Chapters 10 & 11 - Research Methods

Question 1

What is a case study? What are some strengths and limitations of case studies?

Answer 1

An intensive study regarding an individual or a group without the use of experimental methods, such as a control group and instead, involved procedures such as interviews and observations.
Strengths:
- gather in-depth information about a person/group which can be used to develop new theoretical ideas
- they acknowledge participant differences and a person’s subjective experience
- they provide information about unique behaviour
Limitations:
- the sample size is often too small to for finding to be generalised to the wider population
- cannot determine a cause and effect relationship as there is no comparison or control group being observed
- hard to replicate as results are normally based on an individual’s unique circumstances

Question 2

Define ethics.

Answer 2

A set of moral principles psychologists must adhere to, to protect both participants and researchers.

Question 3

What are the ethical standards psychologists must follow? (hint: Perhaps Very Intelligent Ducks Can Do Well)

Answer 3

Protection of participants’ rights: It is the experimenter’s responsibility to protect participants’ mental and psychological welfare (any risk should be no more than expected in a normal everyday lifestyle)
Voluntary participation: Participants should not be pressured into participating or offered incentives to participate.
Informed Consent: Participants must give written consent ,or get written consent form a guardian if they are underage or have an intellectual disability ,to participate in an experiment. Consent forms are legal documents which must outline risks, benefits and the purpose of the experiment. For informed consent to be valid, the client must competent and consent must be voluntary.
Deception: Deception occurs when a researcher intentionally gives misleading information or does not disclose all information about an experiment to participants. Deception in experiments should be avoided but may be necessary in experiments where knowing certain information about an experiment may alter responses/findings. If deception is used in an experiment, participants must be told in debriefing and told why deception was necessary.
Confidentiality: Participants’ information must be stored securely, participants have to right to stay anonymous and the findings/one’s involvement/identifying details in an experiment should not be disclose to anyone outside of the investigation.
Debrief: After the experiment, participants must be told of the experiment’s true purpose and experimenters must ensure that participants did not suffer any physical or psychological stress from the experiment, and should be guided to resources to help them if stress was caused. Participants must be granted an opportunity to view the experiment’s findings, conclusion etc.
Withdrawal Rights: Participants have to right to withdraw from an experiment at any time, and may refuse permission for their data to be used without consequences.

Question 4

What ethical considerations have to be made when studying animals? What are the strengths and limitations of studying non-humanss?

Answer 4

Animals cannot give consent, withdraw or directly voice feelings, such as discomfort.
Strength:animals provide researchers with natural/unbiased behaviour
Limitation: Findings in animal studies cannot be generalised to humans.