Based on psychology research methods..useful for high school and university students

1. Research
Methods
Psychologists use many different methods for
conducting research. Each method has
advantages and disadvantages that make it
suitable for certain situations and unsuitable
for others.

2. Quantitative and Qualitative
• Qualitative research gathers information that is not
in numerical form. For example, diary accounts,
open-ended questionnaires, unstructured
interviews and unstructured observations.
Qualitative data is typically descriptive data and as
such is harder to analyze than quantitative data.
• Quantitative research gathers data in numerical
form which can be put into categories, or in rank
order, or measured in units of measurement. This
type of data can be used to construct graphs and
tables of raw data.

3. Experimental Psychology
• Experimental psychology is an area of psychology
that utilizes scientific methods to research the
mind and behavior.
• It can also be known as a situation where the
independent variable is deliberately manipulated
by the experimenters.

4. There are 3 different types of experimental methods:-
• Laboratory Experiments: An experiment that occurs
in a carefully controlled environment, usually a
laboratory.
• Field Experiments: An experiment that takes place
in the real world as opposed to a laboratory. The IV is
still manipulated by the experimenters.
• Natural Experiments: An experiment that takes
place in the real world and where the IV occurs
naturally. There is no manipulation of the IV.

5. Investigations using the
correlational analysis
• A method of data analysis which allows the
strength of the relationship between two (or more)
co-variables to be measured.
• Correlation means association - more precisely it is
a measure of the extent to which two variables are
related. If an increase in one variable tends to be
associated with an increase in the other then this
is known as a positive correlation. If an increase in
one variable tends to be associated with a decrease
in the other then this is known as a negative
correlation. A zero correlation occurs when there is
no relationship between variables.

6. Naturalistic Observations
• A study where the observer objectively records the
behavior of a participants in their natural
environment.
• Natural: Here spontaneous behavior is recorded in a
natural setting.
• Controlled: behavior is observed under controlled
laboratory conditions.
• Participant: Here the observer has direct contact
with the group of people they are observing.
• Non-participant: The researcher does not have
direct contact with the people being observed.

7. Questionnaires• Written methods of data collection. They can
involve open or closed questions. Surveys tend to
involve a large sample of participants.
• Questionnaires can be thought of as a kind of
written interview. They can be carried out face to
face, by telephone or post.
• The questions asked can be open ended, allowing
flexibility in the respondent's answers, or they can
be more tightly structured requiring short answers
or a choice of answers from given alternatives.
• The choice of questions is important because of the
need to avoid bias or ambiguity in the questions,
‘leading’ the respondent, or causing offence.

8. Interviews
• A verbal method of data collection that involves the
researcher asking questions in a face-to-face way.
They can vary from very structured (formal) to
unstructured(informal).
• Unstructured (informal) interviews are like a
casual conversation. There are no set questions
and the participant is given the opportunity to
raise whatever topics he/she feels are relevant and
ask them in their own way. In this kind of interview
much qualitative data is likely to be collected.
• Structured (formal) interviews are like a job
interview. There is a fixed, predetermined set of
questions that are put to every participant in the
same order and in the same way. The interviewer
stays within their role and maintains social
distance from the interviewee.

9. Advantages and Disadvantages
Research method Advantages Disadvantages
Survey
Yields a lot of
information
Provides a good way
to generate
hypotheses.
Can provide info
about many people
since it’s cheap and
easy to do
Provides information about
behavior that can’t be
observed directly
Relies on self-report data,
which can be misleading
Doesn’t allow conclusions
about cause-and-effect
relationships
Experiment
Identifies cause-and-
effect relationships
Distinguishes
between placebo
effects and real
effects of a treatment
or drug
Can be artificial, so results
may not generalize to real-
world situations

10. Advantages and Disadvantages
Research method Advantages Disadvantages
Naturalistic
observation
Can be useful for
generating hypotheses
Provides information
about behavior in the
natural environment
Sometimes yields
biased results
May be difficult to do
unobtrusively
Doesn’t allow
conclusions about
cause-and-effect
relationships
Laboratory
observation
Enables use of
sophisticated
equipment for
measuring and
recording behavior
Can be useful for
generating hypotheses
Sometimes yields
biased results
Carries the risk that
observed behavior is
different from natural
behavior
Doesn’t allow
conclusions about
cause-and-effect
relationships