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Methods of Psychology: Observation, Experimental & More | UPSC Notes

Last Updated on Sep 23, 2024
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Methods of Psychology are used to understand human behaviour and the mind. The five major methods of psychology are observation, experimental, correlational research, psychological testing, and survey and case study. Understanding the psychology of your target market is essential to increasing conversions in the marketing domain. Various psychological strategies can be applied to comprehend the mental processes and actions of individuals, and integrating these techniques can boost the likelihood of success in your marketing strategy. 

This article is very important for UPSC IAS exam aspirants. You can also enroll in UPSC coaching to get academic support.

GS Paper

Psychology Optional Paper

Topics for UPSC Prelims

Experimental Method, Observation Method, Case Study Method, Psychological Tests

Topics for UPSC Mains

Application in Educational Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Contributions of Sigmund Freud and B.F. Skinner

Observation Method of Psychology

Psychologists use lots of methods to study how people think and act. Observation is one important method of psychology. In observation, psychologists watch people closely to understand how they behave and feel. They see what happens without changing anything.

  • Psychologists watch people in places like home, school and work. They see how people interact, feel emotions, solve problems and act.
  • Psychologists sometimes directly watch. Other times, they use cameras and machines to record what people do. Then they study the recordings.
  • Though observation happens naturally, psychologists take some control.
  • For example, to study children's thinking, psychologists create puzzles and hard tasks. This lets them see specific thinking skills instead of watching randomly.

Benefits of the Observation Method

  • It lets psychologists study real behaviour as it happens naturally without changing anything.
  • Observation gives lots of details about complex behaviour.
  • The data from observation is more true compared to just asking people.

Limits of Observation

  • The data depends on what psychologists see, which can be wrong.
  • Psychologists can only guess feelings from behaviour. This can be wrong guesses.
  • Watching people for a long time can affect their natural behaviour a little bit.
  • The data from observation is hard to study because there is so much.

In summary, observation is an important method of psychology that lets scientists study how people really act. Though it has some limits, psychologists try to fix that with better research. Observation continues to be a useful tool.

Read Here About Difference between Qualitative and Quantitative Research!

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Experimental Method of Psychology

Psychologists do experiments to understand how the mind works. Experiments are an important method of psychology. Experiments are tests done in a controlled way. Psychologists change one thing and see how it affects another thing. This shows them what causes what.

  • First, psychologists make a research question. They guess what will happen.
  • Then they choose one thing to change. This is the " cause". They watch what changes due to this. This is the "effect".
  • Psychologists measure the effect before and after changing the cause. They check if the result matches their guess. If yes, they know one thing really causes the other.
  • Psychologists often have a control group that does not get the change. Any changes in the experiment group must be due to the change cause.

Benefits of Experiments

Experiments can show for sure what causes what. They are systematic and give clear results. Psychologists can control many variables in an experiment.

Limitations of Experiments

Experiments are artificial. Results may not apply to real life. Experiments are hard to do right. They cannot prove causes for 100% sure. Ethical issues limit some experiments.

In conclusion, experiments help psychologists learn about how the mind works. Though experiments have limits, they are an important method when done properly.

Correlational Research in Psychology

Psychologists use many methods to learn about how people think and act. Correlational research is one method. In correlational research, psychologists look for connections between two things without changing anything. They just watch how two things are related normally.

  • Psychologists choose two things they think may be linked.
  • They then measure both things in many people. For example, they may measure how smart and how personalities are in lots of students.
  • Psychologists find a number to show how strong and in what direction the connection is between the two things.
  • A strong positive connection means high amounts of one thing tend to happen with high amounts of the other. A strong negative connection means the opposite.

Benefits of Correlational Research

  • It lets psychologists find possible connections between things in a natural setting.
  • Correlational research is easier and more ethical to do than experiments.
  • It helps make guesses that can be tested later using experiments.

Limits of Correlational Research

  • It can only show a connection between things, not a cause-effect relationship.
  • There may be other things influencing the connection.
  • Connections found may not continue across different groups.
  • Self-reports used may not be good.

In summary, correlational research is an important method of psychology that helps scientists explore possible links between psychological things without changing anything. Though it has limits in proving cause, it allows psychologists to make guesses for later testing. Together with experiments, correlational studies help develop a good understanding of how people act.

Psychological Testing Method

Psychologists use many methods to understand how people think and act. Tests are one important method of psychology.

  • In tests, psychologists use set tests to measure how people are in different ways.
  • These tests have lots of questions that check specific skills, abilities and traits. The tests are done and scored in a set way.
  • Psychology tests ask people to answer questions or do tasks in a set time.
  • Their answers are marked using a key and changed into numbers or amounts.
  • The numbers let psychologists see how a person compares to a group and find anything unusual.
  • Psychologists also study how good and right the test is to make sure scores show the attribute well.

Benefits of Psychological Testing

  • It lets psychologists measure complex human attributes in a set and systematic way.
  • Testing helps identify people with specific talents, abilities, disorders and difficulties.
  • Set psychology tests can be used to compare individuals and groups.
  • The test results inform interventions, treatments and education plans.

Limits of Psychological Testing

  • Test scores depend partly on test-taking skills and may not always measure the attribute effectively.
  • Psychological tests cannot measure non-touchable attributes like creativity accurately.
  • Cultural and socioeconomic factors can influence test performance.
  • Developing the right and good tests for hard-to-measure attributes is challenging.

In summary, psychological testing is a useful method of psychology that lets psychologists examine different psychological characteristics of individuals through set tests. Though testing has limits, psychologists continue to develop better tests to more effectively measure various human attributes. Combined with other research methods, testing deepens our understanding of how people act.

Surveys and Case Studies in Psychology

Psychologists use many methods to understand how people think and act. Surveys and case studies are two methods. 

What are Surveys?

In surveys, psychologists give questions or interviews to collect self-report data from lots of people. Surveys ask people about their thoughts, opinions, traits, experiences and behaviours. The answers give insights into the psychological things of groups.

Benefits of Surveys

  • Surveys are easy and cheap as they collect data from many people at once.
  • They allow psychologists to study changes in groups over time.
  • Well-done surveys give data that represents the group well.

Limits of Surveys

  • Answers in surveys depend on how honest, remembering and wise people are.
  • Answers can be affected by what people want to show and how people feel at that time.
  • Surveys cannot show cause-effect relationships between things.

What are Case Studies?

Case studies involve the in-deep study of one or few people through observation, interviews and analysis of records. Psychologists gather lots of information about the behaviour patterns, life history and present working of the case(s).

Benefits of Case Studies

  • They give a wealth of details about people that experiments cannot match.
  • Case studies help make ideas for further research using other methods.
  • They allow psychologists to identify abnormalities and create good interventions.

Limits of Case Studies

  • Results from a case study cannot be shown generally to the wider population.
  • Researcher bias can affect the collection and understanding of case study data.
  • Case studies are hard to redo and check independently.

In summary, surveys and case studies are important methods of psychology that give self-report data from big groups and in-depth data about specific people, respectively. Though each method has limits, they improve each other and, together with experiments, give a good general understanding of how people act.

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Conclusion

By combining and comparing results from these diverse methods of psychology, researchers construct a more comprehensive picture of human thought and behaviour. No single method provides conclusive proof, so psychologists integrate findings from multiple sources using a range of methods within their scientific discipline.

Key Takeaways for UPSC Aspirants

  • Experimental Method: It entails conducting controlled experiments to explore cause and effect relationships between variables. Through the manipulation of an independent variable and observation regarding its impact on the dependent variable, the psychologists would be in a position to make conclusions on causality.
  • Observation Method: The technique here involves careful observation and recording of behavior within a natural or controlled environment without interference from other sources. As such, it would provide authentic data on how the subjects behave in real-life situations.
  • Survey Method: Surveys include questionnaire administration or interviews, wherein information about attitudes, beliefs, experiences, or behavior is gathered from large numbers of respondents. This research method is useful in collecting quantitative data and displaying trends for large populations.
  • Case study method: It is a descriptive method in which attention is paid to only one subject or a small group, offering deep insight into the behaviors, experiences, or psychological conditions of those selected. It is very useful in rare phenomena or complex variables.
  • Correlation method: This method is used to establish whether two or more variables are related without manipulating them. Therefore, though this method helps to pattern and even predict outcomes, it never establishes causality.
  • Longitudinal Studies: This research method involves studying the same group of people over a long period. It helps identify developmental and long-term changes or outcomes.
  • Cross-sectional Studies: In this approach, researchers compare various population groups at one point in time. It is useful for establishing relationships and comparisons across different demographics or time periods.
  • Psychometric Methods: One method by which tests and questionnaires are designed and used to measure psychological variables, for instance intelligence, personality traits, or mental health conditions. It is essential to provide standardization where assessment and comparisons are involved.

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Methods Of Psychology FAQs

The main methods are experimentation, observation, surveys, case studies, psychological testing and correlation studies.

Experiments manipulate variables to test causation, while observation studies behaviour as it occurs naturally without manipulation.

Surveys are economical, efficient and can gather data from a large sample that represents the population well.

Case studies cannot be generalized, are subject to bias and are difficult to replicate independently.

Psychologists establish the reliability and validity of psychological tests to ensure the tests accurately measure what they are intended to measure.
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