Research methods

Question 1

What is psychology according to the BPS?

Answer 1

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and how it dictates and influences our behaviour, from communication and memory to thought and emotion.
It’s about understanding what makes people tick and how this understanding can help us address many of the problems and issues in society today.

Question 2

What is science?

Answer 2

The word ‘science’ is derived from the Latin word ‘scire’, which means ‘to know’. Science, however, is more than just knowledge. Whether you are a physicist, a chemist, an ergonomist, a biologist or a psychologist, science is a systematic, objective process of acquiring knowledge and developing explanations for events.

Question 3

What are the two forms of statistical techniques used to make sense of data in psychology?

Answer 3

1. Descriptive statistics

2. Inferential statistics

Question 4

What are the descriptive statistics techniques?

Answer 4

They are the techniques that initially explore, summarise and describe sample data.

Question 5

What are the inferential statistics techniques?

Answer 5

They are the techniques that are used to draw conclusions and inferences about differences, relationships, and associations between different sets of sample scores.

Question 6

What are the characteristics of theories that the scientists try to build?

Answer 6

The theories are

• well-specified;
• parsimonious (offer the simplest account);
• give rise to testable predictions/hypotheses;
• explain more of the data collected from studies than their rivals

Question 7

What are the general tenets of theory building?

Answer 7

The data that scientists collect may or may not be consistent with a theory (data may or may not support predictions that a theory makes). Depending upon whether or not theoretical predictions are supported, it may be necessary to either:

• retain the existing theory,
• modify the existing theory, or
• propose a new theory.

Question 8

What are the steps of the scientific method?

Answer 8

1. Researchers have questions they want to answer.
2. In order to answer these questions, researchers make predictions that are often based on theories.
3. Data are collected in order to test these predictions (statistics may be used to describe these data and to enable researchers to draw inferences from these data).
4. Research findings (whether or not a prediction is supported) may provide support for a theory, or result in the proposal or modification of theories.
5. New or modified theories make new predictions or suggest new research questions.
6. The cycle begins again.

Question 9

What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative data?

Answer 9

Quantitative data is information about quantities, and therefore numbers and qualitative data is descriptive and regards phenomenon which can be observed but not measured, such as language.

Question 10

What is qualitative research?

Answer 10

Qualitative research is empirical research where the data are not in the form of numbers.
Qualitative research is multimethod in focus, involving an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them.

Question 11

What is quantitative research?

Answer 11

Quantitative research gathers data in a numerical form that can be put into categories, or in rank order, or measured in units of measurement. This type of data can be used to construct graphs and tables of raw data.
Quantitative researchers aim to establish general laws of behavior and phenomenon across different settings/contexts. Research is used to test a theory and ultimately support or reject it.

Question 12

Name some of the qualitative research methods.

Answer 12

Diary accounts, open-ended questionnaires, documents, participant observation, and ethnography.

Question 13

Name some of the quantitative research methods.

Answer 13

Experiments, controlled observations and questionnaires can produce quantitative information.

Question 14

What is coding in research?

Answer 14

Coding is the process of categorising the raw data, usually into descriptive categories.
Coding is a basic process in both quantitative and qualitative research. Sometimes coding is a hidden process in quantitative research.

Question 15

What is epistemology?

Answer 15

It is a branch of philosophy concerned with the theory of knowledge and the relationship between the individual’s knowledge and that which can be known.
It relates to Theories of knowledge → Methods of producing knowledge → Via interaction with the participants