Chapter- 2: Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ENQUIRY :

Psychological enquiry has the following goals: description, prediction, explanation,

and control of behaviour, and application of knowledge.

1)Description :

● In a psychological study, we attempt to describe a behaviour or a phenomenon

as accurately as possible. This helps in distinguishing a particular behaviour
from other behaviours.
● For example, the researcher may be interested in observing study habits among
students. Study habits may consist of diverse range of behaviours, such as
attending all your classes regularly, submitting assignments on time, planning
your study schedule, studying according to the set schedule, revising your work
on a daily basis etc. Within a particular category there may be further minute
descriptions.

2) Prediction :

● The second goal of scientific enquiry is prediction of behaviour. If you are able
to understand and describe the behaviour accurately, you come to know the
relationship of a particular behaviour with other types of behaviours, events, or
phenomena.
● For example, on the basis of study, a researcher is able to establish a positive
relationship between the amount of study time and achievement in different
subjects. Later, if you come to know that a particular child devotes more time
for study, you can predict that the child is likely to get good marks in the
examination.
● Prediction becomes more accurate with the increase in the number of persons
observed.

3) Explanation :

● The third goal of psychological enquiry is to know the causal factors or

determinants of behaviour.
● Psychologists are primarily interested in knowing the that make behaviour
occur. Also, what are the conditions under which a particular behaviour does
not occur.
● For example, what makes some children more attentive in the class?
 ● Thus, this goal is concerned with identifying the determinants or antecedent
conditions (i.e. conditions that led to the particular behaviour) of the behaviour
being studied so that cause-effect relationship between two variables (objects)
or events could be established.

4) Control :

● If you are able to explain why a particular behaviour occurs, you can control
that behaviour by making changes in its antecedent conditions.
● Control refers to three things:

i) making a particular behaviour happen,

ii) reducing it, or

iii) enhancing it.

● 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.
The change brought about in behaviour by psychological treatment in terms of
therapy in persons, is a good example of control.

5)Application :

● The final goal of the scientific enquiry is to bring out positive changes in the
lives of people. Because of these efforts the quality of life of people is a major
concern of psychologists.
● . For example, applications of yoga and meditation help to reduce stress and
increase efficiency.
● Scientific enquiry is also conducted to develop new theories or constructs,
which leads to further research.

Steps in Conducting Scientific Research :

Ø The scientific method attempts to study a particular event or phenomenon in

an objective, systematic, and testable manner.

Ø The objectivity 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.
Ø For instance, if you and your friend measure the length of a table using the
same measuring device, it is likely that both of you would arrive at the same
conclusion about its length.

Ø The second characteristic of scientific research is that it follows systematic

procedure or steps of investigation. It includes the following steps:
conceptualisation of a problem, collection of data, drawing conclusions, and
revising research conclusions and theory Let us discuss these steps in some
detail. -

(1) Conceptualising a Problem :

● The process of scientific research begins when a researcher selects

a theme or topic for study. Then s/he narrows down the focus and
develops specific research questions or problems for the study. This is
done on the basis of review of past research, observations, and
personal experiences.
● For example, earlier you read that a researcher was interested in
observing the study habits of students. For this purpose, s/he may
identify different facets of study habits first, and then decide whether
s/he is interested in study habits shown in the class or at home.
● In psychology we study a diverse range of problems related to
behaviour and experiences. These problems may be related to -

(a) understanding our own behaviour (for example, how do I feel and

behave when I am in a state of joy or grief? How do we reflect on

our own experiences and behaviour? Why do we forget?);

(b) understanding other individual’s behaviour

(c) group influences on individual behaviour (for example, why

does Rahim spend more time meeting with people than doing his
work?, Why does a cyclist perform better when cycling before a
group of persons than when cycling alone?);

(d) group behaviour (for example, why does risk-taking behaviour

increase when people are in a group?), and

(e) organisational level (for example, why are some organisations

more successful than others?
 After identification of the problem, the researcher proceeds by
developing a tentative answer of the problem, which is called
hypothesis.

(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.

● Depending upon the nature of the study, the researcher has to decide
who would be the participants (or informants) in the study. The
participants could be children, adolescents, college students, teachers,
managers, clinical patients, industrial workers, or any group of
individuals in whom/ where the phenomenon under investigation is
prevalent.
● The second decision is related to the use of methods of data collection,
such as observation method, experimental method, correlational
method, case study, etc.
● The researcher needs to decide about appropriate tools (for example,
interview schedule, observation schedule, questionnaire, etc.) for data
collection.

3) Drawing Conclusions :

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

(4) Revising Research Conclusions :

The researcher may have begun the study with a hypothesis that there
exists a relationship between viewing violence on television and aggression
among children. S/he has to see whether the conclusions support this
hypothesis. If they do, the existing hypothesis/ theory is confirmed. If not, s/he
will revise or state an alternative hypothesis/theory and again test it based on
new data and draw conclusions which may be verified by future researchers.

Thus, research is a continuous process.

NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DATA :

● Psychologists collect a variety of information from different sources

employing diverse methods. The information, also called data (singular
= datum), relate to the individuals’ covert or overt behaviour, their
subjective experiences, and mental processes.
● Different types of data or information are collected. Some of these types
are :

i) Demographic Information :
This information generally includes personal information like name, age,
gender, birth order, number of siblings, education, occupation, marital status,
number of children, locality of residence, caste, religion, parental education,
occupation, and family income, etc.

ii) Physical Information :

This category includes information about ecological conditions

(hilly/desert/forest), mode of economy, housing conditions, size of rooms,
facilities available at home, in the neighbourhood, in the school, mode of
transportation, etc.

iii) Physiological Data :

In some studies physical, physiological and psychological data are collected
about height, weight, heart rate, level of fatigue, Galvanic Skin Resistance
(GSR), electrical activity of the brain measured by Electro-encephalograph
(EEG), blood oxygen levels, reaction time, duration of sleep, blood pressure,
pattern of dream, amount of salivation, running and jumping rates (in case of
animal studies), etc., are collected.
iv) Psychological Information :
Psychological information collected, may relate to such

areas as intelligence, personality, interest, values, creativity, emotions,

motivation, psychological disorders, illusions, delusions, hallucinations,
perceptual judgment, thought processes, consciousness, subjective
experiences, etc.

We also obtain verbal reports, observation records, personal diaries, field

notes, archival data, etc. Such types of information is analysed separately .

Important Methods in Psychology :

Psychologists use a variety of methods to collect data like Observation,

Experimental, Correlational, Survey, Psychological Testing, and Case Study
method of enquiry.

Observational Method

Observation is a very powerful tool of psychological enquiry. It is an effective

method of describing behaviour. In our daily life, we remain busy with
observing numerous things throughout the day but a scientific observation differs
from day-to-day observation in many respects. These are :

(a) Selection : Psychologists do not observe all the behaviour that they
encounter. Rather, they select a particular behaviour for observation. For
example, how children studying in Class XI spend their time in school. You
might prepare a list of activities and go to the school with a view to finding out
their occurrences

(b) Recording : While observing, a researcher records the selected behaviour

using different means, such as marking tallies for the already identified
behaviour whenever they occur, taking notes describing each activity in
greater detail using shorthand or symbols, photographs, video recording, etc.

(c) Analysis of Data : After the observations have been made, psychologists
analyse whatever they have recorded with a view to derive some meaning out
of it. It is important to know that making good observations is a skill. A good
observer knows what s/he is looking for, whom s/he wants to observe, when
and where the observation needs.

Types of Observations:
(a) Naturalistic vs Controlled Observation :

When observations are done in a natural or real-life settings (in the above example, it was a
school in which observation was made), it is called naturalistic observation.

In this case the observer makes no effort to control or manipulate the situation for making an
observation.

This type of observation is conducted in hospitals, homes, schools, day care centers, etc

However, many a times you might need to control certain factors that determine behaviour as
they are not the focus of your study. For this reason, many of the studies in psychology are
conducted in the laboratory. For example,

Two American psychologists, Bibb Latane and John Darley, conducted a

study in 1970. In order to participate in this study, the students of Columbia
University arrived individually at a laboratory. They were given the impression
that they would be interviewed on a certain topic. Each student was sent to a
waiting room to complete a preliminary questionnaire. Some of them found
two other people already seated in the room, while others sat down alone.
Soon after the students had started working on the questionnaire, smoke
began filling the room through a wall vent. The smoke could hardly be
ignored; within four minutes the room contained enough smoke to interfere
with vision and breathing.

Latane and Darley were primarily interested in knowing how frequently

students simply got up and left the room to report the emergency. Most (75
per cent) of the students who were waiting alone reported the smoke, but
those reporting in groups were far less. Groups consisting of three naïve
students reported it only 38 per cent of the time.

When the students waited with two other confederates, who were instructed
beforehand by the researchers to do nothing, only 10 per cent students
reported.

The smoke could be introduced in a controlled laboratory situation.

This type of observation, called Controlled Laboratory Observation.

Non-Participant vs Participant Observation :

Observation can be done in two ways.

1) One, in which the researcher observe the person or event from a distance. In this
case, the person being observed may not be aware that s/he is being observed.

For example, you want to observe the pattern of interaction between teachers and
students in a particular class. There are many ways of achieving this goal. One can
install a video camera to record the classroom activities, which can be seen later and
analyse. Alternatively, the researcher may also decide to sit in a corner of the class
without interfering or participating in their everyday activities. This type of observation is
called non participant observation. The problem in this type of setup is that the very fact
that someone is sitting and observing may bring a change in the behaviour of students
and the teacher.

2) Two, in which the observer may become part of the group being observed, is called
participant observation

In this case , the observer becomes a part of the school or the group of
people being observed. In participant observation, the observer takes some
time to establish a rapport with the group so that they start accepting her/him
as one of the group members.

Merits & Demerits of Observation Method :

The advantage of the observation method is that it enables the researcher to study
people and their behaviour in a naturalistic situation, as it occurs.

However, the observation method is labour intensive, time consuming, and is

susceptible to the observer’s bias.Our observation is influenced by our values and
beliefs about the person or the event.You are familiar with the popular saying: "We see
things as we are and not as things are". Because of our biases we may interpret things
in a different way than what the participants may actually mean. Therefore, the observer
should record the behaviour as it happens and should not interpret the behaviour at the
time of observation itself.

Experimental Method

Experiments are conducted to establish cause-effect relationship between

two sets of events or variables in a controlled setting. It is a carefully regulated
procedure in which changes are made in one factor and its effect is studied on
another factor, while keeping other related factors constant.

In the experiment, cause is the event being changed or manipulated. Effect is

the behaviour that changes because of the manipulation.

The Concept of Variable:

 Students, You had earlier studied in science subject that while doing
experiment in a laboratory, you introduce a variable and observe its effect in
the experiment .For example , blue litmus paper turns red in acidic
medium(HCl).In this case ...blue litmus paper is a variable & you want to test
it's effect on acidic /basic medium.

In the experimental method , the researcher attempts to establish causal

relationship between two variables.

Any stimulus or event which varies, that is, it takes on different values (or
changes) and can be measured is a variable. An object by itself is not a
variable. But its attributes are. For example, the pen that you use for writing is
not a variable. But there are varieties of pens available in different shapes,
sizes, and colour. All of these are variables. Other examples could be different
colour of eye balls ,different levels of intelligence etc.

Types Of Variables :

1) Independent variable : The variable which is manipulated

or altered or its strength varied by the researcher in the
experiment is called independent variable .The experiment
conducted by Latane and Darley,in which the researchers wanted
to examine the effect of the presence of other persons on
reporting of the smoke. So the independent variable was
presence or absence of other persons in the room.

2) Dependent Variable The variables on which the effect of

independent variable is observed is called dependent variable. It
is expected that change in the dependent variable will ensue from
changes in the independent variable. The frequency of reporting
of smoke in the above case was the dependent variable. Thus,
the independent variable is the cause, and dependent variable the
effect in any experimental situation.

One must remember that independent and dependent variables

are interdependent. Neither of them can be defined without the
other.

3) Extraneous variables/Control Variables : Any behavioural

event contains many variables. It also takes place within a
 context. Independent and dependent variables are chosen
because of the researcher’s theoretical interest. However, there
are many other relevant or extraneous variables that influence the
dependent variable, but the researcher may not be interested in
examining their effects.

These extraneous variables need to be controlled in an

experiment so that a researcher is able to pin-point the cause
and effect relationship between independent and dependent
variables.

Experimental and Control Groups:

● An experimental group is a group in which members of the group are exposed to
independent variable manipulation.
● 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.
● For example, in the study by Latane and Darley, there were two experimental groups
and one control group. As you may have noted, the participants in the study were sent to
three types of rooms. In one room no one was present (control group). In the other two
rooms, two persons were already seated (experimental groups). Of the two experimental
groups, one group was instructed not to do anything when smoke filled in the room. The
other group was not given any instructions.
● After the experimental manipulation had occured the performance of the control group
measured in terms of reporting of smoke was compared with that of the experimental
group.
● It was found that the control group participants reported in maximum numbers about the
emergency, followed by the first experimental group members where the participants
were not given any instructions, and the second experimental group (consisting of
confederates) reported the emergency situation, the least.

· In an experiment, except for the experimental manipulation, other conditions are kept
constant for both experimental and control groups.

Random Distribution of Participants:

● A method that ensures that each person has an equal chance of being included in any
of the groups.
● The distribution of participants to experimental and control groups was done
randomly.For example ,suppose in one group only males were taken while in the other
group only females , then results obtained in the study, could be due to the differences in
gender rather than due to experimental manipulation.
● All relevant variables in experimental studies that might influence the dependent
variable need to be controlled.

Types Of Extraneous /controlled Variables :

There are three types of control variables-
i) Organismic variables such as anxiety, intelligence, personality, etc.

ii) Situational or environmental variables at the time of conducting the experiment such as
noise, temperature, humidity in that environment.

iii)Sequential variables. - Exposure to many conditions may result in

experimental fatigue, or practice effects, which may influence the results of
the study .

Techniques To Control Extraneous variables :

1) The best way to handle the problem of extraneous variables is to eliminate

them from the experimental setting. For example, the experiment may be
conducted in a sound-proof and air-conditioned room to eliminate the effect of
noise and temperature.

2) When we can't eliminate them , effort should be made to hold them

constant so that their effect remains constant throughout the experiment.

3) For controlling organismic (e.g., fear, motivation) and background variables

(such as rural/urban, caste, socioeconomic status) matching is also
used. In this procedure the relevant variables in the two groups are
equated or are held constant.

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. Thus, half of the group may receive the tasks in
the order of A and B while the other half in order of B and A or the same
individual may be given the task in A, B, B, A order.

5) Random assignment of participants to different groups eliminates any

potential systematic differences between groups.

Strengths /Weaknesses of Experimental method of Enquiry :

1.The strength of a well-designed experiment is that it can provide, a convincing
evidence of a cause-effect relationship between two or more variables.

2. However, experiments are often conducted in a highly controlled laboratory

situation. The experiments may produce results that do not generalise well, or
apply to real situations. In other words, they have low external validity.

3. Another limitation of the laboratory experiment is that it is not always

feasible to study a particular problem experimentally. For example, an
experiment to study the effect of nutritional deficiency on intelligence level of
children cannot be conducted as it would be ethically wrong to starve anyone.

4. Another problem is that it is difficult to know and control all the relevant
variables.

Field Experiments and Quasi Experiments

When a researcher wants to conduct studies which are not possible in

laboratory settings, s/he may go to the field or the natural setting where the
particular phenomenon actually exists. In other words, s/he may conduct a
field experiment.

For example, a researcher may want to know which method would lead to
better learning among students—lecture or demonstration method. For this, a
researcher may prefer to conduct an experiment in the school. The researcher
may select two groups of participants; teach one group by demonstration
method and another group by the normal teaching method for sometime. S/
he may compare their performance at the end of the learning session.

In the field experiments, the control over relevant variables is less as compare
to laboratory experiments. Field experiment are more time consuming and
expensive.

Many variables cannot be manipulated in the laboratory settings. For

example, if we want to study the effect on an individual who suffered from
covid-19 and quarantined for 14 days in isolation or effect of t-sunami where
child lost his parents due to that natural calamity , we cannot create this
condition artificially in the laboratory.

In such situations, the researcher adopts the method of quasi (the Latin word
meaning “as if”) experimentation. In such types of experiments, the
independent variable is selected rather than varied or manipulated by the
experimenter.
For example, in the experimental group we can have children who lost their
parents in the earthquake and in the control group children who experienced
the earthquake but did not lose their parents.

Thus, a quasi experiment attempts to study the independent variable in a

natural setting using naturally occurring groups to form experimental and
control groups.

Correlational Research

In psychological research, we often wish to determine the relationship

between two variables for prediction purposes. For example, “the amount of
study time” is related to the “student’s academic achievement”.

The strength and 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.

Types of Correlational Coefficients:

There are three types of correlational coefficients: positive, negative, and
zero.

1. A positive correlation indicates that as the value of one variable

(X) increases, the value of the other variable (Y) will also increase.
Similarly when variable X decreases, a decrease in Y too takes place.
For example- the more the temperature in the month of May& June,the
more will be sale of ice-creams/AC'S. Here in this case suppose
temperature is X variable and sale of ice-creams is another variable Y,
X is directly proportional to Y.

2. This type of association will be indicated by a positive number, and

the strong the association between rise in temperature and sale of ice-
creams, the closer the number would be to +1.0.

A correlation of +.85, indicating a strong positive association between

two variables.

2 Negative correlation tells us that as the value of one variable (X)

increases, the value of the other (Y) decreases. For example, as the hours of
study time increase, the number of hours spent in other activities will
decrease. Here, you are expecting expecting a negative correlation, ranging
between 0 and –1.0.
 3 Zero Correlation: It is also possible that sometimes no correlation may
exist between the two variables. This is called zero correlation. Generally, it is
difficult to find zero correlation but

the correlations found may be close to zero, e.g., -.02 or +.03. This
indicates that no significant relationship exists between two variables or the
two variables are unrelated.

Survey Research Method :

● Students,you may have read in the newspapers or seen on the
television that during elections, surveys are conducted to find out if
people would vote for a particular political party, or favour a particular
candidate.
● Survey research came into existence to study opinions, attitudes and
social facts. Their main concern initially was to find out the existing
reality or baseline. So they were used to find out facts such as the
literacy rate at a particular time, religious affiliations, income level of a
particular group of people, etc.They were also used to find out the
attitude of people towards family planning, the attitude towards
programmes related to health, education, sanitation, etc.
● The survey research uses different techniques for collecting information.

Types of Techniques of Survey Research methods are:

i) Personal interviews

ii) Questionnaires

iii) Telephonic surveys

I) Personal Interviews ;

● The interview method is one of the most frequently used methods for
obtaining information from people.
● It is used in diverse kinds of situations. It is used by a doctor to obtain
information from the patient, an employer when meeting a prospective
employee, a sales person interviewing a housewife to know why she
uses a certain brand of soap. On television, we often see media
persons interviewing people on issues of national and international
importance.
● An interview involves two or more persons sit face-to-face with each
other, in which one person (generally called interviewer) asks the
 questions and the other person (called interviewee or respondent)
answers the questions related to a problem.
● An interview is a purposeful activity conducted to derive factual
information, opinions and attitudes, and reasons for particular
behaviour, etc. from the respondents.

Types of Interviews :

There can be two broad types of interviews:

i) Structured or Standardised interviews

ii) Unstructured or Non-standardised interviews

● During the interview, it is required for the interviewer to prepare a list of

questions before-hand. This list is called an interview schedule.
● 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. The responses to these questions are also,
in some cases, specified in advance. These are called close-ended
questions.
● 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. Since responses
are not specified in such type of interviews, the respondent can answer
the questions in the way s/he chooses to. Such questions are called
open-ended questions.
● For example, if the researcher wants to know about the happiness level
of a person, s/he may ask: How happy are you? The respondent may
reply to this question the way s/he chooses to answer.
● An interview may have the following combinations of participants in an
interview situation:

(a) Individual to Individual : It is a situation where one interviewer interview to

another person.

· (b) Individual to Group : In this situation, one interviewer interviews a group

of person .One variant of it is called a Focus Group Discussion (FGD).
 (c) Group to Individuals : It is a situation where one group of interviewers
interview one person. You may experience this type of situation when you
appear for a job interview.

(d) Group to Group : It is a situation where one group of interviewers

interview 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. If the respondent
gives vague answers, the interviewer may try to get specific and
concrete answers.
● 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.
● An interviewer can know whether the respondent understands the
questions, and can repeat or paraphrase questions.
● However, interviews require time. Often getting information from one
person.

Questionnaire Survey :
● 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. They are in some ways like highly structured interviews.
● Questionnaires can be distributed to a group of persons at a time who write down their
answers to the questions and return to the researcher or can be sent through mail.
● Generally, two types of questions are used in the questionnaire:
● i)open-ended questionnaire- With open-ended questions, the respondent is free to
write whatever answer s/he considers appropriate.
● ii)closed ended questionnaire : In the closed ended type, the questions and their
probable answers are given and the respondent is required to select the correct answer.
Examples of closed-ended questions require responses like: Yes/No, True/False,
Multiple choice, or using a rating scale.
● The questionnaire is used for collecting background and demographic information,
information about past behaviour, attitudes and opinions, knowledge about a particular
topic, and expectations and aspirations of the persons.
● Sometimes a survey is conducted by sending the questionnaire by mail. The main
problem of a mailed questionnaire is poor response from the respondents.

Telephone Survey :
 ● 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 fraught with uncooperativeness, reluctance, and
superficial answers by the respondents.

● The survey method has several advantages:

● First, information can be gathered quickly and efficiently from
thousands of persons.
● Second, since surveys can be conducted quickly, public opinions on
new issues can be obtained almost as soon as the issues arise.
● There are some limitations of a survey method :
● First, 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.
● Second, people sometimes offer responses they think the researcher
wants to hear.

Psychological Testing :
● 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, defense
establishments etc.
● 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.

Two important key features needs to be noted in this definition:

1. 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.

2 standardisation -
 The construction of a test is a systematic process and involves certain
steps. It involves detailed analysis of items, and estimating reliability, validity,
and norms of the whole test.

I) RELIABILITY:

● Reliability of the test refers to the consistency of scores obtained by an

individual on the same test on two different occasions. For example,
you administer the test to a group of students today and re-administer
it on the same set of students after some time, let us say 20 days.
● If the test is reliable, there should not be any variation in the scores
obtained by the students on the two occasions.

There are two types of reliability-

1) Test-retest reliability:

● Test -retest reliability indicates the temporal stability (or stability of the
test scores over time) of the test. As the name suggests, test and re-test
of the same test after a period of time .
● The two scores we obtained on two different occasions are computed
by finding out co- efficient of correlation between the two sets of scores
on the same set of persons. If the value of correlation (range is +1 to -
1) is near to +1 means the psychological test is reliable.
2) Split-half reliability.

This is 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 items of a
test if they are from the same domain should correlate with each other. If they are from
different domains, e.g., apples and oranges, then they would not.

· 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.

II) VALIDITY :

For a test to be usable, it should also be valid. Validity refers to the question :
“Does the test measure what it claims 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.

III) NORMS :

Finally, a test becomes a standardised test when norms are developed for the test. As
mentioned earlier, norm is the normal or average performance of the group. The test is
administered on a large number of students. Their average performance standards are
set 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’ scores obtained on a test.

Various Types of Psychological Tests :

Psychological tests are classified on the basis of their language, mode of
administration, and difficulty level.

I ) Verbal, Non-verbal, and Performance Tests :

Depending upon the language, we have verbal, non-verbal, and performance

tests.

Literacy is required for taking verbal tests as the items have to be written in
some language.

In non-verbal tests, items are made of symbols or pictures.

Performance tests require movement of objects from their respective places

in a particular order.

II) Individual and Group tests :

Depending upon the mode of administration, psychological tests are divided

into individual or group tests.
· An individual test is administered by the researcher to one person at a time, he
administers the test face to face and notes down all the responses

· Individual tests are time consuming, but are important ways of getting responses
from children, and from those who do not know the language.

· The group tests can be administered to large number of persons at the same time.
In the group test, the instructions about answering the items, etc., are written on the
test.

· The test administrator explains the instructions to the entire group. .

· Group tests are easy to administer and are also less time consuming.

· However, the responses are fraught with certain limitations.

· The respondent may not be motivated enough to answer the questions and
may give fake responses.

III) Speed and Power tests :

● In a speed test, there is a time limit within which the test taker is
required to answer all the items. Such a test evaluates the individual on
the basis of time taken to answer the items accurately.
● In a speed test, all the items are of the same degree of difficulty.
● On the other hand, power test assesses the underlying ability (or
power) of the individuals by allowing them sufficient time, i.e. these tests
do not have any time limit.
● In a power test, the items are generally arranged in an increasing order
of difficulty. If a person, for example, is unable to solve the 6th item,
s/he will have difficulty in answering the subsequent items.
● It is, however, difficult to construct a pure speed or power test.
● Majority of the tests are a combination of both speed and power.

CASE STUDY METHOD OF ENQUIRY :

● Case study method is the in depth study of a particular case.

Researchers focus on cases which can provide critical information or
new learning on less understood phenomena. The case can be an
individual with distinguishing characteristics (for example, a patient
showing psychological disorders) or a small group of individuals having
some commonality among them (for example, creative writers like
Rabindra Nath Tagore, and Mahadevi Verma), institutions (for example,
poorly or successfully functioning school or a corporate office), and
specific events (for example, children exposed to devastation by
tsunami, war or vehicular pollution, etc.).
● The cases that are selected for study are unique and, therefore, are
rich in information. A case study employs multiple methods for
collecting information, such as interview, observation, and psychological
tests from a variety of respondents who in some way or the other might
be associated with the case and can provide useful information.
● Psychologists uses case studies 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.
● It is a valuable research tool in the field of clinical psychology and
human development.
 ● Case studies provide detailed in-depth depictions of people’s lives.
● However, while generalising on the basis of individual cases one needs
to be very cautious. The problem of validity in a single case study is
quite challenging.
● It is recommended that the information should be collected using
multiple strategies from different sources of information by a number of
investigators.
● Careful planning of data collection is also very necessary.

ANALYSIS OF DATA
In the earlier section, we discussed different methods for collecting information. After data are
collected, the next job of the researcher is to draw conclusions. This requires analysis of data.
We generally use two methodological approaches for the analysis of data. These are:
quantitative and qualitative methods.

1) Quantitative Method
The psychological tests, questionnaires, structured interviews, etc. contain a series of close-
ended questions. That is, the questions and their probable responses are given in these
measures. For example, they may vary from 1 (low) to 5, 7 or 11 (high).

The participants’ task is to select the most appropriate response. Sometimes there are right and
wrong responses. A researcher assigns a number to each answer (normally “1” for right
answers, and “0” for wrong answers). At the end, the researcher calculates the total of all these
numbers and arrives at an aggregate score, which tells about the participants’ level on that
particular attribute (for example, intelligence, academic intelligence, etc.). In doing so, the
researcher converts the psychological attributes into a quantity (usually numbers).

This requires use of certain statistical methods for example, methods of central tendency
(mean, median, and mode), methods of variability (range, quartile deviation, standard
deviation), co-efficients of correlation, and so forth. These and some other advanced statistical
methods enable a researcher to make inferences and to give meaning to the data.

2) Qualitative Method
Human experiences are very complex. This complexity is lost when one elicits information

Psychologists have developed various qualitative methods to analyse such data. One
of them is Narrative Analysis. Also data are not always available in the form of
scores. When the researcher uses the method of participant observation or
unstructured interview, the data are generally in a descriptive form—in participants’
own words, field notes taken by the researchers, photographs, interview responses
noted by the researcher or taped/video-recorded, informal talks, etc. These type of
data cannot be converted into scores or subjected to statistical analysis. Rather, the
researcher uses the technique of content analysis to find out thematic categories and
build those categories taking examples from the data. It is more descriptive in nature.
It must be understood that quantitative and qualitative methods are not contradictory;
rather, they are complementary to each other. In order to understand a phenomenon in
its totality, a suitable combination of both methods is required.

LIMITATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ENQUIRY :

We have already discussed various methods which can be used by the researcher to
conduct any psychological studies. Every method has their own advantages as well as
disadvantages, it’s up to the researcher to decide which method s/he has to use
depending up on his requirements.There are some common problems which all the
psychological methods -

1. Lack of True Zero Point :

In physical sciences,the measurements do start from zero. For example, if you want
to measure the length of the table, you can measure it starting from zero and can say it
is 3' long.

Psychological measurements do not have a true zero point. For example, no person in
this world has zero intelligence. All of us have some degree of intelligence

In some of the studies ranks are used as scores. For example, on the basis of marks
obtained in some test, the teacher arranges the students in an order — 1, 2, 3, 4, … ,
and so on.

2. Relative Nature of Psychological Tools :

● Psychological tests are developed keeping in view the salient features of a

particular context. For example, a test developed for urban students may
contain items that demand familiarity with the stimuli available in the urban
setting— multi-storied buildings, airplanes, metro railway, etc. Such a test is
not suitable for use with children living in tribal areas who would be more at
ease with items that describe their flora and fauna.
● Similarly, a test developed in the Western countries may or may not be
applicable in the Indian context.
● Psychological tests need to be properly modified and adapted keeping in view
the characteristics of the context in which they are to be used.

Subjective Interpretation of Qualitative Data :

 The information we collected from various methods like interview,
observation,case study etc.. depends on the researcher that how s/he is interpreting
and may be two researcher have their own viewpoint to understand the situation

● Thus data received from qualitative studies are largely subjective in nature
since they involve interpretation on the part of the researcher as well as the
person providing data.
● The interpretations may vary from one individual to the other.
● It is, therefore, often suggested that in case of qualitative studies, the field work
should be done by more than one investigator, who at the end of the day should
discuss their observations and arrive at an agreement .

ETHICAL ISSUES :

Psychological research is concerned with human behaviour, the researcher is

expected to follow certain ethics (or moral principles) while conducting the
studies. These principles are: respect for persons’ privacy and choice to
participate in the study, beneficence or protecting the participants in the study
from any harm, and justice or sharing the benefits of research with all
participants. Some of the important aspects of these ethical principles are
described as follows:

1. Voluntary Participation :

· This principle states that the persons on whom you want to conduct the study
should have the choice to decide whether to participate or not to participate in the
study.

· The participants should have the freedom to decide about their participation
without any coercion or excessive inducement, and the freedom to withdraw from the
research without penalty, once it has begun.

2. Informed Consent :

· It is essential that the participants in a study should understand what will happen to
them during the study.

· The principle of informed consent states that potential participants must receive
this information before data from them are collected, so that they make an informed
decision about participation in the study. In some of the psychological experiments,
electric shock is given to the participants during the experiment.

3. Debriefing :

· Once the study is over, the participants are provided with necessary information to
complete their understanding of research.

· This is particularly important if deception has been used in the study. Debriefing
ensures that participants leave the study in the same physical and mental state as when
they entered.

· It should offer reassurance to the participants. The researcher should make efforts
to remove any anxiety

4. Sharing the Results of the Study :

● It is obligatory for the researcher to go back to the participants and

share the results of the study with them.
● When you go for data collection, the participants develop certain
expectations from you. One of the expectations is that you will tell them
about their behaviour that you have investigated in the study.
● As a researcher, it is our moral duty to go back to the participants.
● This exercise has two advantages. One, you fulfill the expectations of
the participants. Second, the participants may tell you their opinion
about the results, which sometimes may help you develop new insights.

5. Confidentiality of Data Source :

● The participants in a study have the right to privacy.

● The researcher must safeguard their privacy by keeping the information
provided by them in strict confidence.
● The information should only be used for research purposes and, in no
circumstances, it should be passed on to other interested parties.

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