GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ENQUIRY:

 Description:
o Describing a behaviour or phenomenon as accurately as possible.
o Is used to differentiate amongst various behaviours.
o Recording of behaviour for proper understanding.
 Prediction:
o Understanding of behaviour aids in knowing the relationship of the said behaviour
with other type of events and phenomenon.
o Thus helping in forecasting the occurrence of a behaviour under certain conditions
with a margin of error.
 Explanation:
o To understand the cause of any behaviour and the conditions for its occurrence.
o Identification of antecedent conditions, to establish cause-effect relationship
between two variables.
 Control:
o Controlling the occurrence of a behaviour.
o Controlling a behaviour can be by making a particular behaviour happen, reducing it
or enhancing it.
 Application:
o Brining positive change in peoples life and solve problems in various settings.
o Quality of life is a major concern for psychologists.

STEPS IN CONDUCTING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

 Objectivity: If 2 or more persons independently study a particular event, both of them to a

great extent would arrive at similar conclusion.
 Systematic Steps:
1. Conceptualisation of a problem:
 Selection of a topic for studying to understand
1. Our own behaviour
2. Other individuals behaviour
3. Influence of group on an individual
4. Group behaviours
 Narrowing down the focus of the study.
 Developing specific questions or problems for the study.
 Conceptualisation of a problem is done by reviewing of past researches,
observation and personal experience.
 Hypothesis: Developing a tentative (temporary) answer to the problem.
2. Collecting Data:
 Collection of data to prove or disprove a hypothesis.
 It requires taking the following decisions:
1. Participants in the study:
o Who will participate? e.g.: students, children, teachers, etc.
o What will be the age group? E.g.: adult, teenage etc.
o Any group or individual in which the phenomenon under
testing is prevalent.
2. Method of data collection:
 o Observational method
o Experimental method
o Correlational method
o Case study
3. Drawing Conclusion:
o Analyse the collected data using statistical tools to
understand what the collected data means. (Bar graph, pie
chart etc.)
o This process proves or disproves the hypothesis.
4. Revising Research Conclusions:
o In case the hypothesis is rejected, the researcher has to
revise the hypothesis and state an alternative hypothesis to
be tested for the problem.

ALTERNATIVE PARADIGMS

 Psychologists suggested that human behaviour is predictable, caused by internal or external

forces, can be observed , measured and controlled. Thus Psychology should also be studied
using the methods adopted by sciences like physics, chemistry and biology.
 For this purpose, Psychology restricted itself to the study of Overt Behaviour( the behaviour
that is outwardly visible) for the larger part of the 20 th century, and did not focus on personal
feelings, experiences etc.
 In recent years the Interpretive method emerged, which views human behaviour as complex
and variable in nature.
 Thus it should be investigated in a different manner than the sciences like physics, chemistry
etc.
 This view gives importance to the meaning human beings give to events and actions in a
particular context.
 This method also focuses on understanding the self by reflecting on one’s own experiences
and insights.

NATURE OF PSCYHOLOGICAL DATA

 Demographic Data: includes information like:

o Name
o Age
o Gender
o Number of siblings
o Caste
o Education
o Occupation
o Family income, etc
 Physical Information: includes information like:
o Ecological conditions: hilly, desert, forest areas etc
o Mode of economy
o Housing conditions
o Size of rooms
o Facilities available at home
 o Neighbourhood area
 Physiological data: includes information like:
o Height
o Weight
o Heart rate
o Galvanic skin resistance
o Blood oxygen level etc
 Psychological Information:
o Intelligence
o Personality
o Interests
o Creativity
o Emotions
o Psychological disorders etc.

IMPORTANT METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY

 OBSERVATIONAL METHOD:
o A scientific observation differs form day-to-day observation in many respects such as:
 Selection: a particular behaviour is selected for the purpose of scientific
observation and the occurrence of other behaviours is ignored.
 Recording: the occurrence of the selected behaviour is recorded properly
using methods like short hand, photographs, video etc.
 Analysis of data: Recoded data is analysed to draw conclusions.
o Skills of a good observer:
 Know what they are looking for
 Who they want to observe
 When and where observation need to be made
 Form in which observation will be recorded
 Choosing the method of analysis of observed data
o Types of observation:
 Naturalistic:
 Observations done in Natural or Real life setting.
 No effort to control or manipulate the situation is made by the
observer.
 Controlled:
 Is a laboratory experiment
 Requires controlling certain factors for the study.
 Participant:
 The observer become a part of the group being observed.
 Observer takes time to establish a rapport.
 Degree of involvement of observer varies depending upon the focus
of the study.
 Limitation: Biasness towards the group.
 Non Participant:
 Observations done without any participation or interference in the
activities.
  Can be done by installing a video camera or by observing from a
distance.
 Limitation: Participants know they are being observed, which may
lead to manipulation or control of behaviour.
o Advantages and Disadvantages:
 Advantage: Allows for naturalistic observation
 Disadvantage:
 Intensive labour
 Time Consuming
 Susceptible to observer’s bias
 EXPERIMENTAL METHOD:
o Conducted to establish cause-effect relationship between events or variables in a
controlled setting.
o Variable:
 Any stimulus or event which varies (changes) and can be measured.
 An object by itself is not a variable, but its attributes are.
 Example: A pen is not a variable, but its attributes like, shape, size, colour etc
are variables.
o Types of Variables:
 Independent Variable:
 The variable that is manipulated or altered.
 The change caused by the manipulation of this variable is measured.
 Dependent Variable:
 The variable on which the effect of manipulation if independent
variable is observed.
 It represents the phenomenon the researchers desires to explain.
 The Independent variable is the Cause and the Dependent variable is the
Effect in any experimental situation
 Extraneous Variables:
 Variables, other than independent variable, that influence the
dependent variable.
 They may not be the concern of the experiment, but need to be
controlled so as to clearly be able to point out the Cause of change
in Dependent variable.
o Experimental and Control Groups:
 Experimental Groups:
 The independent variable in this group is manipulated.
 Control Group:
 Treated same as experimental group, except that the independent
variable is missing.
 The distribution of participants to experimental and control groups is done
randomly to ensure equal chance.
 All extraneous variables that may impact the dependent variable must be
controlled in both the groups.
 Three major types of Extraneous variables are:
 Organismic variable: anxiety, intelligence, personality etc.
  Situational or environmental variables: noise, temperature, humidity
etc.
 Sequential variables: They play a role when, participants in
experiments are required to be tested in several situations. This may
lead to experimental fatigue or practice fatigue.
 Control relevant variables by the following methods:
 Eliminate extraneous variables.
 Hold extraneous variables constant
 Counter balancing technique to be used to minimise the sequence
effect.
 Random assigning of participants.
o Field and Quasi experiments:
 Field: Experiments conducted in the natural setting in which the
phenomenon occurs.
 Quasi: When a variable cannot be manipulated, or cannot be artificially
created in a lab setting, the quasi experimental method is used. In this the
independent variable is selected rather than manipulated by the
experimenter. E.g. Impact of earthquake.
o Correlations research:
 Use to determine the relationship between variables.
 Values range from +1.0 through 0.0 to -1.0.
 Positive correlation: Increase or decrease in one variable leads to increase or
decrease in the other.
 Negative correlation: Increase in one variable leads to decrease in other and
vice versa
 Zero correlation: No relationship exists amongst the variables.

RELIABILITY & VALIDITY:

 RELIABILITY:
o Refers to the consistency of scored obtained by an individual on two different
occasions.
o Test-Retest:
 Indicates stability of scores over time.
 Computed by finding out co-efficient of correlation between two set of
scored of the same person acquired at two different times.
o Split half:
 Indicates the internal consistency of the test.
 Based on the assumption that items of a test if they are from the same
domain should correlate with each other.
 Test is divided into two equal halves employing g odd-even method and
correlation is computed between the scores of odd and even items.
 VALIDITY:
o Refers to the question: “ Does the test measure what it claims to measure?”
 NORMS:
o A test is standardised when norms are developed for it.
o Norm is the normal or the average performance of the group.
o The average of groups are set on the basis of their age, sex, place or residence etc.
o It helps in comparing the performance of an individual with the others of the same
group.