Longitudinal Study Essay

In response to the question set, I will go into detail of the study, consisting of the background, main hypotheses, as well the aims, procedure and results gathered from the study; explaining the four research methods chosen to investigate,

Research methods are “the various specific tools or ways data can be collected and analysed, e.g. a questionnaire, interview, etc.” (Neville, C, 2007).

Research can be used in many methods, for example: questionnaires, television, leaflets, books etc. it allows us to keep up to date on the new findings or discoveries e.g. a new type of cancer or a new vaccination. Research is the investigation into

Research Methods- refers to specific ways or techniques of conducting research on A topic. Example: two people do a study on dog anxiety. One uses existing data. The other uses data from research they have conducted through interviews of dog owners. Social Darwinism- The theory that people and groups can be thought to be under the same laws of natural selection as all plants and animals. Example: Believing that one race is superior to another. As if it were thought that one race or ethnic group was superior so they claim dominance over others. Reliability- The point to which an instrument of measure give recurrent answers and/or results each time it is used as long as the thing being measured stays the same. Example: The temperature in your vehicles engine stayed the same everyday. A reliable temperature gauge would give you the same temperature reading everyday. Note however, the temperature in the car could be different each day but if the gauge read seventy-five every day it would still be considered reliable. Ethnography- The study of different cultures and the people of the cultures. Example: A college student is visiting a school in a different county to study and take note of the different things going on in the school. Questionnaire- A research instrument including questions in an attempt to gather information. Example: A local gym has had a lot of complaints lately about cleanliness, but the members of the gym have not specified to the staff what needs to change.

2. One of the advantages of having a longtidual study is that you can determine a pattern through out the years and have a high validity. This way, researchers will be able to determine on how to prevent getting future memory loss as technology advances every year. A disadvantage is time. It takes a while gather results and collect the them in order to map it out with a graph or a clear infographic to present. Another disadvatage is that to have a sucessful study, you must have a large sample of people who are willing to assist the study with you.

The field experiment is similar to the laboratory experiment in the way that an independent variable is manipulated but the methods differ because the field experiment tries to simulate the real life scenario more effectively. It is seen as a more valid “real-life” situation. The participant is unaware of the experiment and so the results are unaffected by bias. This method does not give the experimenter enough control over the independent variable being tested so examination and comparison of the results is difficult. There are ethical issues to be looked at as well because of the participants’ ignorance of what is taking place. For these reasons the experiment will also be difficult to replicate.

Experimental design research tends to use math and statistics to try to prove or disprove a hypothesis. Within an experimental design most of the research is controlled and leaves little room for error. One advantage of experimental design is that it is hard to disprove the results. However, a disadvantage is that because the conditions are controlled that makes the results too perfect. If the same experiment was conducted in an uncontrolled setting, such as the real world, the results would vary.

Because field experiments are carried out in a natural environment. Also the participants are not affected by demand characteristics if they are not aware of the study. In field experiments the IV is still manipulated by the researcher. Jane Elliot's blue eyes brown eyes experiment is a good example to this method. Her aim was to make her students experience racism and see if their thoughts about it would be changed. It was important to use the field experiment method because prejudice and racism is a part of our daily lives. These students experienced prejiduce in their natural environment (school). When we want to apply social psychology to real life situations we use field experiments. The weakness of field experiments is, they are difficult to replicate (to do the same experiment). There can be ethical problems because the participants are not aware of the experiment. (informed

The authors used participant observation and interview to do this research. I think the method of field work that provided the most insightful information was the method of participant observation. By

In Psychology 101 we learned that research methods are used in order to understand our mental and behavioral processes by making observations in a systematic way, following strict rules of evidence and thinking critically about that evidence. This scientific research is based on theories (tentative explanations of observations in science), hypotheses (predictions based on a theory) and replication (testing a hypothesis in more than one study). Some of the different research methods are firstly, descriptive studies. Descriptive studies are studies that use survey methods, naturalistic observation and clinical methods. Another research method is correlational studies. Correlational studies are studies that help one to determine if a relationship exists between two or more variables and if so it tells one how strongly those two variables relate to one another. With in correlational studies one can have positive correlation (as one variable increases or decreases so does the other), negative correlation (variables go in opposite directions) or zero correlation (no relationship between the variables). Another research method is formal experiments. Formal experiments are studies that allow us to draw conclusions about how one variable may cause or have an effect on another variable. With in formal experiments there are four elements, which are the independent variable (variable that is manipulated or controlled), the dependent variable (variable that is measured), the experimental

The purpose of this investigation was to use qualitative and longitudinal analysis to learn about the perceptions of elementary age students who are transitioning into middle school. The participants of this study included 331 fifth grade students in a large, rural, Southeastern public school district. The students came from three different elementary schools, but would all be entering into the same large middle school. This investigation consisted of four phases, the first beginning in January of the participants’ fifth grade year and the second in May. The third and fourth phases took place after the students had transitioned into middle school, one being completed in August and the fourth phase in December. During the investigation students were asked to complete three questionnaires and one writing assignment. The writing assignment, given during phase one of the investigation, gave the participants the opportunity to write any questions they had about middle school. The questionnaires used in the proceeding phases elicited responses regarding the following topics: Students’ concerns about middle school, the positive aspects of middle school, who the students would turn to for help, what they think middle school will be like, and what they think is important to know about transitioning to middle school.

As mentioned, the research method used for this study was participant observation. This was further divided into three different segments. Each of these segments featured its own distinct observation site and involved one hour of observation per site.

Quantitative research methods are utilized to study the natural phenomena. So, it includes survey methods, formal methods, and numerical methods.

Qualitative and Quantitative study designs both can be beneficial in research design. They both provide valuable options for researchers in the field. These techniques can either be used separately in a research study or they can be combined to achieve maximum information. This paper will define the terms qualitative and quantitative; describe the similarities and differences between each; discuss how qualitative and/or quantitative research designs or techniques could be used in the evaluation of my proposed research; and discuss why linking analysis to study design is important.

Research means process of generating and analyzing information. The system of collecting data for research projects is knows as research methodology. The data may be collected for either theoretical or practical research.