preview

Empirical And Objective Methods Of Investigation

Decent Essays

Psychologists use a variety of research methods in psychological investigations which help try to discover facts and data by using systematic and objective methods of investigation to support their psychological theory. Data can be collected in two forms; quantitative (in the form of numbers e.g. time) and qualitative (in a descriptive form e.g. verbal reports about how participants feel). In experimental investigations, the independent variable (IV) and dependant variable (DV) are investigated by changing the IV and observing the effects it might have on the DV. These experimental methods are usually carried out in the laboratory however, experiments can also be conducted outside the laboratory, such as field experiments and quasi experiments, whether naturalistic or controlled, methods are used by psychologists to reach conclusions on their hypothesis. Experimental laboratory methods, for example, Bandura 's (1961) Bobo Doll experiment, where he was trying to investigate the relationship between a child imitating aggression (DV) and the child 's direct exposure to it (IV) found a positive correlation between the two variables. The advantages being that it enables the maximum level of control over variables, such as the gender of the adult model, the time the child observed the model. The cause and effect relationships between them can be clearly determined and the experiment can be easily replicated, as it was in 1963. Limitations are that the experiment is artificial

Get Access