The research methods of psychology

VI. Read the text and fill in the table.

V. Complete the sentences, using the following words.

IV. Find the definition for each method of research

III. Find synonyms for the following words

Enable, to collect, a guess, to vary, laborious, describe, to explore, evidence, to observe, an attitude.

To alter, proof, approach, allow, difficult, to perceive, to gather, to investigate, hypothesis, explain.

Naturalistic observation, survey, case study, longitudinal study, experiment.

1. a method of collecting data in which researchers actively control the factors that may affect the variable under study;

2. a method of collecting data in which researchers conduct an intensive investigation of an individual or small group, sometimes over a period of time;

3. a method of collecting data in which researchers obtain information about people’s characteristics, opinions, attitudes, or behavior by asking them questions;

4. a method of collecting data in which researchers carefully observe and record behavior in natural settings without casting any interference;

5. a study that follows the same group of subjects over a period of time.

valid, to generate, to involve, interference, to tabulate, to correlate, to occur, laborious, assess, plausible, extraneous, prevail.

1. It’s difficult _______ the effects of these changes.

2. She had ______ reasons for not supporting the proposals.

3. The figures do not seem ______.

4. The test will ______ answering questions.

5. Checking all the information will be slow and ________.

6. Those beliefs still _________ among certain social groups.

7. We need someone _______ new ideas.

8. We shall ignore factors _______ to the problem.

9. Something unexpected _________.

10. The foreign _________ in the internal affairs of the country.

11. The only _______ explanation is that he made a mistake.

12. They ___________ facts in columns so that they can be read easily.

The scientific method is a set of general procedures that all researchers are to follow in their findings and that are to be accepted as valid. In psychology research methods are of three basic types: descriptive methods (which enable researchers to observe interesting aspects of behavior and generate hypotheses about them), the correlational method (which allows psychologists to determine whether different aspects of behavior are related), and the experimental method (which is a means of gathering evidence that a cause-and-effect relationship exists), but bear in mind that they are often used together to study a particular problem.

I. There are three methods of describing behavior: naturalistic observation, the survey and the case study.

1. Naturalistic observation involves observing subjects in their natural environments (without any interference on the part of the researcher) and carefully recording what those subjects say and do. This method tries to see how subjects respond to everyday situations, not how they react when they know they are being studied or when they are placed in a setting that the researcher has created.

2. A survey involves asking people a carefully prepared set of questions about their attitudes, beliefs, feelings and behavior. The researchers then tabulate the answers to get a picture of the various ways in which these people think and act.

3. A case study looks in depth of the thoughts, feelings and actions of a particular individual of interest to psychologists. The case study offers researchers highly detailed information about a person’s emotions, motivations and thoughts.

II. Sometimes researchers want to explore how various factors are related to one another – whether or not these factors are correlated. For example, is being a first-born child correlated with high academic achievements? Correlational research investigates such possible relationships. It determines whether certain factors occur together at a rate significantly higher than would be expected to happen by chance.

Sometimes it is possible to gain information by conducting what is called a longitudinal study. In a longitudinal study, the same group of people is followed over time. Longitudinal research is very laborious and time-consuming. An alternative way of collecting similar kinds of data is to conduct a cross-sectional study in which subjects are divided into sub-groups on the basis of some variable, then each sub-group is assessed regarding one or more other variables.

Despite the limitations of correlational research, it is still very valuable. First, it allows us to make predictions. Second, correlational data often allow us to make educated guesses about what the causes of something might be.

III. An experiment is a research methods used to control the factors that might affect a variable under study, thus allowing scientists to establish cause and effect. Experiments must meet three requirements in order to demonstrate causality. First, if one event is the cause of another the two must vary together – that is, when one changes, the other must change too. Second, a time-order relationship must be established: the presumed cause must occur before the presumed effect. Third, all plausible alternative causes, known as confounding variables, must be ruled out. In an experiment, researchers are able to control most extraneous influences and so demonstrate quite clearly that A causes B.

Moreover, psychologists who conduct experiments are not seeking to make generalizations about what people do in daily life. Many are trying to discover how people respond under certain conditions, even if those conditions do not usually prevail. Despite of its limitations, the experiment remains the best method scientists have for investigating cause and effect.

The name of the method	The aim of the method
Naturalistic observation
A survey
A case study
Longitudinal study
Cross-sectional study
The experiment

Дата добавления: 2014-12-27