Research Methods in Psychology

Course Code: PSY-101

Instructor: Tehmina Zainab
What is Science?
 a body of established knowledge
 the observation, identification, investigation,
and theoretical explanation of natural
phenomenon
What is scientific method??
The scientific method refers to the ways in which
scientists ask questions and the logic and methods
used to gain answers
Goals of Scientific Research
 Description
Researcher seek to describe events and
relationship between variables
 Explanation

Researcher understand the causes of a

phenomena
Cont..
 Prediction
Description of events and their relationships
often provide a basis for prediction, researcher
predict behavior or events
 Control

Researcher can manipulate variable in order to

produce specific behavior
Goals Questions asked to
reach the goal
Description What happens?
When and where does it
happen?

Explanation Why does it happen?

Prediction What will happen next?

Control How can we influence this

behavior or intervene in
this situation?
Goals of Psychological Research
 Description of social behavior
Are people who grow up in warm climates different from those in cold
climates?
 Establish a relationship between cause & effect
Does heat cause higher amounts of aggression?
 Develop theories about why people behave the way that they
do

 Application
Creating effective therapeutic treatment and greater understanding amongst
groups of people
Research Methods in Psychology
 To understand the influence of society on
individual and individual’s influence on
society, we have to understand the research
methods
 Research methods are important source to
understand the nature of emotions, cognitions
and human behavior by empirical evidences
Research Methods
 Some Important Research Methods in Psychology
are:

1. Observation
2. Experimental Method
3. Correlation Method
4. Survey Method
5. Case Study Method
6. Interview
1. Observation
 One basic technique to study social behavior
is systematic observation-Carefully observing
behavior as it occurs
 “A method of research in which

behavior is systematically observed

and recorded is called systematic
observation”
Cont.
 Observation can be conducted in informal
way but in social psychology systematic
observation is widely used
 e.g. in order to understand the causes of mass
failure of students in universities, systematic
observation of students can be conducted
 Systematic observation is that in which
researcher have specific purpose, observe and
record target behavior
 Naturalistic Observation:- Observing
behavior in natural setting is called naturalistic
observation e.g. observing students attitudes towards
studies in the universities
 Observation can be Direct( in which
observer/researcher directly observer the phenomena
or targeted behavior) or Indirect (in which
information can be gathered by indirect resources e.g.
by recording the behavior etc
 Participant Observation:- A method of
observation in which observer/researcher participate in the
natural environment and observe the phenomena while living
in the same natural environment-through this method
researcher can control the effects of awareness to be observed
 Non-Participant Observation:- In this method,
researcher observe the phenomena as being an
outsider of that natural environment
Cont.
 Merits:-
i. Direct sources
ii. Based on natural environment
iii. Simple Method
 Demerits:-
i. Observer Effect
ii. Observer Bias
2. Correlational Method
 The term correlation refers to a tendency for
one event to change as the other changes

 A method of research in which a scientist

systematically observes two or more variables
to determine whether changes in one are
accompanied by the changes in other.
Cont.
 e.g. Free education will increase the rate of
lliteracy
 Social psychologists refers to such changeable
aspects of the natural world as variables
because they can take different values
 The existence of correlation is very useful
from scientific point of view because when a
correlation exist, it is possible to predict one
variable from information about one or more
other variables
 The ability to make such prediction is one of
the important goal of all branches of science
 Such type of prediction are very supportive
for social psychology as some of the future
dangerous behaviors/attitudes which can be
predicted by correlated variables will be
controlled or managed before time.
Cont.
 The stronger the correlation between the
variables in phenomena, the more accurate the
prediction
 Correlation can range from zero to -1 or + 1 ,
the greater the departure from zero, the
stronger the correlation
Types of Correlation
 Positive Correlation:-The increase in one
variable causes the increase in other variable
called positive correlation
 Perfect Positive Correlation:- When the
correlation falls at +1, it called perfect
positive correlation
 Negative Correlation:- The increase in one
variable causes the decrease in other variable
called negative correlation
Cont.
 Perfect Negative Correlation:- When the
correlation falls at -1, it called perfect negative
correlation
 In this approach, social psychologists attempt to
determine whether and to what extent different
variables are related to each other.
Cont.
 Merits:-
i. Predict future behavior
ii. Find the relationship between variables
 Demerits:-
i. Can misguide about the relationship between
two variables
ii. Excessive rely on predicted behavior
3. Experimental Method
 Correlation method is very useful in making accurate
prediction but it is less useful in attaining the goal of
“why” question
 To answer the why, social psychologists use another
research method that is called Experimental Method
 In a formal experiment , the relationship between
two or more variables is investigated by deliberately
producing a change in one variable in a situation and
observing the effects of that change on other aspects
of the situation.
 “A method of research in which one or more
factors are systematically changed to determine
whether such variations affect one or more other
factors”
 It is a scientific attempt to see cause and effect
relationship
Let’s take a closer look . . .at variables

 Variable: can be any event, characteristic, condition, or

behavior
 Independent variable (predictor variable)
The variable that is controlled and manipulated by the
experimenter. For example, in an experiment on the impact
of sleep deficiency on test performance, sleep deficiency
would be the independent variable.
 Dependent variable (outcome variable)
The variable that is measured by the experimenter. In
previous example, the scores on the test performance
measure would be the dependent variable.
Examples
IV DV

Mental health
Strategy of Experimental Method

 Experimentations
involves the following
strategy: one variable
is changed
systematically, and the
effects of this changed
on one or more other
variables are carefully
measured
Cont.
 Experimental Manipulation: Experimental
manipulation is the change that an
experimenter intentionally produces in a
situation.
 Experimental research requires the responses
of at least two groups be compared with each
other.
Cont.
 Experimental Group
A group receiving a treatment (the manipulation
implemented by the experimenter) in an experiment.
 Control Group
A group that receives no treatment in an experiment.
 The variable involved in a particular experiment may
be classified as independent and dependent.
Characteristics of Experimental
Research
Control:
 Another important characteristic of the
experimenter method is control. it means that
only independent variable be allowed to
change. Factor other than I.V ,which might
affect the dependent variable, must be held
constant.
 In an experiment we must control conditions ,
which would give misleading results.
Cont.
Random Assignment to condition:
 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 to condition.
Cont.
 Extraneous Variables: There are some variables
which can also effect the results of the experiment
but experimenter does not want them to effect the
dependent variables e.g. lack of coeducation
institution in some particular region can not create a
change in the people attitude even after taking
effects from media or due to lack of financial
sources people can not go for studies in coeducation,
these two factors can work as extraneous variables
Cont.
 Merits:-
The experimental method has the following
advantages:
 Very useful to conclude the cause and effect
relationship
 With the help of this method psychologists
gain better understanding of behavior by
exerting control over stimuli.
Cont.
 Demerits:-
i. Expensive Method
ii. we can not easily manipulate large groups of
people that might lead to mental illness
iii. Artificial Environment
iv. Humans react differently when they know
they are participating in an experiment
Cont.
iv. Need highly expert and skilled experimenter
v. Experimenter Bias
vi. Might not be able to apply to outside the
laboratory settings.
Survey Method
 A method of research in which
large numbers of persons
answer questions about their
attitudes or behavior
 A method in which information
are gathered from a large
number of people either
through written questionnaires
or through interviews.
 A sample of people chosen to
represent some larger group of
interest (population)
 Steps in Planning and conducting Survey
1. Selection of Problem
2. Hypothesis
3. Questionnaire about Problem
4. Sampling the Population
5. Methods of measurement
6. Analysis of Data
7. Results/Conclusion/Report Writing
Steps in Planning and conducting
Survey
Selection of Problem
Topic of Particular social issue, on which survey is
conducted.
Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a tentative Statement (Measureable
Statement).
Questionnaire about Problem
Next step is to select the Tool or Scale on Related
topic/problem.
Steps in Planning and conducting
Survey
Questionnaire: A list of statements either in
form of question or simple statement which are
the direct source of taking information about
some particular phenomena
Types of Questionnaire:
i.Open-Ended Questionnaire

ii.Fixed-Ended Questionnaire
Questions
 Open ended Questions
is designed to encourage a full, meaningful
answer using the subjects own knowledge and
feelings. e.g Tell me about your self?
 Close ended Questions
Encourages a short or single word answer. e.g
Do you get on well with your teacher?
Yes No
Steps in Planning and conducting
Survey
Sampling the Population
To draw a sample from target Population
Methods of measurement
In survey Method information from people can
be taken by following methods:
Steps in Planning and conducting
Survey
 Written questionnaire
 Recording
 Telephonic survey
 Face to Face/Direct
Interview
Steps in Planning and conducting
Survey
Analysis of Data
Statistically analyze the information of
respondents. e.g. Frequency and %ages of
responses.
Results/Conclusion/Report Writing
Conclude the results of survey and write a report
on whether Hypothesis is accepted or rejected.
Cont.
 Merits:
i. Information from a large group of people in
short period
 Demerits:
i. Non-serious attitudes of people
ii. Can be expensive in some cases
The Case Study Method
 An in-depth study of an individual in order to
understand that individual better and to make
inferences about people in general.
 Every human being is unique; each of us
possess a distinctive combination of traits,
abilities; and characteristics.
The Case Study method
 A Research method that focuses on the life history,
attitudes, behavior, and emotions of a single
individual or organizations, or group of people.
 It is possible to learn anything about human behavior
from detailed study of one individual or perhaps a
few person.
 Information taken from a case study is then used by
the researchers to formulate principles, or to reach at
conclusions that may be applied to large number.
Cont.

Researcher asks people what they have done in

past ,rather than observing the behaviors of
interest.
Cont.
Advantages:
 In depth, detailed knowledge
 Individuals can give such fruitful knowledge, which leads to
general truths.
Disadvantages:
 Unrepresentative information, common source of mistaken
judgment.
 If persons are unique, we cant generalize the results.
 There is repeated contact with the individual, being studied,
so researcher's bias may be there( lose scientific objectivity)
Interview Method
 An interview is a conservation between two or
more people (the interviewer and the interviewee)
where questions are asked by the interviewer to
obtain information from the interviewee.
 Types of Interview
i. Structured
ii. Unstructured
iii. Semi structured
Interviews
 Structured Interview
Has a formalized , limited set of questions which are
asked during interview.
 Semi Structured Interview
Flexible ,allowing new questions to be brought up
during the interview as a result of what the
interviewee says.
 Unstructured Interview
Questions can be changed or adapted to meet the
respondents intelligence , understanding or beliefs.
Cont.
Advantages:
 A great deal of information can be obtained in a
relatively short period of time.
Disadvantages:
 Subjects are sometimes not willing to express
themselves. they may be suspicious or uncooperative.
 Interpretations could not be reliable when there is a
factor of subjectivity and personal liking,disliking.