Types Of Research Methods

• Interviews are face-to-face or over the phone interactions between the interviewer and the interviewee.

  Structured interviews are made up of a pre-determined set of questions that are asked in a fixed order.

  Strengths

  • Easy to replicate due to standardised format.

  Weaknesses

  • Interviewers cannot deviate from the questions or ask the interviewee to elaborate on answers given.
• Unstructured interviews

  • Unstructured interviews have no set questions. There is a general topic which will be discussed but it is more like a conversation.

  Strengths

  • The interviewer can follow up points that are of interest so are more likely to gain real insight into the interviewee’s opinion.

  Weaknesses

  • It is difficult to analyse the data and draw firm conclusions.
• Types of experiments

  Lab: IV is manipulated by experimenter / takes place in a highly controlled setting / high control over extraneous variables / lacks mundane realism so may not provide ecologically valid data.

  Field: IV is manipulated by experimenter / takes place in a natural setting / high mundane realism so should provide ecologically valid data / low control over extraneous variables so causality cannot be established.
• Types of experiments

  Natural: IV not manipulated by experimenter - IV is pre existing / takes place in any setting / provides opportunities the experimenter would not otherwise be able to test / low control over ppt variables as pps cannot be randomly allocated to groups.

  Quasi: IV is not manipulated by the experimenter – IV is a characteristic of the ppt / takes place in any setting / You can compare two groups to test differences between characteristics in a controlled setting / low control over ppt variables as pps cannot be randomly allocated to groups.
• Types of Observation

  Naturalistic

  Takes place in a natural environment where behaviour would usually occur / High ecological validity / Lack of control over extraneous variables.

  Controlled

  Take place in an artificial environment where the behaviour would not normally occur / High control over extraneous variables / Low ecological validity as setting is artificial.

  Covert

  Pps are unaware they are being observed / More likely to observe realistic behaviour as pps will not be influenced by the Hawthorne effect / Unethical because pps cannot give informed consent.
• Types of Observations

  Overt

  Pps aware they are being observed / Ethical because pps can give informed consent / Hawthorne effect can influence pps.

  Participant

  The observer takes part in the activities in the same way as the ppt / Experience may give you a greater insight into the reasons for behaviour / researcher may end up ‘going native’ and losing purpose of the research

  Non participant

  The observer does not take part in the activities / Observers remain objective / less of an insight into the reasons for behaviour.
• A correlation is a research method that investigates a possible relationship between two co-variables. Data is collected from correlations is displayed on a scattergram. Correlation coefficients range from -1 to +1. Negative numbers = a negative correlation. Positive numbers = a positive correlation which means both variables increase and decreases together. The further the number is away from zero, the stronger the correlation. Zero would equal no correlation which means there is no relationship between the two variables.
• Correlations Evaluation

  Correlations are an ethical way of measuring things as they cause no harm to the pps. They are different from experiments in this way as we can investigate variables that we could not manipulate under experimental conditions / Correlations do not establish cause and effect like experiments do. This means we do not know if either of the variables cause the change in the other, and if they do which way round the cause and effect is. This means the method lacks scientific credibility as science puts an emphasis on investigating causality.
• Case studies often provide detailed qualitative data as well as simplistic quantitative data. This means researchers get benefits of having in-depth detail as well as data they can easily analyse and visually display. By observing differences in particular individuals we can gain a greater insight into the relationship between the brain and behaviour / Case studies are usually not representative. This is because each individual case is unique, and case studies are usually on people that do not represent the ‘non clinical population’. This means results lack generalisability.