Types of studies

Question 1

What is a pilot study?

Answer 1

A pilot is a small-scale run of the actual investigation and may involve only a few participants.
Pilots can be run for experiments, self-report measures and observations.

Question 2

Why are pilot studies conducted?

Answer 2

Psychologists conduct pilot studies to test the experiment’s effectiveness and make improvements before the larger-scale version.
This allows them to identify issues early, which can then be rectified, saving time and money in the long run.
Any part of the study could be measured, for instance the validity, how long it takes, if the instructions are too complicated, etc.

Question 3

What are case studies?

Answer 3

Case studies are in-depth investigations of a single person, group, event or community. Typically, data is gathered from a variety of sources and by using several different methods.

Question 4

An example of a case study

Answer 4

Little Hans case study (Freud and the psychodynamic approach).

Question 5

Strengths of case studies

Answer 5

Allows researchers to gather data on rare conditions.
Much more/richer detail than an experiment.
Longitudinal (conducted over a long period of time) which means that you can see the changes over time.
Provides insight for further research.
Permitting investigation of otherwise impractical (unethical) situations.

Question 6

Limitations of case studies

Answer 6

Cannot generalise findings from case studies to wider population.
Expensive and time-consuming.
Can lead to bias between researcher and the studied person (emotional attachment).
Difficult to replicate.