Methods Of Research

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Methods of Research Research, systematic inquiry aimed at the discovery of new knowledge, is a central ingredient of the scientific method in psychology. It provides the key to understanding the degree to which hypotheses (and the theories behind them) are accurate. Just as we can apply different theories and hypotheses to explain the same phenomena, we can use a number of alternative methods to conduct research. In this exercise, you will learn more about several methods of research that psychologists use to gain new knowledge about human behavior and ethical concerns psychologists face when conducting research. 1. You are conducting research on sex differences in e-mails. Your hypothesis is that men use more declarative statements and women use more questions. Answer each of the following questions. * What might be the advantages of using the archival method? The advantages to using the archival method is that the researcher has existing data, records and documents from past accounts that support the hypothesis of this type of study. * What might be the disadvantages of using the archival method? One of the disadvantages of this particular method is that now a day’s women are starting to use more derogatory and declarative statements like men. Because of the change in women’s writing styles this method is not full proof. Not only that but researcher may not have all the dates or the data may not be in a format in which the hypothesis can be tested making the information at best incomplete. 2. Now imagine that you are conducting research on the length of time it takes customers to select items in a grocery store. Assume that your hypothesis is that people will spend more time deciding on more expensive items than on cheaper items. * What might be the advantages of using naturalistic observation? The advantages is you can see
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