CHAPTER-2

METHODS OF
ENQUIRY IN
PSYCHOLOGY
 GOALS OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL ENQUIRY
 Description: In a psychological study, we attempt to
describe a behaviour or a phenomenon as
accurately as possible.
• The description requires recording of a particular
behaviour which helps in its proper understanding a
phenomenon as accurately as possible.

 Prediction: If one is able to understand and describe

the behaviour accurately, one can then forecast that
under certain conditions this particular behaviour
may occur within a certain margin of error.
• Prediction becomes more accurate with the increase
in the number of persons observed.
 Explanation:
• Third goal of psychological enquiry is to know the
causal factors or determinants of behaviour, and the
conditions under which a particular behaviour does not
occur.
• 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.

 Control : Control refers to three things: making a

particular behaviour happen, reducing it, or enhancing
it.

 Application: final goal of the scientific enquiry is to

bring out positive changes in the lives of people.
• For e.g. applications of yoga and meditation help to
reduce stress and increase efficiency
 STEPS IN CONDUCTING
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
 Scientific research should be objective and
scientific.
 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.

 Systematic investigation includes the following

steps:
 conceptualization of a problem,
 collection of data,
 drawing conclusions,
 and revising research conclusions and theory.
Conceptualizing a Problem :

 selects a theme or topic for study on the basis of

review of past research, observations .

 These problems may be related to:

(a) understanding our own behaviour
(b) Understanding other
(c) individual’s behaviour
(d) group influences on individual behaviour
(e) group behaviour
(f) Organisational level

 The researcher then proceeds by developing a

tentative answer of the problem, which is called
hypothesis
Collecting 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.

 the researcher has to decide who would be the

participants, the use of methods of data collection,
such as observation method
 The researcher also decides about how the tools need
to be administered to collect data (i.e. individual or
group).
 This is followed by actual collection of data
Drawing Conclusions :
 To analyse data so collected through the
use of statistical procedures graphical
representations (such as preparation of pie-
chart, bar-diagram, cumulative frequencies,
etc.)
 The purpose of analysis is to verify the
hypothesis and draw conclusions
accordingly.

Revising Research Conclusions :

 See whether the conclusions support the
hypothesis
 Revisions are made accordingly
 Research is a continuous process
ALTERNATIVE PARADIGMS
OF RESEARCH

 The discipline of psychology, for larger

part of the twentieth century, restricted
itself to the study of overt behaviour, i.e.
the behaviour that could be observed and
measured.

 In recent years, a different method known

as interpretive has emerged.

 It emphasises understanding over

explanation and Prediction
 It emphasises the importance of how
human beings give meaning to events
and actions and interpret them as they
occur in a particular context.

 The psychological enquiry does aim at

understanding the self by reflecting on
one’s own experiences and insights.
NATURE OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL DATA
 Information relating to person’s overt or
covert behavior.

 Important input in inquiry

 Are not independent of context

 Doesn't speak in itself, inferences have

to be drawn.
TYPES OF DATA
 DEMOGRAPHIC:

 PHYSICAL:

 PHYSIOLOGICAL

 PSYCHOLOGICAL

 It can be in quantitative or qualitative

form.
DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
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.
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
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.
PHYSIOLOGICAL
INFORMATION

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.
PSYCHOLOGICAL
INFORMATION

Intelligence, personality, interest,

values, creativity, emotions,
motivation, psychological disorders,
illusions, delusions, hallucinations,
perceptual judgment, thought
processes, consciousness,
subjective experiences, etc.
METHODS OF DATA
COLLECTION
 Observation method
 Experimental method
 Correlational method
 Survey method
 Personalinterviews
 Questionnaires
 Telephone survey
METHODS IN
PSYCHOLOGY
 OBSERVATION:

1. SELECTION
2. RECORDING
3. ANALYSIS OF DATA

TYPES OF OBSERVATION
4. NATURALISTIC V/S CONTROLLED
5. NON-PARTICIPANT V/S PARTICIPANT
CONCLUSION
 ADVANTAGES: done in natural settings,
effective tool

 DISADVANTAGES: labor intensive, time

consuming, observer’s bias
 Social desirability
EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
 To establish cause-effect relationship
between two sets of events or variables in a
controlled setting.
 Changes are made in one factor and its effect
is studied on another factor, while keeping
other related factors constant.

 Cause is the event being changed or

manipulated.

 Effect is the behavior that changes because

of the manipulation.
WHAT IS A VARIABLE?
 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.
TYPES OF VARIABLES

 Independent variable

 Dependent variable
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
 is manipulated or altered or its
strength varied by the researcher
in the experiment.
DEPENDENT VARIABLE

 The variables on which the effect of

independent variable is observed is called
dependent variable.
FIND OUT THE IV & DV

 Amount of sugar and taste in the coffee

 Teacher in a classroom and noise
 Amount of syllabus and result
 Effect of temperature on mood
 Work pressure and stress
EXTRANEOUS VARIABLE
 Are the undesirable variables that influence
the effect of independent variable on
dependent variable.

 Examples:
Noise
Social desirability
Weather conditions
Emotional state of participants
Traffic
THREE TYPES OF EXTRANEOUS
VARIABLES:
 Organismic variables
Such as anxiety, intelligence, personality, etc.

 Situational or environmental variables

operating at the time of conducting the experiment (such
as noise, temperature, humidity)

 Sequential variables
When the participants in experiments are required to be
tested in several conditions.

Exposure to many conditions may result in experimental

fatigue, or practice effects, which may influence the results
of the study and make the interpretation of the findings
difficult.
CONDUCTING EXPERIMENTS
 Experimental Group
Is a group in which members of the group are
exposed to independent variable
manipulation.

 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.
CONTROL TECHNIQUES
 Elimination
 Minimization
 Matching
 Counter-balancing (ABAB, ABBA, BAAB)
 Random Assignment of participants
TYPES OF EXPERIMENTS
 Field experiments
 control over relevant variables is less
 more time consuming
 expensive.

 Quasi Experiments
manipulate an independent variable in a
natural setting using naturally occurring
groups to form experimental and control
groups.
EVALUATION OF
EXPERIMENTATION METHOD:

 Establishes cause-effect relationship

 Lacks external Validity (Lab Experiment)

 Less feasible sometimes

 Lacks Internal Validity (Field/quasi experiments)

 Ethical limitations
 Difficult to control all relevant variables
CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
The relationship between two variables for
prediction purposes

To simply find out the relationship between the

two variables to determine whether they are
associated, or covary or not.

The strength and direction of the relationship

between the two variables is represented by a
number, known as correlation coefficient- “r”

Value can range from +1.0 through 0.0 to –1.0.

 TYPES OF CORRELATION
 Positive Correlation
As the value of one variable (X) increases, the value of the
other variable (Y) will also increase, vice-versa.

Closer it is to +1.0 (+.78, +.93, +.81) stronger the positive

correlation.

 Negative Correlation
As the value of one variable (X) increases, the value of the
other (Y) decreases, vive-versa.

Closer it is to -1.0 (-.83, -.76, -.94) stronger the negative

correlation.
CORRELATIONAL
RESEARCH

 ZERO CORRELATION: no significant

correlation between variables.
SURVEY RESEARCH
 Personal interviews

 Questionnaires

 Telephonic surveys
PERSONAL INTERVIEWS
 An interview is a purposeful activity
conducted to derive factual
information, opinions and attitudes,
and reasons for particular behaviour,
etc. from the respondents.
TYPES
1. Structured or Standardized

2. Unstructured or Non-standardised.
STRUCTURED OR
STANDARDISED
 The questions in the schedule are written
clearly in a particular sequence.
 Little or no liberty to make changes in the
wordings of the questions or the order in
which they are to be asked.
 Close-ended questions
UNSTRUCTURED OR NON-
STANDARDISED.

 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.

 The respondent can answer the questions in

the way s/he chooses to, Such questions are
called open-ended questions.
COMBINATION OF
PARTICIPANTS
 Individual to Individual
 Individual to Group
 Group to Individuals
 Group to Group
EVALUATION OF INTERVIEW
METHOD

 Helps in obtaining in-depth information

 It is flexible and adaptable to individual
situations
 Can often be used when no other
method is possible or adequate
 Can be used even with children, and non-
literate persons
 Sometimes not efficient
QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY
 Most common, simple, versatile, and low-cost
self-report method of collecting information.
 Consists of a predetermined set of questions
 Close ended or open ended questionnaires

 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.
TELEPHONE SURVEY
 Reduces time, effort, cost
 Can be inaccurate
 No personal connection, fraud
 Social desirability
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING
 Assessment of individual differences

 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, and so forth.
 DEFINITION

A psychological test is a
s t a n d a rd i z e d a n d o b j e c t i v e
instrument which is used to
assess an individual’s standing
i n re l a t i o n t o o t h e r s o n s o m e
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.
 Wordings
 Instructions
 Procedure
STANDARDIZATION

• Reliability

• Validity

• Norms
RELIABILITY
 The consistency of scores obtained by an
individual on the same test on two
different occasions.

 Two types:
 Test- Retest (Temporal stability)
 Split-half (Internal consistency)
VALIDITY
 A test should measure what it is suppose to
measure.

 Eg: Intelligence test should measure

intelligence and not aptitude.
NORMS
• 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’ score obtained
on a test.
TYPES OF TESTS
 Classified on the basis of:
• Language (Verbal and Non-verbal)

• Mode of administration (Individual or Group)

• Performance/Difficulty level (Speed and

Power Tests)
CASE STUDY
 In depth study of a particular case.
 Cases can be individuals, groups with
some commonality, organizations,
events.
 It employs multiple methods of data
collection
 Cases we select are unique and rich in
content.
 Helps to understand feelings, fantasies,
hopes, fears, traumatic experiences
 MERITS:
 It’s a valuable tool in research in the
field of clinical psychology and human
development.
 Freud’s Psychoanalytic theory and
Piaget’s theoru of cognitive
development are based on this method.
 In-depth information

 DEMERITS:
 Lack of generalizability
 Problems with validity
 It is recommended that multiple
strategies from different sources of
information by a number of
investigators must be used for collecting
data.

 Careful planning of data collection is

also necessary

 Researchers needs to maintain a chain

of evidence for linking various data
sources.
 TYPES OF DATA ANALYSIS
 Quantitative Method
• Psychological tests, questionnaires mostly have
closed ended questions and are in scaled form

• Participants gives a response and at the end the

researcher calculates the total of all the
numbers.

• Researcher converts psychological attributes to

quantity (scores/numbers)

• Use of statistics like mean, median, mode, SD,

QD, etc. is done in order to draw conclusions
 Qualitative Method

• Captures the complexity of human experiences

through narrative analysis
• In open ended questions, field notes,
recordings, informal talks etc. the responses
are descriptive in nature
• No scoring/quantification
• Content analysis, thematic analysis is used to
find out themes.

 Both these methods are not contradictory

but complementary to each other.
LIMITATIONS OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL ENQUIRY
• Lack of True Zero Point (absolute and
relative)

• Problem with rankings

• Relative Nature of Psychological Tools

(Culture/SES)

• Subjective Interpretation of Qualitative data

ETHICAL
ISSUES/CONSIDERATIONS
• Voluntary Participation
• Informed Consent
• Debriefing
• Sharing the Results of the Study
• Confidentiality of Data Source