psy 230 central virginia community college developmental
psychology chapter 1 Intro to Lifespan, Growth, and
Development ch 2 : Developmental Theories Questions With
Complete Solutions
Hawthorne effect
A change in a subject's behavior caused simply by the awareness
of being studied
case studies
a research method that involves the intensive examination of
unusual people or organizations
involve exploring a single case or situation in great detail.
Information may be gathered with the use of observation,
interviews, testing, or other methods to uncover as much as
possible about a person or situation. Case studies are helpful
when investigating unusual situations such as brain trauma or
children reared in isolation. And they are often used by
clinicians who conduct case studies as part of their normal
practice when gathering information about a client or patient
coming in for treatment. Case studies can be used to explore
areas about which little is known and can provide rich detail
about situations or conditions.
However, the findings from case studies cannot
be generalized or applied to larger populations; this is because
cases are not randomly selected and no control group is used for
,comparison. (Read “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat”
by Dr. Oliver Sacks as a good example of the case study
approach.)
Case Studies Advantages
Rich source of hypotheses, allows studies of rare behaviors
Case Studies Disadvantages
-Poor generalizability
-No control group for comparison
Surveys
Questionnaires and interviews that ask people directly about
their experiences, attitudes, or opinions.
are familiar to most people because they are so widely used.
Surveys enhance accessibility to individuals because they can be
conducted in person, over the phone, through the mail, or online.
Surveys gather information from many individuals in a short
period of time, which is the greatest benefit for surveys.
Additionally, surveys are inexpensive to administer. A survey
involves asking a standard set of questions to a group of
subjects. In a highly structured survey, subjects are forced to
choose from a response set such as “strongly disagree, disagree,
undecided, agree, strongly agree”; or “0, 1-5, 6-10, etc.” Surveys
are commonly used by sociologists, marketing researchers,
political scientists, therapists, and others to gather information
on many independent and dependent variables in a relatively
short period of time. Surveys typically yield surface information
on a wide variety of factors, but may not allow for in-depth
,understanding of human behavior. Of course, surveys can be
designed in a number of ways. They may include forced
choice questions and semi-structured questions in which the
researcher allows the respondent to describe or give details
about certain events. One of the most difficult aspects of
designing a good survey is wording questions in an unbiased
way and asking the right questions so that respondents can give
a clear response rather that choosing “undecided” each time.
Knowing that 30% of respondents are undecided is of little use!
So a lot of time and effort should be placed on the construction
of survey items. One of the benefits of having forced choice
items is that each response is coded so that the results can be
quickly entered and analyzed using statistical software. Analysis
takes much longer when respondents give lengthy responses that
must be analyzed in a different way. Surveys are useful in
examining stated values, attitudes, opinions, and reporting on
practices. However, they are based on self-report or what
people say they do rather than on observation and this can limit
accuracy. Surveys typically yield surface information on a wide
variety of factors, but may not allow for in-depth understanding
of human behavior. Another problem is that respondents may lie
because they want to present themselves in the most favorable
light, known as social desirability. They also may be
embarrassed to answer truthfully or are worried that their results
will not be kept confidential.
Survey advantages and disadvantages
Advantages:
Data from large numbers of people.
, Study covert behaviors.
Disadvantages:
Have to ensure representative sample (or results not
meaningful).
People not always accurate (courtesy bias).
forced choice
-type of preference assessment
-giving your learner choices of a few items to see which one
they pick
semi-structured questions
questions asked in order to collect data that specifically targets
objective factors of interest
self-report
a series of answers to a questionnaire that asks people to indicate
the extent to which sets of statements or adjectives accurately
describe their own behavior or mental state
Interviews advantages
Find out how applicants react under pressure
Indication to applicants personality
Interviews Disadvantages
1) Meet with each individual separately and privately in quest
separately
2) Hard to find time with each individual to meet
3) Experimenter can record things on bias
4) If interview not comfortable can create screwed results
psychology chapter 1 Intro to Lifespan, Growth, and
Development ch 2 : Developmental Theories Questions With
Complete Solutions
Hawthorne effect
A change in a subject's behavior caused simply by the awareness
of being studied
case studies
a research method that involves the intensive examination of
unusual people or organizations
involve exploring a single case or situation in great detail.
Information may be gathered with the use of observation,
interviews, testing, or other methods to uncover as much as
possible about a person or situation. Case studies are helpful
when investigating unusual situations such as brain trauma or
children reared in isolation. And they are often used by
clinicians who conduct case studies as part of their normal
practice when gathering information about a client or patient
coming in for treatment. Case studies can be used to explore
areas about which little is known and can provide rich detail
about situations or conditions.
However, the findings from case studies cannot
be generalized or applied to larger populations; this is because
cases are not randomly selected and no control group is used for
,comparison. (Read “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat”
by Dr. Oliver Sacks as a good example of the case study
approach.)
Case Studies Advantages
Rich source of hypotheses, allows studies of rare behaviors
Case Studies Disadvantages
-Poor generalizability
-No control group for comparison
Surveys
Questionnaires and interviews that ask people directly about
their experiences, attitudes, or opinions.
are familiar to most people because they are so widely used.
Surveys enhance accessibility to individuals because they can be
conducted in person, over the phone, through the mail, or online.
Surveys gather information from many individuals in a short
period of time, which is the greatest benefit for surveys.
Additionally, surveys are inexpensive to administer. A survey
involves asking a standard set of questions to a group of
subjects. In a highly structured survey, subjects are forced to
choose from a response set such as “strongly disagree, disagree,
undecided, agree, strongly agree”; or “0, 1-5, 6-10, etc.” Surveys
are commonly used by sociologists, marketing researchers,
political scientists, therapists, and others to gather information
on many independent and dependent variables in a relatively
short period of time. Surveys typically yield surface information
on a wide variety of factors, but may not allow for in-depth
,understanding of human behavior. Of course, surveys can be
designed in a number of ways. They may include forced
choice questions and semi-structured questions in which the
researcher allows the respondent to describe or give details
about certain events. One of the most difficult aspects of
designing a good survey is wording questions in an unbiased
way and asking the right questions so that respondents can give
a clear response rather that choosing “undecided” each time.
Knowing that 30% of respondents are undecided is of little use!
So a lot of time and effort should be placed on the construction
of survey items. One of the benefits of having forced choice
items is that each response is coded so that the results can be
quickly entered and analyzed using statistical software. Analysis
takes much longer when respondents give lengthy responses that
must be analyzed in a different way. Surveys are useful in
examining stated values, attitudes, opinions, and reporting on
practices. However, they are based on self-report or what
people say they do rather than on observation and this can limit
accuracy. Surveys typically yield surface information on a wide
variety of factors, but may not allow for in-depth understanding
of human behavior. Another problem is that respondents may lie
because they want to present themselves in the most favorable
light, known as social desirability. They also may be
embarrassed to answer truthfully or are worried that their results
will not be kept confidential.
Survey advantages and disadvantages
Advantages:
Data from large numbers of people.
, Study covert behaviors.
Disadvantages:
Have to ensure representative sample (or results not
meaningful).
People not always accurate (courtesy bias).
forced choice
-type of preference assessment
-giving your learner choices of a few items to see which one
they pick
semi-structured questions
questions asked in order to collect data that specifically targets
objective factors of interest
self-report
a series of answers to a questionnaire that asks people to indicate
the extent to which sets of statements or adjectives accurately
describe their own behavior or mental state
Interviews advantages
Find out how applicants react under pressure
Indication to applicants personality
Interviews Disadvantages
1) Meet with each individual separately and privately in quest
separately
2) Hard to find time with each individual to meet
3) Experimenter can record things on bias
4) If interview not comfortable can create screwed results
