Research Methods in Psychology
Research Methods in Psychology
Research Methods in Psychology
In Psychology
Mrs. Andrews
Psychology…
2. Predict
Behavior and mental
processes
3. Explain
4. Control
Descriptive
Research Methods
Research methods that yield
descriptions rather than
explanations… they do NOT
explain WHY
Naturalistic Observation
Researchers observe and record subjects
in their natural setting
or
Correlational Research
A negative correlation means when one
variable increases the other variable
decreases
Survey Research
Using interviews and or questionnaires to gather
information about aptitudes, beliefs, experiences or
behaviors
Advantages: can gather lots of information quickly and
inexpensively
Disadvantages:
• sampling biases skew results
• Poorly constructed questions result in ambiguous
data
• Accuracy depends on the willingness of subjects to
answer honestly and accurately (people may lie)
Survey Research
Key Terms
• Population: the entire group of interest to
researcher- from which the sample is chosen
• Sample: The portion of any population
selected to study from which generalizations
are made about the population
• Representative Sample: A sample selected
from the larger population that is
representative of the population as a whole
Experimental Method
Method where researchers randomly
assign participants to groups and
control all variables except for one
which is manipulated to see if it has
an impact on another variable
Disadvantages:
• Differences may already exist- (between control
& experimental)
• Really hard to control ALL variables
• Lab setting may inhibit natural behavior
• Findings may not generalize to the real world
• Potential for unethical experiments
Confused??
• To review this material- look in
your book pages 30-37