Research Methods
What is a survey, and how is it commonly used in psychology?
a set of questions to ask participants a certain set of questions. normally multiple choice
What is clinical psychology, and what do clinical psychologists do?
integrates the understanding of behavior and emotion with the application of psychological principles to prevent, diagnose, and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders across the lifespan
What is the purpose of psychological research?
describe, explain, predict, and influence mental processes and behavior to improve human lives by developing evidence-based treatments, enhancing learning, and creating strategies to solve real-world problems
What is informed consent, and why is it important in psychological research?
ensuring all participants understand what they are taking part of & allows the participant to make an informed decision
What is a case study, and when is it used in psychology?
in-depth investigation of a single individual, group, or phenomenon within its real-life context, using various data collection methods like interviews, observations, and assessments to provide a comprehensive and nuanced understanding
Describe the observation method and provide an example.
watching people for science, observing behaviors at lunch to study mood changes during meals
Describe the main focus of developmental psychology.
to understand how the person develops throughout their lifespan, no longer just looking at birth to adolescence.
Define validity in the context of psychological research.
extent to which a study or measure accurately reflects the psychological concept it intends to measure, ensuring the findings are true and not influenced by other factors
Name one ethical guideline psychologists must follow when conducting research
informed consent, debrief, protection of participants, deception, confidentiality, withdrawal
Provide an example of a famous psychological case study.
Kitty Genovese; answers may vary
What are the strengths and weaknesses of using experiments in psychological research?
strength: helps understand behaviors, lower uncontrolled variables
weakness: not always applicable to real world scenarios
What is the difference between cognitive psychology and behavioral psychology?
Cognitive psychology studies internal mental processes like memory and thought, while behavioral psychology focuses on observable actions and how the environment influences them
Explain the significance of reliability in research findings.
it indicates the consistency and reproducibility of results when a study is repeated under the same conditions
What is the role of an Institutional Review Board (IRB) in psychological research?
to ensure that any experiments are ethical before they can proceed with testing
What are the advantages of using case studies in psychological research?
providing in-depth, detailed insights into rare phenomena, unusual behaviors, and complex situations that are difficult to study with other methods
Explain what a cross-sectional study is and what it can tell researchers
study done only during a period of time in a participants life, used to see if there any trends or comparisons.
Name two subfields of psychology that study human behavior in social contexts.
Social Psychology and Community Psychology
What are some common sampling techniques used in psychological research?
simple random, systematic, stratified, and cluster sampling, convenience, volunteer, snowball, and purposive sampling
Describe a potential ethical issue that may arise in psychological studies
distress; the participant may not fully understand what they signed up for and end of having trauma from the study
What are some limitations of case studies?
poor generalizability, as findings may not apply to a larger population due to unique circumstances; researcher bias, where personal opinions influence data collection and analysis; difficulty in replication, because each case is unique; the intensive time and resource requirements for in-depth data collection; and a lack of scientific rigor, making it difficult to establish cause-and-effect relationships or draw conclusive statistical answers
How does a case study differ from other research methods in psychology?
its in-depth, often qualitative, focus on a single individual or small group to explore complex phenomena in their natural context
How can psysiopsychologists be used in the real world?
Can help professional athletes through their injury recovery, help people understand how different conditions can affect their life (phantom limb)
Discuss the importance of generalizability in research studies
being able to take the results of one study and apply them to a different group of people
How do confidentiality and anonymity differ in the context of psychological research?
anonymity means that even the researchers do not know the identity of the participants, whereas confidentiality means that the researchers know the participants' identities but protect that information from being disclosed to others.
How can case studies contribute to the understanding of rare psychological phenomena?
They allow researchers to explore complex issues in real-life contexts, document unusual conditions, generate new hypotheses, and inform the development of new theories and therapeutic interventions for these infrequent conditions.