CHAPTER-2 PART-II

QUESTION-ANSWERS
Some important methods in psychology:-

Observation Method:- Selection,

Recording, Analsis of Data

Experimental Method:-
Independent Variable, Survey Research:-
Dependent Variable

Correlational Psychological Case

Research Testing Study

OBSERVATION METHOD
A scientific observation differs from a day-to-day observation in:
(a) Selection: (i) Psychologists select a particular behaviour for observation.
(ii) They may prepare a list and observe to verify the occurrences, or
discover the activities by observation.
(ii) Eq: How children of class XI spend their leisure time in school.
(b) Recording: While observing, a researcher records the selected behavior using
different means, such as tally marks, taking notes, radio recording etc.
(c) Analysis of Data: After making observations psychologist analyse whatever
they have recorded with a view to derive some meaning out of it.
Making good observations is a skill.
Types of Observation
Naturalistic Observation: Controlled Observation
1. When observations are made in
1. When observations are done
controlled situations.
in a natural or real-life
situations. 2. The observer controls certain
2. The observer makes no effort factors that determine behaviour as
to control or manipulate the they are not the focus of the study.
situation for making an
observation. 3. Conducted in Laboratories
controlled Laboratory Situation.
3. Conducted in hospitals,
schools, offices, etc.
 Non-Participant observation
Participant observation 1. The observer observes the
1. The observer becomes a part person event from a distance.
of the group bring observed.
2. The person being observed
2. The observer takes some may not be aware that she/he is
time to establish a rapport with being observed.
the group so that they start
accepting him/her as one of the 3. The fact that an outsider is
group members. sitting
3. The degree of involvement may bring a change in the
behaviours of those being
would may bring a change in
observed.
the behaviours vary with the
focus of study.

Advantage of Observation Method:

Enables the researcher to study people and their behaviour in a naturalistic
situation, as it occurs.

• Limitations of Observation Method:

Labour Intensive
Time consuming
Susceptible to observer's bias

An observation is influenced by the observer's values and beliefs about the period
or event Because of our biases, we may interpret things in a different way than
what the participants actually mean.
Therefore, the observer should record the behaviour as it happens and should not
interpret the behaviour at the time of observation itself. Bias: When personal
values and beliefs affect opinions.

II. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD

This is the method that studies cause-effect relationship.

Experiments are generally conducted to establish cause effect relationship between
two sets of events or variables in a controlled setting. It is a carefully regulated
procedure where changes are made in one factor and its effects is scheduled on
other factor while keeping other related factors constant.
Cause: The event being changed or manipulated.
Effect: The behaviour that changes because of the manipulation.
Variable: A stimulus or event that varies, i.e. takes on different values and can be
measured is a variable.

An object is not a variable its attributes are variation can be in the quality or
quantity of objects/events.

Cause: I.V: I.V is that variable which is manipulated or attended or its strength
varied by the researcher in the experiment.

Effect: D.V: The variable on which the effect of the I.V is observed is called D.V.
It represents phenomenon the researcher wants to explain interdependent.

Extraneous variables are other relevant variables that influence the D.V, but the
researcher may not be interested in examining their effects. Thus, the extraneous
variables need to be controlled in an experiment, so that the researcher is able to
pinpoint the cause effect relationship between I.V. & D.V.

Experiment group/Experimental group is a group in which the members of the

group are exposed to I.V. Manipulation.
Control Group: The control group is a comparison group that is treated in every
way like the experimental group except that the manipulated variable is absent in
it.

Types of Extraneous Variable:-

 Organismic variables (Anxiety, Intelligence, Personality)
 Situational/Environmental variables (Noise, Humidity)
 Sequential variables (Experimental fatigue or practice effects)

Control of Extraneous Variables:

1. Eliminate from experimental setting. (Sound Proof room)

2. Hold constant throughout experiment.
3. Random assignment of participants to different groups.
4. Matching: A procedure where relevant variables in the two groups are equated
or are held constant by taking pairs across conditions of the experiment.
5. Counter-balancing: A procedure whereby rather than giving the two tasks in
the same sequence the experimenter may interchanges the order of the tasks. Thus,
half the group receives tasks in the order of tasks. Thus, half the group receives
tasks in the order of A & B; and the rest in the order B & A, or the same individual
may receive the task in A, B, B, A order. • Advantage of Experimental Method:

Advantages of Experimental Method:-

 Relatively provides a convincing evidence of a cause-effect relationship
between 2 or more variables.
 Verifiability

Disadvantages of Experimental Method:

 Conducted in highly controlled lab situations only simulate situations that

exist in the outside world i.e. low external validity do not apply to real
relations.
 Not always feasible so study a particular problem experimentally. Eg.
Nutritional deficiency.
 Difficult to know & control all relevant variables

Field Experiments:
 When a researcher conducts studies in the natural settings where the
particular phenomenon actually exists.eg: lecture and demonstration method
in school setting.
 Control over relevant variables is less than in lab experiment.
 Time consuming and expensive.

Quasi Experiments:
It attempts to manipulate an I.V. in a natural setting using naturally occurring
groups to form experimental and control groups. I.V. is selected rather than raised
is manipulated.

Quasi derive from (Latin) word means “as if”Eq: earthquake - children (lost
parents) children (did not lose but experienced earthquake)
III CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
To determine the relationship between two variables for predictions purpose.
Different from experimental method in the sense that it does not manipulate the
variable. Simply find the relationship to determine whether they are associated or
covary or not. Strength and direction represented by a number known correlation
coefficient. Correlation coefficient is a number that represent the strength direction
of the relationship between 2 variables. Its value ranges from + 1.0 to 1.0 through
0.0.

SURVEY RESEARCH

Personal Questionnaire Telephone

Interview Survey Survey
 PERSONAL INTERVIEWS

In this process, two or more persons sit face-to-face with each other. One person
(generally called interviewer) asks the questions and the other person (called
interviewee or respondent) answers the questions related to a problem.

Before conducting the interview, a list of questions is prepared before-hand. The

list is called an interview schedule. An interview is a purposeful activity conducted
to derive factual information, opinions and attitudes and reasons for particular
behaviour, etc from the respondents. Sometimes it can also take place over the
phone.

The interview method is one of the most frequently used methods which is
conducted for obtaining information. It takes place between doctor and patients,
employer and employees, sales person and housewives, media persons and
national/international leaders and so on.

Interviewing is a skill which requires proper training. A good interviewer knows

how to make the respondent at ease and get the optimal answer. She/he remains
sensitive to the way a person responds and if needed, probes for more information.
If the respondent gives vague answers, the interviewer may try to get specific and
concrete answers.
Types of Interviews

There are two broad types of interviews. These are: (1) Structured or
Standardised Interview It is one where the questions in the schedule are written
clearly in a particular sequence. The interviewer has little or no liberty to make
changes in the wordings of the questions or the order in which they are to be asked.
The responses to these questions are also specified in advance. These are called
close ended questions.

(ii) Unstructured or Non-Standardised Interview In this, the interviewer has

the flexibility to take decisions about the questions to be asked, the wording of the
questions and the sequence in which questions are to be asked. Responses are not
specified in such type of interviews and the respondent can answer the questions in
the way she/he chooses. Such questions are called open-ended questions. For
example, if the researcher wants to know about the happiness level of a person,
she/he may ask: how happy are you? The respondent may reply to this question the
way she/he chooses to answer.
Combination of Participants in Interview An interview may have the following
combinations of participants in an interview situation:
(i) Individual to Individual It is a situation where one interviewer interviews
another person.
(ii) Individual to Group In this situation, one inter- viewer interviews a group
of persons. One variant of it is called a Focus Group Discussion (FGD).
(iii) Group to Individuals It is a situation where one group of interviewers
interview one person. One may experience this type of situation when
appear for a job interview.
(iv) Group to Group It is a situation where one group of interviewers interview
another group of interviewees.

Significance of Interview

The interview method helps in obtaining in-depth information.

It is flexible and adaptable to individual situations and can often be used
when no other method is possible or adequate.
It can be used even with children and non-literate persons.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Survey Research

Advantages

 Information can be gathered quickly and efficiently from thousands of

persons.
 Since surveys can be conducted quickly, public opinions on new issues can
be obtained almost as soon as the issues arise.

Disadvantages

 People may give inaccurate information because of memory lapses or they

may not want to let the researcher know what they really believe about a
particular issue.
 People sometimes offer responses they think the researcher wants to hear.
 PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING
Psychologists have devised different types of tests for assessment of various
human characteristics, such as intelligence, aptitude, personality, interest, attitudes,
values, educational achievement, etc. These tests are used for various purposes
such as personnel selection, placement, training, guidance, diagnosis, etc in
multiple contexts including educational institutions, guidance clinics, industries
and defence establishments.
A test contains a number of questions, called items, with their probable
responses, which are related to a particular human characteristic or attribute. It is
important to note that the characteristic, for which a test has been developed,
should be defined clearly and unambiguously and all items (questions) should be
related to that characteristic only. We may also notice that often a test is meant for
a particular age group. It may or may not have a fixed time limit for answering the
questions.

Behavioural Characteristics Considered in Psychological Testing

A psychological test is a standardised and objective instrument which is used to

assess an individual's standing in relation to others on some mental or behavioural
characteristics. Some of these are:

Objectivity

It refers to the fact that if two or more researchers administer a psychological test
on the same group of people, both of them would come up with more or less the
same values for each person in the group. For a psychological test to become an
objective measure, it is essential that items should be worded in such a manner that
they communicate the same meaning to different readers. Also, the instructions to
the test takers about how to answer the test items should be specified in advance.

The procedure of administering the test such as environmental conditions, time

limit, mode of administration (individual or group) should be spelt and the
procedure for scoring of the participants' responses need to be described. The
construction of a test is a systematic process and involves certain steps. It involve
detailed analysis of items, and estimating reliability, validity and norms of the
whole test.

Reliability

It refers to the consistency of scores obtained by an individual on the same test on

two different occasions.
(i) Test-retest reliability, which indicates the temporal stability or stability of
the test scores over time. It is computed by finding out co-efficient of correlation
between the two sets of scores on the same set of persons. For example, a person
administers the test to a group of students today and re-administers it on same set
of students after some time or 20 days. If the test is reliable, there should not be
any variation in the scores obtained by the students on the two occasions. For this,
we can compute test-retest reliability.

(ii) Another kind of test reliability is called split-half reliability. It gives an

indication about the degree of internal consistency of the test. This is based on the
assumption that if the items of a test are from the same domain, should correlate
with each other or if they are from different domains should not correlate.
For finding out internal consistency, the test is divided into two equal halves
employing odd even method (items 1,3,5 in one group and items 2,4,6 in another
group) and correlation is computed between the scores of odd and even items

Validity

It refers to the ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure.For

example, if you have constructed a test of mathematics achievement, whether the
test is measuring mathematical achievement or for example, language proficiency.

Norms
A test becomes standardised test when norms are developed for the test. Norm is
the normal or average performance of the group. The test is administered on a large
number of students. Their average performance standards a are based on their age,
sex, place of residence, etc. This helps us in comparing the performance of an
individual student with others of the same group. It also helps in interpreting
individuals' score obtained on a test.

Types of Tests

Psychological tests are classified on the basis of their language, mode of

administration and difficulty level.
On the basis of Language
Depending upon the language, we have verbal, non-verbal and performance tests:
Verbal Test Literacy is required for taking verbal tests as the items have to be
written in some language. Non-verbal Test In non-verbal tests, items are made of
symbols or pictures. Performance Test It requires movement of objects from their
respective places in a particular order.
On the Basis of Mode of Administration

Depending upon the mode of administration, psychological tests are divided into
individual or group tests:

Individual Test It is administered Group Test In the group test, the

by the researcher to one person at a instructions about answering the
time, while group tests can be items, etc are written on the test,
administered to large number of which the test taker reads and answers
persons at the same time. In the questions accordingly. The test
individual tests, the researcher administrator explains the instructions
administers the test face to face and to the entire group.
remains seated before the test taker Group tests are easy to administer and
and notes down the responses. are also less time consuming.
Individual tests are time consuming, However, the responses come with
but are important ways of getting certain limitations. The respondent
responses from children and from may not be motivated enough to
those who do not know the language. answer the questions and may give
fake responses.

Distinguish between verbal, non-verbal and performance tests.

Verbal It requires Non-Verbal It uses Performance It

verbal responses in pictures or requires subjects to
either oral or written illustrations as test manipulate objects to
form. It can only be items e.g. RPM. perform a task. In
administered to (Raven's Progressive this test, written
literate people. Matrices Test). In this language is not
test, the subject necessary for
examines an answering the items.
incomplete pattern It can be easily
and chooses a figure administered to
from the alternatives persons from
that will complete the different cultures.
pattern.
 Importance of Case Study
 With the help of case studies, psychologists have done research to
understand feelings, fantasies, hopes, fears, traumatic experiences,
parental upbringing and so on, that helps to understand a person's
mind and behaviour.
 Case studies provide a narrative or detailed descriptions of the events
that take place in a person's life. A case study is a valuable research tool
in the field of clinical psychology and human development.
 Freud's insights that led to the development of psycho-analytic theory
emerged from his observations and showed that meticulous records
must be maintained on individual cases.
 Similarly, Piaget developed his theory of cognitive development on the
basis of observations of his three children.
 Case studies have been conducted to understand the pattern of
socialisation of children. For example, Minturn and Hitchcock
conducted a case study of socialisation of children among Rajputs of
Khalapur. S Anandalakshmy studied aspects of childhood in a weavers'
community in Varanasi. . Case studies provide detailed in-depth
depictions of people's lives.