CHAPTER 2: METHODS OF ENQUIRY IN PSYCHOLOGY

CONTENT OF THE CHAPTER

Tip for this chapter: Make your own examples. This shows your deeper level of
understanding.

(PUT A TICK MARK TO ENSURE YOU HAVE REVISED YOUR TOPIC WELL! )

HAPPY LEARNING!
Introduction: Goals of Psychological Enquiry
Steps in Conducting Scientific Research
Alternative Paradigms of Research
Nature of Psychological Data
Some Important Methods in Psychology
a) Observational Method
b) Experimental Method
c) Correlational Research
d) Survey Method (Interview, Questionnaire and Telephone Interview)
e) Psychological Testing
f) Case Study
Analysis of Data
a) Quantitative Method
b) Qualitative Method

Limitations of Psychological Enquiry

Ethical Issues
GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH
(Why do we conduct research?)

(TIP: Always good to form your own examples )

Psychological enquiry has the following goals: description, prediction, explanation, and
control of behaviour, and application of knowledge so generated, in an objective manner. The
details of which have been listed below:

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Description

• The description requires recording a particular behaviour and describing it accurately

so as to attain a comprehensive understanding of the same
• For example, morning habits may have a diverse range of behaviours like reading
positive literature, meditation, exercise, journaling etc.

Prediction

• It is the second goal of psychological enquiry.

• If you can attempt to describe behaviour well, you can forecast the behaviour of the
individual in different contexts.
• However, there are always chances of error.
• For example, if a student devotes his/her time reading what he/she has done in class,
the student is bound to score well on his/her tests.

Explanation

• It is the third goal of psychological enquiry

• It attempts to explain the causal factors of behaviour and attain an understanding of
the conditions in which the behaviour occurs or not.
• This is when the researcher tries to understand the cause of the behaviour.
• For example, why is the child unable to pay attention in class?

Control

• It is the fourth goal of psychological inquiry.

• It focuses on three things
o Making a particular behaviour happen
o Reducing it
o Enhancing it
• Control is a very specific feature and a contribution of psychology.
• For example, you can allow the number of hours devoted to study to be the same, or
you can reduce them or there may be an increase in the study hours.

Application

• It is the fifth goal of psychological enquiry.

• Psychological research is conducted to solve problems in various settings.
• It focuses on bringing out a positive change in people’s lives.
• For example, application of yoga to decrease the effect of stress in one’s life.

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STEPS OF RESEARCH

There are only two characteristics that we look while conducting scientific research: i.e.
Objectivity & Systematic approach of research.

a. Objectivity: - Objectivity refers to the fact that if two or more persons independently study
particular event, both of them, to a great extent, should arrive at the same conclusions.

b. Systematic: - This is a step-by-step process of conducting research.

1. Conceptualisation of a Problem

• The process of research begins with selecting a theme/topic of the research.

• This topic should be testable. This means that the research should be ethical as well as
measurable.
• Once the topic of the research is decided, it has to be narrowed down to get an in-
depth understanding of research.
• In psychology, following behaviours are studied:
a. Own behaviour
b. Other individual’s behaviour
c. Group influence on individual behaviour
d. Group behaviour
e. Organisational behaviour
• After identification of the problem, the researcher proceeds by developing a tentative
answer of the problem, which is called hypothesis.
• A hypothesis is then either proved right or wrong.

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2. Collecting Data

• The second step in scientific research is to collect data.

• Data collection requires developing a research design or a blueprint of the entire
study. It requires taking decisions about the following four aspects:
a. Participants in the study
b. Methods of data collection,
c. Tools to be used in research, and
d. Procedure for data collection.

3. Drawing Conclusion

• The next step is to analyse data so collected through the use of statistical procedures
to understand what the data mean.
• This can be achieved through graphical representations (such as preparation of pie-
chart, bar-diagram, cumulative frequencies, etc.) and by the use of different statistical
methods.
• The purpose of analysis is to verify a hypothesis and come to conclusion of research.

4. Revising Research Conclusion

• The researcher revises the whole study and the hypothesis being taken is analysed
thoroughly to see whether it stands true or not.

• If the hypothesis is rejected, an alternative hypothesis is presented. This is not

compulsory for the research as the reliability of research doesn’t depend on whether
the hypothesis is true or not.

ALTERNATE PARADIGMS OF RESEARCH

While steps of research are an ideal way to go about any study, these may not be possible to
undertake under following situations:
1. In case of a natural calamity
2. Introspection of one’s own problem.

NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DATA

(READ ALL THE EXAMPLES FROM THE TEXTBOOK FOR BETTER
UNDERSTANDING)
Demographic information

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It includes personal information like name, age, gender, education, occupation etc.

Physical information

Includes information about ecological conditions, housing conditions, size of rooms, facilities
available at home, in the neighbourhood, in the school etc.

Physiological Information

In some studies, physical, physiological and psychological data are collected about height,
weight, heart rate, level of fatigue etc.

Psychological information

The information focuses on areas like intelligence, personality, interests, hallucinations,

delusions etc.

CHECK POINT 1:

1. One of the first steps in conducting scientific research is _______

2. Which type of data includes information about the economy, housing conditions,
facilities at the home, in the school, transportation etc.?

3. While collecting data, which type of information generally includes personal

information like name, age, gender, residence locality etc?

4. Define Hypothesis.

5. The _________ refers to the fact that if two or more persons independently study a
particular event, both of them to a great extent should arrive at the same conclusion.

6. In which of the following steps in conducting scientific research, you decide who would
be the participants in your study?

7. Kalindi is conducting research on “children's play behaviour at a nursery school”.

Mention how she can conduct research systematically?

8. State the goals of research in psychology.

9. What is the difference between “explanation” and “description”? Explain in terms of

goals of research.

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METHODS OF RESEARCH
A) OBSERVATION METHOD
Question: How is observation method different from day-to day observations?

• It is rightly said that “We see but we do not observe.” A scientific observation differs
from day-to-day observation in many respects.
• It involves the selection of a particular behaviour, recording the selected behaviour
using symbols, photographs and analysis of the recorded behaviour.

a. Selection:
▪ It is not possible for a researcher to observe all the behaviour
they encounter.
▪ Therefore, to get in-depth information, the psychologist selects
what is to be observed.
▪ Eg: Selecting

b. Recording:
▪ While observing, a researcher records the selected behaviour
using different means, such as marking tallies, for the identified
behaviour whenever they occur, taking notes describing each
activity in greater detail using short hand or symbols,
photographs, video recording, etc

c. Analysis:
▪ Analysis of the material includes coming to a conclusion.
▪ This gives meaning to research.

READ FROM YOUR NOTES:

1. Difference between Naturalistic vs. Controlled Observation.
2. Difference between Non-Participant vs. Participant Observation.
Advantages and Limitations of Observation Method
Advantages

• It enables the researcher to study people and their behaviour.

• Can provide in-depth information about behaviour to be observed.

Limitations

• It is time-consuming

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 • It can be labour-intensive at times
• Poor method for establishing cause and effect relationship.

B) EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
• Experiments are generally conducted to establish cause-effect relationship between
two sets of events or variables in a controlled setting.

The concept of Variable

What is Variable – Any event or stimulus which varies, as a situation varies is called
Variable.

Variables are of three kinds: - Independent Variable & Dependent Variable

a. Independent Variable: It is that variable which is manipulated or

altered or its strength varied by the researcher in the experiment. (IV)

b. Dependent Variable: The variable on which the effect of independent

variable is observed is called dependent variable. (DV)

c. Extraneous Variable: Any variable that interferes with the study is

called extraneous variable.
Alternate definition: Any variable apart from independent variable that affects dependent
variable is called extraneous variable.
They are also known as confounding and relevant variables.

Thus, the independent variable is the cause, and dependent variable is the effect in any
experimental situation.

Experimental & Control Groups

a. Experimental Groups: An experimental group is a group in which
members of the group are exposed to independent variable
manipulation.

b. Control Groups: 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.

Experiment by Latney and Darley:

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Control Techniques for relevant variables:
1. Since the goal of an experiment is to minimise extraneous variables,
the best way to handle this problem is to eliminate them from the
experimental setting.
2. Elimination is not always possible. In such cases, effort should be
made to hold them constant.
3. In this procedure the relevant variables in the two groups are equated
or are held constant by taking matched pairs across conditions of the
experiment. This is called matching.
4. Counter-balancing technique is used to minimise the sequence
effect. Suppose there are two tasks to be given in an experiment.
Rather than giving the two tasks in the same sequence the
experimenter may interchange the order of the tasks.
5. Random assignment of participants to different groups eliminates any
potential systematic differences between groups.

Advantages and Limitations of Experimental Method

Advantages of Experimental Method:

1. Helps establish cause-effect relationship.

Limitations of Experimental Method:

1.The experiments have low external validity means it may produce results that do not
generalise well, or apply to real situations or may only be true culturally.
2.It is not always feasible to study a particular problem experimentally.
3.It is difficult to know and control all the relevant variables

C) CORELATION METHOD
• In psychological research, we often wish to determine the relationship between two
variables for prediction purposes.
• This method is different from experimental method because this method van only tell
us if there is a relationship between two variables or not.
• The direction of the relationship between the two variables is represented by a
number, known as correlation coefficient. Its value can range from +1.0 through
0.0 to –1.0.
Correlation could be of three types: Positive, Negative & Zero.
1. Positive Correlation: It indicates that as the value of one variable (X) increases, the
value of the other variable (Y) will also increase & vice versa.
o This type of association will be indicated by a positive number. It will be
closer to +1.0.

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 Eg: As peer pressure decreases, anxiety decreases.

2. Negative Correlation: It indicates that as the value of one variable (X) increases, the
value of the other variable (Y) will decrease & vice versa.
o Here, you are expecting a negative correlation, ranging between 0 and –1.0.
Eg: The more time you spend on studying, the lesser time you’ll send online.

3. Zero Correlation: It is possible that sometimes no correlation may exist between the
two variables, this is called Zero Correlation. This indicates that no significant
relationship exists between two variables or the two variables are unrelated.

D) SURVEY METHOD
Survey research is basically a method of collecting data through various means of survey like
Personal Interviews, Questionnaires & Telephonic Surveys.
Let’s understand these methods in detail.

1. PERSONAL INTERVIEWS
A personal Interview is a method of asking questions from Individual or group to obtain the
relevant data. Generally, one person sits across other person either face to face or through
video call& one person (generally called interviewer) asks certain questions to another person
(interviewee or respondent)
There can be two broad types of interviews -
i. Structured or Standardised: A structured interview 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.
Type of Questions asked – Close ended questions (like MCQ’s or Yes/No)

2. Unstructured or non-standardised: in an unstructured interview 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.
Type of Questions asked – Open ended questions (like Subjective questions)

(READ THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STRUCTURED vs. UNSTRUCTURED

INTERVIEW FROM YOUR NOTES)

An interview may have the following combinations of participants in an interview situation

are-

i. Individual to Individual: One Interviewer interviews another person

ii. Individual to group: One interviewer interviews a group of persons.

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iii. Group to Individuals: One group of interviewers interview one person.
iv. Group to Group: One group of interviewers interviews another group of interviewees.

• Interviewing is a skill which requires proper training. A good interviewer knows how
to make the respondent at ease and get the optimal answer.
• S/he remains sensitive to the way a person responds and, if needed, probes for more
information.

Advantages and Limitations of Interview Method

Advantages:

• The interview method helps in obtaining in-depth information.

• It is flexible & 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.
• An interviewer can know whether the respondent understands the questions, and can
repeat or paraphrase questions.

Limitations:
• Interviews require time. Often getting information from one person may take an hour
or more which is not cost effective.

2. QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD

• The questionnaire is the most common, simple, versatile, and low-cost self-report
method of collecting information.
• It consists of a predetermined set of questions.
• The respondent has to read the questions and mark the answers on paper rather
than respond verbally to the interviewer.
• Generally, there are two types of questions used in questionnaire: Open-ended &
Closed-ended.
• With Open-ended questions, the respondent is free to write whatever answers s/he
considers appropriate.
• In Closed-ended type, the questions and their probable answers are given & the
respondent is required to select the correct answer.
• Closed-ended questions responses are like yes/No, True/False, multiple choice or
rating scales (3-point, 5-point, 7-point, 11 point, etc).
• Questionnaires can be filled either in pen & paper or through E-mail like Google forms.

3. TELEPHONE SURVEY

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 • Surveys are also conducted through telephone, and now-a-days you must have seen
programmes asking you to send your views through mobile phones’ SMS.
• The telephone survey helps in reducing time. However, since the respondents do not
know the interviewer, the technique is loaded with with uncooperativeness,
reluctance, and superficial answers by the respondents.
• There is also a possibility that those responding may differ from those not responding,
e.g., on age, gender, income levels, education levels, etc., besides their psychological
characteristics.
• This will lead to very biased kinds of results. The method of observation has been
discussed earlier. This method is also used

Advantages and Limitations of Telephone Survey

Advantages
• The telephone survey helps in reducing time.

Limitations
• The respondents don’t know the interviewer; the technique is fraught with
uncooperativeness, reluctance, and superficial answers by the respondents.
• Clear data of respondents is not available in terms of age, gender, income levels,
education levels, etc.

Advantages and Limitations of Survey Method

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.

Limitations
• 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.

E) PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING

Assessment of individual differences has remained one of the important concerns of

psychology from the very beginning.

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 • Psychologists have constructed 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, defence establishments, and so forth.
• 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.
• Objectivity - Objectivity 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.
• Standardised - The construction of a test is a systematic & standard process and
involves certain steps. It involves detailed analysis of items, and estimating reliability,
validity, and norms of the whole test.

• Reliability -. Reliability of the test refers to the consistency of scores obtained by an

individual on the same test on two different occasions.
✓ Test-retest reliability – In a test-retest method the researcher asks the participants to
appear for the same psychological test after a period of time. If he/she gets similar
results it means that the psychological test is reliable.
✓ Split-half reliability – Sometimes it may not be possible for researcher to take the
same test on account of it being long. This is where split-half reliability is used. The
questions on the test are divided equally among the participants.
✓ Validity - Validity refers to the question: “Does the test measure what it claims to
measure”?
• Norms - norm is the normal or average performance of the group. This helps us in
comparing the performance of an individual student with others of the same group.

(TYPES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS TO BE DONE FROM YOUR NOTES)

F) CASE STUDY

• In this method, the emphasis is given on in-depth study of a particular case.

• The case can be an
i. Individual
ii. a small group of individuals having some commonality among them (Like Rabindra Nath
Tagore),
iii. Institutions (poorly or successfully functioning school or a corporate office)
iv. Specific Events (Children exposed to devastation by tsunami, war or pollution)

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 • A case study employs multiple methods for collecting information, such as interview,
observation & psychological tests from a variety of respondents who in some way or
the other might be associated with the case & can provide useful information.
• A case study is a valuable research tool in the field of clinical psychology and human
development.
• Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory or Piaget cognitive development theory was emerged
from case study method.
• While doing a case study, one should take care of the following:

a) It is recommended that the information should be collected using

multiple strategies from different sources of information by a
number of investigators.
b) Careful planning of data collection is also very necessary.

ANALYSIS OF DATA

Methods of research are incomplete without analysis. Following comprises of two methods of
analysis:
a) Quantitative Analysis
b) Qualitative Analysis

a) QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS
• As you may have gathered by now, psychological tests, questionnaires, structured
interviews, etc. contain a series of close-ended questions.
• These have a score attached to them. Eg: How likely are you to recommend this
restaurant to your friend? 0 being not likely at all, 1 not being likely, 2 neutral, 3
likely to recommend and 4 extremely likely.
• After getting these scores, the data is analysed to get mean, median, and mode,
methods of variability (range, quartile deviation, standard deviation), co-efficient of
correlation, and so forth. (Mention 2-3 examples)
• These and some other advanced statistical methods enable a researcher to make
inferences and to give meaning to the data.
• Therefore, quantitative analysis is when the researcher uses numerical analysis.
• This is a more objective form of analysis.

b) QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS
• All analysis can’t be numerical alone.
• In methods such as interview and observation, one gets the experience of the
participant of the study in the form of words, field notes taken by the researchers,
photographs, interview responses noted by the researcher or taped/video-recorded,
informal talks, etc.

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 • Psychologists have developed various qualitative methods to analyse such data. One
of them is Narrative Analysis, where s/he gets major themes of research.
• This is more subjective and descriptive form of analysis.

LIMITATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INQUIRY

1. Lack of true zero point

Psychological measurements do not have a true zero point like physical
sciences. For example, there is no zero interest, attitude or personality.
So the measurements are not absolute, they are relative in nature.
Sometimes ranks are also used as scores.
2. Relative nature of psychological tools
Psychological tests, Questionnaire etc. are not universally applied; they are
made for particular context.
Tools developed in urban context may not be applied in rural area, also western
tests and other tools may not apply elsewhere.
3. Subjective interpretation qualitative data
The data which can’t be categorized or quantified in scores or ranks, runs the
risk of subjective (individual, personal) interpretation. Every researcher may
give different meanings to data.

ETHICAL CONCERNS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL INQUIRY

Since psychology largely deals with human beings, so the researchers need to follow some
moral principles which are as follows:

1. Voluntary participation
• This means that participants have the freedom to choose whether
to participate in the study or not.
• Use of force or coercion or any other pressure should not be used.
• Participants should have the right to withdraw from study any
time without penalty.
2. Informed consent
• Participants in a study should understand what treatment they will
undergo during study.
• This information should be given before the study/research starts.
• If at times it is not possible to reveal all the information, they
should be at least explained the nature of study before it starts.

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3. Debriefing
• Sometimes due to the nature of the study it becomes necessary to
withhold some information from the participants, this is known as
deception.
• So after the study is over the participants are given complete
information to complete their understanding of research.
For example, suppose a researcher wants to study the relationship
between frustration and aggression, the participants will not be
informed that they’ll be put in a frustrating situation; otherwise
experiment or study will have no conclusions; so here deception is
necessary.
However, after it is over they should be told that they were
aroused deliberately. , Why was it done should also be explained.
• It ensures that the participants leave the study in the same
physical or mental state as when they entered.
• Efforts should be made to remove any anxiety or other adverse
effects from the minds of the participants as a result of being
deceived in the study.
4. Sharing the results of the study
It is obligatory for the researcher to go to the participants and share the results
of study with them.
Participants expect that the results of study done with them will be told to them,
they want to know about their behaviour and where do they fall as compared to
others.
It has two advantages-:
• One, researchers full fill the expectations of the participants.
• Second, the participants may tell the researcher about something
else which may provide supplementary information.
5. Confidentiality of data sources
• The participants have right to privacy.
• This right is protected by keeping the information provided by
them in strict confidence.
• It becomes more important if the information is personal and may
become embarrassing if revealed.
• The information should be used for the purpose of research only.
• To maintain sconfidentiality, one should not record their
identities.
• Sometimes identity is required, in such cases code numbers
should be given on the data sheet and the names and their codes
should be kept separately.

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