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)