Psychological research

Psychological research refers to research that psychologists conduct for systematic study and for analysis of the experiences and behaviours of individuals or groups. Their research can have educational, occupational and clinical applications.Interviews and questionnaires intrude as a foreign element into the Psychological research refers to research that psychologists conduct for systematic study and for analysis of the experiences and behaviours of individuals or groups. Their research can have educational, occupational and clinical applications. Psychologists use many research methods, and categorical distinctions of these methods have emerged. Methods can be categorized by the kind of data they produce: qualitative or quantitative—and both these are used for pure or applied research. Psychology tends to be eclectic, applying knowledge from other fields. Some of its methods are used within other areas of research, especially in the social and behavioural sciences. The field of psychology commonly uses experimental methods in what is known as experimental psychology. Researchers design experiments to test specific hypotheses (the deductive approach), or to evaluate functional relationships (the inductive approach). The method of experimentation involves an experimenter changing some influence—the independent variable(IV)— on the research subjects, and studying the effects it produces on an expected aspect—the dependent variable (DV)— of the subjects behaviour or experience. Other variables researchers consider in experimentation are known as the extraneous variables, and are either controllable or confounding (more than one variable at play). Confounding variables are external variables that are not taken into account when conducting an experiment. Because they are not controlled for, they can skew experiments results and provide a false or unreliable conclusion. For example, the psychologist Seymour Feshbach conducted an experiment to see how violence on television (the independent variable), affected aggression in adolescent boys (the dependent variable). He published his results in a paper called Television and Aggression in 1971. The paper showed that, in some cases, the lack of violence on television made the boys more aggressive. This was due to a confounding variable, which in this case was frustration. This means that extraneous variables are important to consider when designing experiments, and many methods have emerged to scientifically control them. For this reason, many experiments in psychology are conducted in laboratory conditions where they can be more strictly regulated. Alternatively, some experiments are less controlled. Quasi-experiment's are those that a researcher sets up in a controlled environment, but does not control the independent variable. For example, Michael R. Cunningham used a quasi-experiment to '...measure the physical in physical attractiveness.' On the other hand, in field experiments the experimenter controls an independent variable (making it the control variable), but does not control the environment where the experiment takes place. Experimenters sometimes apply fewer controls, as a way to lessen potential biases. In a true experiment, participants are randomly chosen to remove the chance of experimenter's bias. Observational research, (a type of non-experimental, correlational research), involves the researcher observing the ongoing behaviour of their subjects. There are multiple methods of observational research such as participant observations, non-participant observations and naturalistic observations. Participant observations are methods that involve a researcher joining the particular social group they are studying. For example, the social psychologist, Leon Festinger and his associates, joined a group called The Seekers in order to observe them. The Seekers believed they were in touch with aliens, and that the aliens had told them the world was about to end. When the foretasted event didn't happen, Festinger and his associates observed how the attitudes of the group members changed. They published their results in a 1956 book called When Prophecy Fails. David Rosenhan in 1973 published a journal that involved research by participant observations. see: on being sane in insane places.