METHODS OF
RESEARCH
HOW PSYCHOLOGISTS ANSWER THE
“WHY” OF ANIMAL AND HUMAN
BEHAVIOR
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
 DEFINITION:

secret observation of the subjects-animal or
human-in daily activity, recording their behavior.
ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES
 ADVANTAGE
 Creatures will behave
normally because they
don’t know anyone is
watching them.
DISADVANTAGES
Since researchers
can’t talk to
subject they may
misinterpret
behavior.
EXAMPLE OF NATURALISTIC
OBSERVATION
 Jane Goodall’s
research with the
 Gorillas.
 Charles Darwin-sea
journey
INTERVIEWS
 Definition:
Research method
for studying people
face to face and
asking questions.
Advantages:
 Researcher can obtain personal, detailed
information.
Disadvantages
 Researcher biases can influence behavior.—
how? All of us have our own prejudices
against certain types of people, certain age
groups, etc. These factors could influence our
questions as well as our interpretations of the
answers
 Subject’s responses may not be completely
honest.
CASE STUDY METHOD
 Definition:
Research that
collects lengthy,
detailed
information about a
person’s
background,
usually for
psychological
treatment.
CASE STUDY METHOD
 **The goal is to
find out as much as
possible about how
the individual’s
personality has
evolved from early
years in order to
shed light on their
present-day
problems. (This is
an advantage to
this method)
Disadvantage:
 Subject may not be honest.
 Researcher bias can influence behavior
 **Caution: You can’t generalize from your
findings—it may not be true of others.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS:
.
 Definition: objective
methods for
observation and
measurement of
subjects in various
areas, such as IQ or
personality
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS
 Advantages: Accurate, objective
information-little chance of distorting the
results.
 Disadvantages: Tests are limited in the
amount of info. they can obtain.
 Definition: a method of research that
studies the same group of people over an
extended period of time. ( years)
 Advantages: good for certain types of
research like studies on development
 Disadvantages: expensive and timeconsuming
 (representative sample)
 Definition: method of research that looks at
different age groups at the same time in order
to understand changes that occur during
lifetime.
CROSS-SECTIONAL METHOD
 Example: Does intelligence notably decline
with age? Researchers took samples from
each age group and compared them.
 Advantages: Samples used are usually
representative of population as a whole.
 Less expensive and time- consuming than
longitudinal
 Disadvantages: Not appropriate for some
types of research.
