Issues and debates advanced info Flashcards

Question

AO1 What kind of research is used in teh idiographic approach and give an example

Answer 1

- Uses qualitative methods - like unstructured interviews - focuses on gaining insights into human behaviour by studying unique individuals in depth - data is then analysed and emergent themes are identified - conclusions may he used to help others with similar experiences Example - Freud and little hans. Case study consists of 150 pages of verbatim quotes recorded by Hans father and descriptions on Hans life. This was later used to explain how phobias develop - Rodgers explained the process of self development including the role of unconditional positive that’s which was derived from in depth conservations with clients from therapy

Answer 2

Seeks to formulate general laws of behaviour based on study of groups and use statistical techniques Attempts to summarise differences between people through generalisations More objective as methods of testing are standardised, this ensures It can be tested. This means it can be replicated across samples of behaviour

Answer 3

- Use quantitative data - like structured questionnaires, and uses statical analysis - Hypotheses are formulated and samples of people are added then numerical data is analysed for its statistical significance - seeks to quantify human behaviour Examples General laws of learning where developed by studying animals Eysencks psychometric test for personality -large groups of people were tested and distribution of scores told us what was normal and what was not

Answer 4

-use of in-depth methods -for example case studies like HM revealed important insights about the diffentt types of LTM are more résistent to forgetting and may be stored in other areas of the brain. This prompted more studies are long term memory. -This shows how focusing on a small number of individuals can help our understanding of psychology However with case studies it can be hard to make generalisations as we dont know what participants were like before

Answer 5

- positive psychology aims to be more evidence based - growing - view is humanistic psychology was not evidence based and is therefore the findings are meaningless - However some idiographic approaches liek case studies use an evidence based approach and seek to be objective - For example triangulation is used where findings from different studies using qualitative methods are compared to increase their validity - Therefore it can be argued that both approaches embrace the aims of scientific research

Answer 6

-loss of undertaking the individual —preoccupied with laws means that individual is not really thought about -For example there is 1% risk of developing Sz which tells us little about what life is like for someone with the disorder -therefore having an understanding of the subjective experience of Sz may be useful when thinking treatment options -Although a limitation of using ideographic methods is that it is time consuming, it may be beneficial for many people in the long term

Answer 7

Within research idiographic and nomothetic research compliment each other. For example Schaffer stages of development is nomothetic where’s case studies or esteem neglect highlight the subjective experience of not forming one. Holt argues that it there is no such thing as a unique individual and that the idiographic approach generates general principles. Milton and Davis said research should start with the nomothetic approach and once laws are produced we can focus on a more idiographic understanding

Answer 8

-Concern the consequences of psychological research -some areas of research are more socials sensitive For example a study on depression may have consequences in terms of individual ppts, the wider society. For example a finding of a study may suggest that people with depression may never recover and therefore are risk as an employee

Answer 9

Stanley and Sieber -when doing a socially sensitive study all stages such as planning, conducting and interpreting findings should be important when thinking about social sensitivity They identified some ethical issues -Research question: the way research is questions are phrased may influence ways findings are interpreted. For example Coyle and Kitzinger note how research into relationships have been guilty for heterosexual bias as homosexual relationships were compared and judged against heterosexual norms Dealing with participants: issues such as informed consent, confidentiality and psychological harm in socially sensitive research. Way findings are used: researchers should consider how findings are used. For example research may be seen as giving scientific credence to existing prejudices (add cultural example)

Answer 10

- Groups in society have suffered the consequences of not being included in research or being misrepresented - understanding of human behaviour is lesser because of failure to include different groups in research - the generalisations made from having a certain group may not be applicable to all - as a result failure to include people means that certain groups will miss out on the benefits of research - failure to include such groups in research means that our understanding of human behaviour has been restricted

Answer 11

-Can have benefits for groups studied -an example is homosexuality, in 1952 it was listed as a sociopathic personality disorder but was removed in 1973 -This was due to kinsey report which conducted that homosexuality is a typical expression of sexual behaviour -This illustrates socially sensitive research can have a positive impact on the group studied -CP: criminal gene -people may screen for the gene -so when conducting such research need to look at the possible wider implications for groups

Answer 12

- Certain groups like policy makers relay on research related to socially sensitive issues - government looks at research when making decisions about childcare, mental health etc - For example research on attachment has changed rules within hospitals and institutions (maternal deprivation or bowlby monotropy) - this has had a positive impact on children lives as they are able to form healthy relationships - this shows how psychologist have an important role in providing good quality research

Answer 13

The reason for this is some findings have negative impacts for participants or the group being studied - For example Rodin said research on PMS may cause employers to look at women differently thus making it harder for women to access jobs - this means that we should be careful about the findings of socially sensitive studies when publishing them and think about the potential negative effects on certain groups - However Sieber and Stanley argue is not a responsible approach to science and avoiding controversial topics is an avoidance of responsibility - therefore psychologist have a duty to carry out research on some areas

Answer 14

- IQ tests were designed to measure people's intelligence, however, the ethnocentric nature of the tests meant that African Americans and southeastern European people had lower scores - As a consequence, this led to assumptions that white Americans were intellectually superior, - -in the 1920s results of this test led to eugenics driven policy of restricted immigration and forced sterilisation - this shows how culturally biased research has detrimental effects on certain groups of people