Research Methods
Purpose: To Reach a Specific Goal
• Describe a phenomenon
• Predict future or past behavior
• Control current or future behavior and
thinking
Definitions
• Naturalistic Observation – Watching participants in their
natural environment
• Case Study – An in-depth examination of a rare phenomenon
that occurred with an individual, small group, or situation.
• Surveys – The administration of questionnaires or interviews;
used to identify attitudes, beliefs, and opinions.
• Correlational Study (pseudo- or quasi) Experiment –
Examining the relationship between two or more variables
• Experiments – Attempting to prove causation by allowing the
researcher to manipulate on or more variables and measure
their outcome.
Categories/Goals (what are you trying to do)
•Descriptive Research – To determine the
basic dimensions of a phenomenon
•Correlational Research - To determine how
variables change together
•Experimental Research – To determine
whether a causal relationship exists
between two variables.
Example of Naturalistic
•Lucinda conducts her research at
the local mall and observes how
parents interact with their children
in a public setting.
Example of Case Study
•Trevor was recently involved in an
accident that destroyed a portion of
his brain, leading to strange
behavior.
Example of Survey
•Ron calls 1,500 people to hear
their opinions on global
warming.
Example of Correlational or pseudo or
Quasi Experiments
•Jamal records the GPAs and the
number of miles each high school
student drives each day to see if the
two variables are related.
Example of Experiments
•Bailey believes that chocolate improves
memory. She administers chocolate to
one group but not the other. After a
memory test, Bailey records the data
and formulates her theory.
Naturalistic
• Advantages: The researcher can observe the subject
in his or her natural environment
• Disadvantages: the researcher cannot control the
environment or any outside factors that may influence
the out come
• The researcher may have to infer information based
on his or her observations
Case Study
• Advantages: The researcher can examine, in depth,
the rare occurrence, which may lead to a better
understanding of brain functioning.
• Disadvantages: The researcher can’t generalize his or
her findings to the entire population.
• The event or situation may never occur again, thus
making it impossible to formulate an exact theory or
replicate the findings.
Survey
• Advantages: the researcher can obtain
information relatively inexpensively from a large
number of subjects.
• Disadvantages: Subjects may lie or deceive the
researcher.
• Subjects who answered may not represent the
entire population.
Correlational Study
• Advantage: The researcher can see whether the
variables are related
• Disadvantage: Just because two or more
variables appear to be related does not mean
that one variable caused the other variable
(correlation does not equal causation).
Experiments
• Advantages: The researcher can prove whether one
variable causes a particular outcome
• Disadvantages: The researcher cannot always account
for outside influences (confounding variables) that
may impact or skew the overall results. It is also
difficult to apply what occurs in a controlled lab
setting to the real world.