Types of Research Methods

What is a Natural experiment?

• Natural experiments are conducted in the everyday (i.e. real life) environment of the participants, but here the experimenter has no control over the independent variable as it occurs naturally in real life.

• Natural experiments are done in the everyday (i.e. real life) environment of the participants. The experimenter still manipulates the independent variable, but in a real-life setting (so cannot really control extraneous variables).

• A natural experiment is an experiment conducted under highly controlled conditions, where accurate measurements are possible.

• A study where everything is 100% natural

What is correlational research?

• Correlational research is a type of non-experimental research where the researcher measures two variables and assesses the statistical relationship ( between them with little or no effort to control extraneous variables.

• Correlational research indicates the extent to which the pairs of numbers for these two variables lie on a straight line

• Correlational research is a branch of psychology that looks at how cultural factors influence human behaviour

• Correlational research involves studies that have the potential to have a negative impact on specific groups of people or society in general

What are case studies?

• Case studies are very detailed investigations of an individual or small group of people, usually regarding an unusual phenomenon or biographical event of interest to a research field.

• Case studies are research into particular criminal cases committed by psychopaths

• Case studies are used to describe the data and show a summary of the results

• Case studies are studies conducted on identical or fraternal twins. They aim to reveal the importance of environmental and genetic influences for traits, phenotypes, and disorders

Which of the following are types of qualitative research methods?

• Case studies

• Experiments

• Interviews

• Observations

A psychologist tests the hypothesis that praise increases student's academic performance. The research is carried out by instructing some teachers to praise their students often, while instructing other teachers not to praise their students. What type of experiment is this?

• Lab

• Field

• Natural

• Quasi

The following are strengths of which type of research method? Can be done quickly and anywhere; can collect quantitative and qualitative responses.

• Case studies

• Interviews

• Observations

• Surveys

The following are limitations of which type of research method? It can be time consuming waiting for the behaviour you want to occur; bias can be a problem

• Case studies

• Interviews

• Observations

• Surveys

The following are limitations of which type of research method? Impossible to generalise to others as it’s done with one or small group of people; researcher bias may be present as they form rapport with participant(s)

• Case studies

• Interviews

• Observations

• Surveys

This research method is a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

• Case Study
• Survey
• Observational
• Correlational
• Experiments

This research method is a technique for ascertaining the self – reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group.

• Survey
• Observational
• Correlational
• Experiments
• Case Study