Critically discuss the main research methods that are used in Social Psychological studies free essay sample

The purpose of this essay is to review the literature investigating key research methods that are used in Social Psychology, while providing an overview of the respective method’s strengths and weaknesses. The essay will also seek to review any ethical considerations which should be taken into account when pursuing a particular research route within social psychology. Social psychology employs the scientific method of research to study behavior and as such has been defined as: ‘The scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others. ’ (Hogg and Vaughan, 2011, p. 8). When a researcher is investigating a particular field of study they have several options available to them, surveys can be completed, their own intuition implemented, questionnaires developed or observations made, essentially the chosen approach will vary depending on a variety of considerations (McQueen Knussen, 2006, p. 8). These factors may include the context, ethical issues and practical considerations at play. (McQueen and Knussen, 2006, p. 8). In most instances the research process aims to investigate, if a relationship exists between or among variables (McQueen and Knussen, 2006, p. 67). The concept of causality or ‘cause and effect’ has been extremely important throughout the history of psychology (Baron, Branscombe and Byrne, 2009, p. 24). Within a social psychology context the approach is to review the level to which a number of variables are associated to each other, when taken at a single point in time (Howitt and Cramer, 2011 p. 8). In essence causality is a statistical index or test, which describes the degree and direction of the relationship between two characteristics or variables. (Howitt and Cramer, 2011, p. 8). Thus it can be said that the stronger a correlation exists, the more confident one can be in predicting the outcome. This can also be known as the correlational method (Baron et al, 2009, p. 24). In the research design phase, hypotheses (or predictions) are formulated (Walliman, 2006, p. 68). Researchers will deduce hypotheses from a range of sources such as prior knowledge, casual or systematic observation or indeed perhaps even speculation (Baron et al, 2009, p. 33). As defined by Walliman (2006, p. 68) they are ‘empirically tested predictions about what goes with what, or what causes what. ’ Tests can contradict hypotheses, causing it to be either rejected, revised or tested in some other way. However, if a hypotheses is found to be supported, one has the opportunity to more finely tune it. (Walliman, 2006, p. 68). Broadly speaking social psychology has two types of methods for testing hypotheses, these methods are known as – experimental and non-experimental (Hogg and Vaughan, 2011, p. 7). The first method of testing hypotheses (experimental) is essentially a test in which something is done to see its effect on something else. It is said to involve intervention by manipulating one or more independent variables and then measuring the effect on one or more focal dependent variable (Walliman, 2006, p. 69). Social psychology is said to be largely experimental, with social psychologists preferring to test experimentally where possible (Hewstone, Schut, de Wit, Van den Boss Stroebe, 2007, p. 296). An example of a conventional social psychology experiment may be to challenge the hypotheses that violent video games may increase aggression in adolescents. A researcher may assign 50 children to two conditions in which they individually play a violent or a non-violent game, and then evaluate the amount of aggression they may display immediately afterwards while interacting with other children. Importantly participants in such studies must be randomly assigned to ensure no bias is incorporated in such a study. If you test one group of females against another group of males in the above example, as males are more pre-disposed to aggression according to research (Hogg and Vaughan, 2007, p. 8), it may have an impact on the outcome of the study. It is also vital that both interest groups are tested under identical circumstances so as not to unduly bias any group or what is known as confounding. This occurs when two or more independent variables vary in such a way that it is impossible to know which has caused the effect. In the case of the above study e. g. if the temperature in the room where the above test was taking place increased significantly, it may have an impact on the aggression levels displayed as excessive temperatures can have adverse effects on the aggression level of children (Repper, 2007). In order to control and limit mitigating factors many psychologists hold the view that laboratory studies, broadly speaking, contribute a more convincing measure of causal propositions, while others would counter with, due to the fact that such experiments achieve a level of so called accuracy, the realistic nature of the experiment is lost to an extent (Howitt and Cramer, 2005, p. 197). Social psychologists have traditionally distinguished between true experiments and non- experiments. True experiments are typical of laboratory studies in psychology whereas non-experiments are more typical of more naturalistic studies in the field’ i. e. community or real-world settings (Walliman, 2006, p. 44), in fact they are intentionally low on external validity i. e. how comparable the conditions are to the real world (Hogg and Vaughan, 2011, p. 11). They can be subject to a variety of biases such as subject effects (where participants try to guess what the researcher wants to hear) or experimenter effects where an experimenter inadvertently gives the respondents clues as to what the hypotheses is. This can be reduced by a double-bind procedure where the experimenter is unaware of which experimental condition they are running (Hogg and Vaughan, 2011, p. 11). It is worth noting those studied may not often be representative of the population at large e. g. young, optimistic university students taking part in a myriad of studies versus general population (Baron et al, 2009, p. 33). Researchers should also be mindful of what is known as the generalisation problem, where they apply observations from one situation to another with conditions quite different nor are the findings transferable e. g. the optimistic, young university students as mentioned above versus the views of the general population (Wlliman, 2006, p. 26). While experimentation tend to be the preferred method of scientific research, in certain instances it may not be possible to proceed with the above methods e. g. when testing levels of esteem among victims of sexual assault subjecting one group to assault and comparing against those that haven’t been subjected. When it is not achievable or indeed suitable there are other methods available i. e. non-experimental methods. It is worth noting, it can be impossible to draw definite conclusions but we can decipher if correlations between variables exist, as there is no definitive evidence that one action causes another (Hogg and Vaughan, 2006, p. 18). An example of social psychology theory that is impossible to test with the experimental method includes biological sex and decision-making because we cannot manipulate biological sex experimentally and see what effects emerge (Hogg and Vaughan, 2011, p. 19). Given the issue of non-naturalistic settings; a method that doesn’t suffer from such problems, are that of field experiments. Field experiments are defined as an â€Å"experiment, research, or trial conducted under actual use conditions, instead of under controlled conditions in a laboratory† (Howitt and Cramer, 2005, p. 10). It can be said this approach is truly holistic in a way that lab experiments can never be. When observed in naturalistic settings, people tend to produce more typical behavior patterns (Walliman, 2006, p. 44). Conversely experimentation can be difficult to apply findings to real life due to the artificial nature of the set up. However, without the ability to control the setting it may be said that conducting research in natural settings means that the outcome will be a product of many aspects of the interactions. (Howitt Cramer, 2005, p. 197). Therefore singling out cause and effect can sometimes be difficult due to the number of influencing factors on the behavior. It should also be noted that people may not always behave completely naturally once we have become aware that we are being watched. (McQueen and Knussen, 2006, p. 12). This is known as ‘The Hawthorn Effect’. While the very nature of observation means that as it is conducted by humans, which are influenced by a number of factors such as political, sexual, motivational etc. , making it difficult to guarantee, what we observe is actually happening (McQueen and Knussen, 2006, p. 8). However, it may be said that through extensive planning, positive study design, and various techniques we can limit the interfering factors (Howitt and Cramer, 2005, p. 197). There are drawbacks in that it can sometimes be hard to gain an understanding of subjective feelings, as obvious behaviour is all that can be measured (Hogg and Vaughan, 2011, p. 12). A popular non- experimental approach is the survey method, whereby researchers ask a significant number of people about their attitudes or behaviour (Weigold, Weigold Russell, 2013, p. 53). Questions can be open-ended or close-ended while they allow for a researcher to obtain a large amount of data from a large sample of respondents, hence generalisation is not a problem. (Weigold et al, 2013, p. 54). Drawbacks of surveys are that it is subject to experimenter bias, subject bias and evaluation apprehension (Howitt and Cramer, 2005, p. 227). There are ways to minimize such drawbacks, such as through the use of confidential or anonymous questionnaires, which will reduce apprehension and subject bias but demand characteristics will remain (Weigold et al, 2013, p. 54). It must be said that poorly designed questionnaires may also return biased data, examples of which are leading questions or questions which are worded in such a way that the reader wont understand them. Ensuring the sample size is reflective of the population will increase the confidence in the validity of the scores in terms of size and representative nature (Howitt and Cramer, 2005, p. 227). Employing an array of data collection techniques as outlined above such as interviews, questionnaires and the observation of behavior, the case study method allows an in-depth analysis of a person, group or single event (Walliman, 2006, p. 46). These are excellent methods of investigating rare or unusual or that which is not possible to investigate in a laboratory setting (Hogg and Vaughan, 2011, p. 13). Notably while case studies are useful at investigating hypotheses, they do suffer from many of the same issues as that of surveys including researcher or subject bias (Hogg and Vaughan, 2011, p. 13). One cannot consider modern research methods without considering the ethics with which they should be governed. The guiding code of ethics in psychological research carried out in an Irish context are as laid out by the Psychology Society of Ireland and covers 4 basic principles, that of: Respect for the Rights and Dignity of the Person; Competence; Responsibility and Integrity (Psychology Society of Ireland, 2010). Potential harm, deception, confidentiality and informed consent are commonly the emphasis of the debate about ethics, but it may be said that the issue stretches much more widely and can include responsibilities to other organisations, the law and ethical committees, circumstances in which video or photo recording are suitable etc. (McQueen Knussen, 2006, p. 131). One of the key ethical issues within social psychology research is that of deception which involves an attempt to withhold or conceal information about the purposes of a study from participants. Most social psychologists believe that short-term deception is necessary to obtain valid results (Baron et al, 2009, p. 33) Crucially from an ethical point of view deception can only be perceived to be acceptable in the instance of important safe-guards being implemented. These safe-guards include informed consent and thorough debriefing (Baron, et al, 2009, p. 33). In all of the above experimental and non-experimental research methods as outlined, social psychology researchers encounter extremely important ethical issues on an on-going basis (Howitt and Cramer, 2005, p. 140). While ethical issues arise most often in experimental research, they also appear in non-experimental research as outlined in Hogg and Vaughan (2011, p. 35), where the authors question if it is ethical conduct for a non-participant observer investigating crowd behavior to refrain from interceding in a violent assault? This is perhaps an extreme example but it displays just some of the ethical issues facing researchers. In conclusion, while social psychology employs the scientific method of research to study behavior it involves a whole range of empirical methods. These methods are implemented to collect data and test hypotheses in the development of theories. It is experimentation which appears, based on the evidence available, to be the preferred method due to it’s ability to reveal causal processes (Hogg Vaughan, 2011, p. 36). Regardless of the method used and however complex it is in its implementation, it may be said that each one has its limitations (Hewstone, Stroebe Jonas, 2008, p. 24). It is for this reason that such academics as Donal Campbell urged for as much caution as possible within the practical implementation of research while arguing for what is termed as triangulation, or the concept of multiple methods of research providing a better understanding of any single method (Hewstone et al, 2008, p. 24).