Methods of Research

The scientific research method is an approach psychologists use to understand the unknown. It
consists of three steps: identifying questions of interest, formulating an explanation and carrying
out research that is designed to lend support to the explanation. Psychologists utilize the
scientific method of research in which hypotheses are tested, data are interpreted and results are
published. There are two types of researches basic and applied. Basic research is conducted to
obtain information for its own sake, whereas applied research is conducted to help solve a
practical problem.

Psychologists utilize a variety of methods in acquiring knowledge about behavior.

 If we want to investigate the role of motivation in learning, we may select to do

laboratory study using the experimental method.
 If we are concerned with learning about the behavior of group, we would probably make
as many objective observations of group behavior as possible.
 If subject of interest is early life experiences in mental illness, the research would
involve the collection and study of case histories.
 If researcher is interested in knowing percentage of people supporting different political
parties, he/she will use survey method.

There is great diversity in subject matter of psychology. There is limited number of

research methods used in sub-field of psychology. The research methods include:

1. Observation Method
2. Survey Method
3. Case history Method
4. Interview Method
5. Co relational research
6. Experimental Method

1. Observational Method

Psychologist often relies on observation for knowledge of certain aspects of human

nature. For example, consider the problem of tracing the mental and behavioral
development of the individual from conception to maturity. The process raises many
intricate questions about the influence of heredity and environment, the condition
favorable to normal growth and the factors that produce such abnormalities as
delinquency and insanity. Some of the questions can be clarified experimentally. Tests
and laboratory methods can be used to measure the stages of development reached at
particular age and for determining the upward curve of growth. Observation may be two
kinds:

I. Subjective observation
II. Objective observation
 Subjective Observation

Subjective observation/introspection is a procedure used to study the subject’s mental

processes like thinking feeling, sensation etc. Wundt used this method to study structure
of the mind. Functionalist also used this method to study the conscious experiments.
These days introspective method is used as self-report in experimental method.

Advantages: used by primitive psychologists, this method has following advantages:

 We can directly assess feelings, ideas and emotion of subject.

 Clinical psychologists use this method to quickly diagnose mental disorders.
 This is less expensive, simple and easy method.

Disadvantages:

 Introspective report is based on personal opinion, which is considered as

unscientific.
 Information gained cannot be repeated or verified.
 This method is applicable only to normal person. It is not used for abnormal
people.

Objective/Naturalistic Observation

In naturalistic observation, the investigator simply observes some naturally occurring

behavior and does not intervene in the situation

Example: a researcher investigating behavior might turn to a high crime area of city and
observe there the kind of help that is given to the victims of crime. The important point is
that researcher is passive and simply records what occur.

While the advantage of naturalistic observation is that we get sample of what

people do in their ‘natural habitat'. It has also an important drawback of inability to
control any of the factors of interest. For example, we might find a few naturally
occurring instances of helping behavior that we would be unable to draw any
conclusions. Because naturalistic observation prevents researcher from making changes
in a situation they must wait until appropriate conditions occur. Similarly, if people know
that they are being watched, they may react in such a way that the behavior observed is
not truly representative of the group in question.

2. Survey Method

If the first question on a survey was, ‘have you ever answered a survey?’ chances are we would
get 100 per cent positive results. Surveys are one of the most popular ways to find out what
people think and one of the most common research methods in psychology. When it is not
feasible to spend a long period of time in the field or to obtain data about all the individuals in a
group, much valuable information may be obtained by conducting a survey. Survey research can
be both quantitative and qualitative, and it is widely used in not only psychology research but
across the sciences. Respondents (those answering the questions) are sent surveys and are asked
to self-report their actions, thoughts, and feelings to measure how certain variables may impact
them. One of the most critical aspects of survey research is the sampling method used. Most
researchers prefer large samples that are representative of the population they are studying to
obtain a representative estimate of what is accurate among the population. Samples in
psychology are often random and large.

Surveys vary greatly. They can be lengthy or quite short. They can be conducted over a
variety of communication channels such as over the internet, in person, in the mail, by telephone,
and with video chat. The data collected can be used for quantitative purposes or qualitative
measures, depending on the purpose of the research and the design of the questions. Surveys are
used widely across the social sciences. They have their roots in documenting the prevalence of
social problems, including poverty and overall economic conditions.

They are widely used among healthcare providers, including psychologists and public
health professionals, and academics to measure the prevalence of mental health issues such as
anxiety, depression, and drug and alcohol abuse. Survey research, like all other forms of study,
has its strengths and weaknesses. Its strengths include the ability to gather qualitative data and
the relatively low cost. Some of the weaknesses are the potential for poor question design due to
bias and poor sampling. A random sample needs the best chance of demonstrating the entire
population. To do that, it must be weighted to have the same characteristics of that population.
For example, if you wanted to research postgraduate students who read blog posts, you wouldn’t
include postgraduate students who don’t read blog posts in your random sample. There are six
steps in planning and conducting a survey. These steps are

I. Selection of problem
II. Questionnaire about the problem
III. Sampling the population
IV. Methods of measurement (procedure)
V. Analysis of data
VI. Results/report writing

Survey Research Methods

There are three main survey research methods, divided based on the medium of conducting
survey research:

 Online/ Email: Online survey research is one of the most popular survey research
methods today. The cost involved in online survey research is extremely minimal, and the
responses gathered are highly accurate.
 Phone: Survey research conducted over the telephone (CATI) can be useful in collecting
data from a more extensive section of the target population. There are chances that the
 money invested in phone surveys will be higher than other mediums, and the time
required will be higher.
 Face-to-face: Researchers conduct face-to-face in-depth interviews in situations where
there is a complicated problem to solve. The response rate for this method is the highest,
but it can be costly.

Further, based on the time taken, survey research can be classified into two methods:

 Longitudinal survey research: Longitudinal survey research involves conducting

survey research over a continuum of time and spread across years and decades. The data
collected using this survey research method from one time period to another is qualitative
or quantitative. Respondent behavior, preferences, attitudes are continuously observed
over time to analyze reasons for a change in behavior or preferences. For example,
suppose a researcher intends to learn about the eating habits of teenagers. In that case,
he/she will follow a sample of teenagers over a considerable period to ensure that the
collected information is reliable. Often, cross-sectional survey research follows a
longitudinal study.
 Cross-sectional survey research: A cross-sectional study involves looking at data from
a population at one specific point in time. The participants in this type of study are
selected based on particular variables of interest. This type of research can be used to
describe characteristics that exist in a community, but not to determine cause-and-effect
relationships between different variables. It is quick and helps researchers collected
information in a brief period. Researchers rely on cross-sectional survey research method
in situations where descriptive analysis of a subject is required. For example researchers
studying developmental psychology might select groups of people who are different ages
but investigate them at one point in time. By doing this, any differences between ages the
groups can presumably be attributed to age differences rather than something that
happened over time.

Advantages

One of the big benefits of using surveys in psychological research is that they allow researchers
to gather a large quantity of data relatively quickly and cheaply. A survey can be administered as
a structured interview or as a self-report measure, and data can be collected in person, over the
phone, or on a computer.

 Surveys allow researchers to collect a large amount of data in a relatively short period.
 Surveys are less expensive than many other data collection techniques.
 Surveys can be created quickly and administered easily.
 Surveys can be used to collect information on a broad range of things, including personal
facts, attitudes, past behaviors, and opinions.
Disadvantages

One potential problem with written surveys is the no response bias. Experts suggest that return
rates of 85 percent or higher are considered excellent, but anything below 60 percent might have
a severe impact on the representativeness of the sample.

 Poor survey construction and administration can undermine otherwise well-designed

studies.
 The answer choices provided in a survey may not be an accurate reflection of how the
participants actually feel.
 While random sampling is generally used to select participants, response rates can bias
the results of a survey.
 The social desirability bias can lead people to respond in a way that makes them look
better than they really are. For example, a respondent might report that they engage in
more healthy behaviors than they do in real life.

3. Case Study/Clinical Method

Case study research falls under the qualitative branch of research methodology. Case studies in
the psychology discipline are typically conducted on specific individuals. Notable case study
practitioners include Sigmund Freud, who used case studies extensively to delve into the lives of
his patients to understand, diagnose, and assist them with their psychological ailments. Freud
conducted very detailed investigations into the private lives of his patients in an attempt to both
understand and help them overcome their illnesses. Even today case histories are one of the main
methods of investigation in psychology.

This makes it clear that the case study is a method that should only be used by a
psychologist, therapist or psychiatrist, i.e. someone with a professional qualification Case studies
are conducted by interviewing and observing patient behavior. The researcher describes the
behavior and discusses events from the patient’s perspective. Often the interviews are
unstructured and the observations are the individual going about his or her everyday life. Other
sources of data may include journals, notes, photos, etc. Data is then evaluated to find common
themes and interpretations. The procedure used in a case study means that the researcher
provides a description of the behavior. This comes from interviews and other sources, such as
observation. A psychology case study most often collects salient and seminal biographical
moments from a patient’s past as well as important events in the individual’s daily life that may
animate maladaptive behaviors and thinking. Data for the biography is gathered from interviews
with the individual and with his associates. The client also reports detail of events from his or her
point of view. The researcher then writes up the information from both sources above as the case
study, and interprets the information. In case history, we use the following techniques

 Day-Book method (day to day development of a child): In this researcher will

question to child’s pediatrician. This method is most often used in developmental
psychology, particularly to study the child’s behavior. The child’s various
 developmental processes are very carefully observed and recorded in a standard
manner. Such records will include the age at which the child makes his first
smiles, sits, crawls, stands, walk, recognition of siblings and strangers and so on.
This kind of facts becomes the accumulated records. They provide us with
standard information to judge the development of other children.
 Biographical method: The biographical method is the collection and analysis of
an intensive account of a whole life or portion of a life, usually by an in-depth,
unstructured interview. The account may be reinforced by semi-structured
interviewing or personal documents.

The data collected can be analyzed using different theories. Interpreting the information
means the researcher decides what to include or leave out. A good case study should always
make clear which information is the factual description and which is an inference or the opinion
of the researcher. The clinical method used by the psychologist often helps us to develop
hypotheses about behavior that are later subjected to experimental study. There are thus two
advantages that clinical method provides. It is valuable source of knowledge about behavior and
it provides ideas for experimental study.
Example: if a child is making poor progress in school it may be because of low intelligence,
because of poor hearing or because of slowness to react. Measurement under standard test is the
only reliable way to discover the nature of adjustment problem resulting from low intelligence or
from sensory, motor and other organic deficiencies. But the problem may result partly or wholly
from such factors as poor early training, bad school conditions, inadequate home environment or
undesirable social relations in neighborhood and community. Information about these may be
revealed by a case history.

Advantages

 Provides detailed (rich qualitative) information.

 This is useful method to study, diagnose and treat mental and behavioral disorders.
 Provides insight for further research.
 Permitting investigation of otherwise impractical) situations.
Disadvantages
 This method is usually applicable to one person, providing little basis for generalization
of results to the wider population.
 Researchers' own subjective feeling may influence the case study (researcher bias).
 Time-consuming and expensive.
 Sometimes client does not cooperate and gives wrong information to therapist.

4. Interviews
Interviews are a way of collecting large amounts of data where a series of questions are
answered in a face-to-face situation. In an interview the researcher can work using a
complete set of questions e.g. a questionnaire, but in a face-to-face situation the researcher
has the opportunity to expand or clarify the questions and obtain much more information.
The questions may be explored in more depth and the researcher can get a fuller and more
valid answer from the responder.
 Fundamental Types of Interviews in Research

Interviews offer the researchers with a platform to prompt their participants and obtain inputs in
the desired detail. There are three fundamental types of interviews in research:

I. Structured Interviews:

Structured interviews are defined as research tools that are extremely rigid in their operations are
allows very little or no scope of prompting the participants to obtain and analyze results. It is
thus also known as a standardized interview and is significantly quantitative in its approach.
Questions in this interview are pre-decided according to the required detail of information. They
can be closed-ended as well as open-ended – according to the type of target population. Closed-
ended questions can be included to understand user preferences from a collection of answer
options whereas open-ended can be included to gain details about a particular section in the
interview.

II. Semi-Structured Interviews:

Semi-structured interviews offer the researcher to probe the respondents along with maintaining
basic interview structure. Even if it is a guided conversation between researchers and
interviewees – an appreciable flexibility is offered to the researchers. A researcher can be
assured that multiple interview rounds will not be required in the presence of structure in this
type of research interview. Keeping the structure in mind, the researcher can follow any idea or
take creative advantage of the entire interview. Additional respondent probing is always
necessary to garner information for a research study. The best application of semi-structured
interview is when the researcher doesn’t have time to conduct research and requires detailed
information about the topic.

III. Unstructured Interviews:

Also called as in-depth interviews, unstructured interviews are usually described as

conversations held with a purpose in mind – to gather data about the research study. These
interviews have the least number of questions as they lean more towards a normal conversation
but with an underlying subject. The main objective of most researchers using unstructured
interviews is to build a bond with the respondents due to which there are high chances that the
respondents will be 100% truthful with their answers. There are no guidelines for the researchers
to follow and so, they can approach the participants in any ethical manner to gain as much
information as they possibly can for their research topic.

5. Co-relational Method
The experimental method is generally preferred above other methods because the only way that
psychologist can establish cause and effect relationship through research is by carrying out an
experiment. The experimental method involves manipulating one variable to determine if
changes in one variable cause changes in another variable.

Example 1

The relationship between exercise and mental health

 Variable 1: Amount of exercise (measured in hours per week)

 Variable 2: Level of reported anxiety (measured using a standardized anxiety scale)

Procedure: Researchers could survey a group of individuals, asking them about their weekly
exercise habits and administering the anxiety scale to assess their anxiety levels. They would
then analyze the data to see if there’s a correlation between the amount of exercise and anxiety
levels.

Potential Findings:

 Positive Correlation: If the data shows that as exercise increases, anxiety levels
decrease, this suggests a negative correlation between exercise and anxiety.
 No Correlation: If there’s no clear trend, it could suggest that exercise has no significant
impact on anxiety.
 Further Research Needed: While this study can show a correlation, it cannot
definitively state that exercise causes changes in anxiety levels; other factors (like diet,
sleep, or genetic predispositions) could also play a role.

Example 2

Co-relational study shows that more violence TV show young boy watches the more aggressive
he is. Does aggressive program cause aggression or aggressive boys like to see violent program.

Example 3

Smoking cigarette cause cancer, co-relational study shows that these two variables are correlated.
Many companies questioned that there can be other cause. There can be possibility that people in
smoggy urban areas are more likely to smoke than people who live in rural areas with clearer air.

Disadvantages

Co-relational studies are useful for identifying relationships between variables, but they have
several drawbacks:

 Causation vs. Correlation: Correlation does not imply causation. Just because two
variables are correlated doesn't mean that one causes the other; there could be a third
variable influencing both.
  Confounding Variables: Other unmeasured variables may affect the relationship,
leading to misleading conclusions.
 Limited Insight: Correlational studies can show that a relationship exists, but they often
cannot explain why it exists or how strong it is.
 No Control Over Variables: Researchers cannot manipulate variables as they would in
experimental studies, limiting the ability to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

6. Experimental Method

Hypothesis
There are several steps in carrying out an experiment but the process typically begins with the
development one or more hypotheses for the experiments to test. The hypotheses are predictions
that have been formulated on the basis of observed facts, or derived from theories. The crux of
the experimental method is in the procedures used for testing hypotheses. The factors with which
the experimenter is concerned in so doing are called variables.
Variables
A variable is an event or condition which can be measured and which varies quantitatively. The
variables involved in a particular experiment may be classified as independent and dependent
variable. The variable that is manipulated by the experimenter is called the independent
variable which is often linked to causes and the variable that change when the independent
variable changes is the dependent variable which is linked to effects. The dependent variable is
measured in an experiment. It is expected to change as a result of experimenter’s manipulation of
independent variable.
Random Assignment
A procedure in which participants are assigned to different experimental groups or conditions on
the basis of chance and chance alone is called random assignment.
Experimental Manipulation
The change that an experimenter deliberately produces in a situation is called experimental
manipulation.
Experimental group
Any group participating in an experiment that receives a treatment is called experimental group.
Controls
Another important characteristic of the experimental method is control. In experimental method
it is important that only the specific independent variable be allowed to change. Factors other
than the independent variable which might affect the dependent variable must be held constant.
A group participating in an experiment that receives no treatment is called experimental group.

Example

The Effect of Study Environment on Test Performance

Objective will be to determine how different study environments (quiet vs. noisy) impact
students' performance on a mathematics test.

Hypothesis: Students who study in a quiet environment will perform better on a mathematics
test than those who study in a noisy environment.

Methodology:

1. Participants: 60 undergraduate students from a local university, randomly assigned to

two groups (30 in each group).
2. Independent Variable: Study environment (quiet room vs. noisy room).
3. Dependent Variable: Test performance (measured by scores on a standardized
mathematics test).
4. Procedure:
o Group A studies in a quiet room with no distractions for 30 minutes.
o Group B studies in a room with background noise (e.g., chatter, music) for the
same duration.
o After the study period, both groups take the same mathematics test under
controlled conditions.
5. Data Analysis: Compare the average test scores of the two groups using statistical
methods (e.g., t-test).

Results: The findings indicate whether there’s a significant difference in test scores between the
two groups, supporting or refuting the hypothesis.

Conclusion: Based on the results, conclusions can be drawn about the impact of the study
environment on academic performance, which can inform future study habits for students.

This example outlines a clear experimental setup to explore a specific hypothesis with
measurable outcomes!