Invitation to Psychology

30 Chapter 1 What Is Psychology?

been done: The participants wore an unobtru-

sive recording device as they went about their

normal lives, talking and chatting. The research-

ers found no gender differences at all (Mehl et

al., 2007).

Every research method has strengths and

weaknesses. Did you make a list of each method’s

advantages and disadvantages, as we suggested

earlier? If so, compare it now with the one in

Table 1.3.

Thus, experimental psychologists confront

a dilemma: The more control they exercise over

the situation, the more unlike real life it may

be. For this reason, many psychologists have

called for more field research, the careful study

of behavior in natural contexts such as schools

and the workplace. Have you ever wondered if

women are more “talkative” than men, as the

stereotype suggests? A field study of people in

their everyday lives would be the best way to

answer this question. Indeed, such a study has

field research
Descriptive or experimen-
tal research conducted in
a natural setting outside
the laboratory.

table 1.3 research Methods in psychology:

their advantages and Disadvantages

Method advantages Disadvantages

Case study Good source of hypotheses.

Provides in-depth information on an

individual.

Unusual cases can shed light on

situations or problems that are

unethical or impractical to study in

other ways.

Vital information may be missing,

making the case hard to interpret.

The person’s memories or self-reports

may be selective or inaccurate.

The individual may not be representative

or typical.

Naturalistic

observation

Allows description of a behavior as it

occurs in the natural environment.

Allows the researcher little or no control

of the situation.

Observations may be biased.

Does not allow firm conclusions about

cause and effect.

laboratory

observation

Allows more control than naturalistic

observation.

Allows use of sophisticated

equipment.

Allows researcher only limited control of

the situation.

Observations may be biased.

Does not allow firm conclusions about

cause and effect.

Behavior may differ from behavior in the

natural environment.

test Yields information on personality

traits, emotional states, aptitudes,

and abilities.

Difficult to construct tests that are

reliable and valid.

Survey Provides a large amount of

information on large numbers of

people.

If the sample is nonrepresentative

or biased, it may be impossible to

generalize from the results.

Responses may be inaccurate or

untrue.

Correlational

study

Shows whether two or more variables

are related.

Usually does not permit identification of

cause and effect.

experiment Allows the researcher to control the

situation.

Permits the researcher to identify

cause and effect and to distinguish

placebo effects from treatment

effects.

The situation is artificial, and results

may not generalize well to the real

world.

It is sometimes difficult to avoid

experimenter effects.