Research Methods - AP PSYCHOLOGY - Home



Research Methods

|Research Method |Characteristics |Results |Advantages |Disadvantages |

|Case History |. Measure all variables |. Generate |. Provides in-depth |. Individual may not be |

|Case Study |. Insight from observations |hypotheses |information |representative or typical (hard to |

|Descriptive Study |. Few People |. Describe possible |. Examine long-range effects |generalize to large group) |

|Longitudinal study |. In-depth, info from many sources|complex |. “experiments of nature” |. Difficult to know which subjective|

| |. Study the most variables |relationships |shed light on |interpretation is best |

| | | |situations/problems that are |. Can be expensive and time |

| | | |unethical or impractical to |consuming |

| | | |study in other ways |. Subjects may drop out if |

| | | | |longitudinal |

| | | | |.Expectancy bias may occur |

|Naturalistic |. Studies places more than |. Create context |. Allows description of |. No control over the setting |

|observation |individuals, “What goes on here?” |. Generate |behavior as it occurs in the |(confounding variables) |

|Field Study |. Similar to case study, also many|situational |natural environment |. Limited to overt behavior |

| |variables |variables |. Often useful in first |(observable) |

| | | |stages of research program |. Does not allow firm conclusions on|

| | | | |cause and effect |

| | | | |. Observations may be biased |

|Laboratory |. Observation in more controlled |. Generate |. Allows more control than |. Limited control of the situation |

|Observation |environment |situational |naturalistic observation |. Observations may be biased |

| | |variables |. Allows use of sophisticated|. Does not allow for firm |

| | | |equipment |conclusions on cause and effect |

| | | | |. Behavior in lab may differ from |

| | | | |behavior in natural environment |

|Surveys |. Large number of people |. Relational info |. Provides large amount of |. If sample is nonrepresentative or |

| |. Measure many variables |. Gather info for |information on a large number|biased, it may be impossible to |

| |. Random sampling important |hypothesis |of people |generalize from the results |

| | | |. Relatively inexpensive |. Responses may be inaccurate or |

| | | | |untrue |

|Correlational Studies|. Measures all variables |. Relational |. Show whether two or more |. No cause and effect |

| |. Large # of people |information |variables are related | |

| |. Random sampling most important | | | |

|Formal Experiment |. Specific manipulations |. Cause & effect |. Allows researcher to |. Situation is artificial and |

| |. Control & experiment group | |control the situation |results may not generalize well to |

| |. Random assignment to groups | |. Permits researcher to |real world |

| |. Control of all other factors | |identify cause and effect |. Sometime difficult to avoid |

| |. Fewest variables | | |experimenter bias/effect |

Random Sampling is important for all types of studies

Random Assignment important only for experiments

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