Q

AP PSYCH 1.2 Research Methods in Psychology

  • Research is done in many ways to solve different problems
  • All methods listed here may present correlations, but do not imply causation
    • Two things may follow the same trend, but that does not necessarily mean that one affects the other

Surveys

  • Questionnaires that gather data on what people think or have done
  • Data is raw and needs to be processed before it can become useful
  • Gathers lots of ‘surface’ data

Strengths

  • Gathers large amounts of data quickly
  • Easy and cheap
  • Data is processed easily and can be turned into information
  • Can study sensitive topics because it allows for anonymity

Weaknesses

  • Participants can lie
  • Participants can misunderstand the question or prompt
  • Wording effect: Questions can be written in a way that affects the participants perception and therefore response
  • Cannot easily ask follow-up questions

Case Study

  • The opposite of surveys
  • Gathers lots of deep data about a specific individual or group

Strengths

  • Can provide more context
  • Follows participants through time, not just a moment
  • Chronological data

Weaknesses

  • Time consuming to gather such detailed data about people’s lives
  • Hard to conduct and expensive
  • Hard to get approved
  • Privacy/ethics concerns
  • Drop outs can be catastrophic
  • Can’t assume causality
  • May not be generalizable

Naturalistic Observation

  • People who know they’re being observed may not act normally
  • Going into an environment undetected is a good way to gather veritable data

Strengths

  • Allows for authentic data
  • Participants can’t react to observer’s presence, assuming they don’t know they’re being watched
  • May allow for “real” treatment

Weaknesses

  • Privacy and ethical concerns
  • May ignore informed consent
  • Lack of “control”
  • Results can only be descriptions, not explanations or deeper insight

Cross Sectional and Longitudinal

  • These studies are not research methods but rather ways in which research can be conducted

Cross Sectional

  • Compared different groups
  • Gathers data from one point in time
  • Snapshot, doesn’t give full picture or context

Longitudinal

  • Follows one group
  • Gathers data over a long time
  • Questions about generalizability
  • Good for questions of development (Unit 6)