Studying Developmental Psychology Scientifically
Steps in the Scientific Method
1. Formulate a research question
2. Develop a hypothesis
3. Test the hypothesis
4. Draw conclusions
(5). Making the findings available
Research Methods
1. Scientific observation
- systematic and unbiased
- what people actually do
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2. Correlation
- exists when one variable is more likely --or less likely-- to occur when another
variable is present
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3. Experiment
- exposing a group of people to a particular treatment or condition to see if their
behavior changes as a result
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4. Surveys:
- information is collected from a large
questionnaires or personal interviews
number of people through written
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5. Case Studies
- intensive study of one individual
- study includes life history, attitudes,
behavior and
emotions
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Studying Changes Over Time
1. Cross-sectional Research
- compares groups of people who are different from each other in age but similar
in other ways
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2. Longitudinal Research
- the same people are studied over a long time to measure both change and
stability as they age
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3. Cross - sequential Research
- groups of people of different ages are studied over time
- attempts to distinguish differences related to age from differences related to
historical period
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