Psychological Methods to Collect Data

Naturalistic Observation: Looking at behavior without interference requires a researcher to study behavior as it is happening in its own setting. The researcher shouldhavea―nointerferencepolicy.Whenpeopleoranimalsknowtheyarebeing observed,theymaynotbehaveinthesamewayaswhenthey‘renotbeingobserved. Sometimesitisnecessaryfortheresearchertoallowforaperiodofadaptationtohis or herpresence.

Let‘s say that Clayton, an anthropologist, is interested in studying the behavioral patterns of a certain tribe. He lives among its people for a span of time, is accepted by them as a friend, and they grow to trust him. He takes field notes as objectively as possible. Eventually he publishes his findings for other scientists to read. This is the essence of naturalistic observation as a method. (Anthropology, like psychology, studies human behavior. Anthropology tends to focus on physical, social, and cultural development.) Naturalistic observation has also been used extensively to study the behavior of animals in their own habitats in thewilderness.

Although psychology occasionally employs naturalistic observation, in practice, research in psychology has tended to favor othermethods.

The Clinical Method is a research technique associated primarily with the treatment of individuals with mental or behavioral disorders. It arose within the associated frameworks of psychiatry and clinical psychology. For example, a therapist may treat a troubled person for a span of time. Initially, research may not be the goal. However, at the conclusion of the case, the therapist may decide that the case has many interesting features that make a contribution to our understanding of either the therapy process, behavior, or both. Consequently, the therapist writes up the case, and it is published in a professionaljournal.

You will recall from chapter 1 that Freud once worked with a colleague named Josef Breuer. One of Breuer‘s patients was a young woman identified as Anna O. Anna suffered from various symptoms of hysteria. ―The Case of Anna O.is the first case in psychoanalysis, and it was published together with other case histories in Breuer and Freud‘s book Studies on Hysteria in 1895. Consequently, it can be said that psychoanalysis has its roots in the clinical method.

The Survey Method: large samples from larger populations. A survey

attempts to take a large, general look at an aspect of behavior. Examples of topics

include sexual behavior, eating behavior, how people raise children, spending habits, and so forth. A researcher may be interested in studying a population. A population is a well-defined group. It need not be large. For example, a home aquarium with ten fish is correctly said to have a population of ten. However, in practice populations are often large (e.g., the population of the United States, the population of California, the population a particular city). Consequently, it is common to conduct the survey taken on a sample of the population. The sample should be taken at random from the population. A random sample allows the laws of chance to operate and provides an equal opportunity for any member of the population to be included in the sample. Members of the population fill out questionnaires, are interviewed, or are otherwise evaluated. This constitutes thesurvey.

Among the more famous surveys conducted during the twentieth century are the Kinsey surveys of sexual behavior published about fifty years ago. Conducted by the Indiana University researcher Alfred Kinsey, the surveys, first of males and then of females, provided valuable information concerning sexual behavior. These studies gave a great impetus to the survey method as a way of studyingbehavior.

A serious drawback of the survey method is the problem of bias in the sample.In1936Alfred(―Alf)Landon,theRepublicangovernorofKansas,ranfor president against Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the incumbent. It was widely expected that Landon would win because a telephone poll conducted by a magazine called The Liberty Digest predicted Landon‘s victory. Although the survey method used by the poll took names at random from the phone book, it appears that during the Great Depression, with the nation plagued by 30 percent unemployment, more Republicans than Democrats had telephones. Consequently, the survey made an incorrect prediction.

The difficulty associated with biased sampling from a population of interest is a general problem, one that is not limited to surveys. Most research is conducted on samples, not populations. A researcher, no matter what research method he or she employs, needs to assess the quality of the sampleobtained.

The Testing Method explores human behavior by using psychological tests of attributes such as intelligence, personality, and creativity. These tests are often of the paper-and-pencil variety, and the subject completes the test following a set of instructions. In some cases the test is given in interview form on a one-to-one basis by an examiner. Individual intelligence tests are often administered in thismanner.

An example of the testing method is provided by the research of Lewis Terman (1877–1956) on gifted children. Using the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale as a research tool, Terman studied subjects with very high intelligence quotient (IQ) scores from childhood to late adulthood. (Associates continued the study after Terman‘s death.) The research supported the hypothesis that high intelligence is desirable. On the whole, gifted children had better health and lower divorce rates than most people.

Two problems associated with psychological testing are validity and reliability. In order for a psychological test to be useful it needs to be both valid and reliable. A valid test measures what it is supposed to measure. If a test that is given to measure the intelligence of subjects instead actually measures the individual‘s motivation to take the test, the test is invalid.

A reliable test gives stable, repeatable results. If a subject is tested twice with the same instrument within a few days, the two scores obtained should be very close to each other. One of the functions of the next method to be identified, the correlational method, is to establish both the validity and reliability of psychological tests.

The Correlational Method: When X is associated with Y. The word correlation refers to the relationship between two variables. These are usually designated as X and Y on a graph. If scores on one variable can be used to predict scores on the second variable, the variables are said to covary. Let‘s say that X stands for shoe size on the right foot. Y stands for shoe size on the left foot. If the both feet are measured on one hundred subjects, it is obvious that a measurement on the right foot will predict, with some variations, a measurement on the left foot (and vice versa).

This example also illustrates that a correlation does not necessarily provide a basis to conclude that causation is present. The size of the right foot does not cause the size of left foot. The sizes covary because they both probably have the same genetic cause in common; they don‘t cause eachother.

In the above example, a positive correlation is said to exist. This means that increases in variable X suggest increases in variable Y. On the other hand, if increases in variable X were to suggest decreases in variable Y, a negative correlation would be said to exist. Of course, in some cases there is no relationship. Then a zero correlation is said toexist.

(adopted from www.rawanonline.com/Psychology-A-Self-Teaching-Guide-English).