or Rūḥ (spirit), but Al-Ghazali mostly uses the term Qalb
(heart).

29. Cont..
The Qalb is perceived as containing an inherent sense of ‘fiṭra’
– what is natural and right, –
and is open to divine inspiration (Rūḥ) –
in the form of true dreams and inspired intuition

30. Aql
Aql can be translated as intellect, or the cognitive
faculty.
Al-Ghazali describesʿAql as having five functions.
Four of these essentially describe the intellectual
operations, such as
logical reasoning, understood in Western cognitive
psychology.
the fifth function, however, is of a different level and can
be considered as being part of and extending from the
Qalb.

31. Cont..
This level of ʿAql is that which receives and articulates the knowledge of the
heart.
It is this aspect of ʿAql which should direct the operations of the other parts,
to avoid reasoning becoming disassociated from fiṭra
and becoming (to paraphrase a Ḥadith) like ‘sorcery’.

32. Hawā
‘The animal self’ refers to the instinctive drives and
energies we require for our existence in this life.
(even in Al-Ghazali’s day) these drivesare often referred
to as ‘the nafs’.
Particularly in the Islamic medical tradition, (Ṭibb),
there is an understanding that the balance and type of
these energies are closely related to diet.

33. The Body
In part, the body can be viewed as the base layer of the Self;
–
the carnal casing, necessary for this life but discarded at
death.
It is the vehicle for carrying out the instruction of the internal
faculties (of the Qalb, ʿAql, and Hawā),
and is the entree point for environmental forces (from food
and drink, the atmosphere, mobile phones, jinn etc.)
which then alchemise into internal energies, – particularly
within the Hawā.

35. Dynamics
Ḥadith relate that each child is born in‘fiṭra’, – that is, in a pure
natural state absorbed in the awareness of God.
Immediately after birth, however, the baby is pricked by Shayṭān.
Thus, in this life, the Self is conceived as containing a continual
struggle between the pull of fiṭra emanating from the Qalb,
which seeks to bring the Self back to what is natural and right for
the human being,
and back into union with God; and the pull of Shayṭān in the
opposite direction.

36. The three levels, or states, of the Self described in the Quran (Q. 12:53,
75:2, 89:27-28)
,Nafs Ammāra, Nafs Lawwāma, Nafs Muṭmaʾinna, can be seen as reflecting
the outcome of this struggle at any point of time.
 Nafs Ammāra (the Compelling Self) thus refers to the state of the Self when
it is dominated (compelled) by the lower energies of the Hawā.
Nafs Muṭmaʾinna (the Well Pleasing, Contented Self), the state when the
Self is under the direction of the Qalb.


37. Nafs Lawwāma (the Remorseful Self) is the bridging state, in which the Self
has awareness of its separation from fiṭra and closeness to the divine.
The state of Nafs Lawwāma is critical for psychological work, as in that
state, the individual can either resolve its pain by seeking the remedy that
brings it back to completion and contentment;
or can dissociate from the pain (through, for instance, certain types of
defence mechanisms) and descend back into Nafs Ammāra.