• Research is done in many ways to solve different problems

• All methods listed here may present correlations, but do not imply causation

  • Two things may follow the same trend, but that does not necessarily mean that one affects the other

Surveys

• Questionnaires that gather data on what people think or have done

• Data is raw and needs to be processed before it can become useful

• Gathers lots of ‘surface’ data

Strengths

• Gathers large amounts of data quickly

• Easy and cheap

• Data is processed easily and can be turned into information

• Can study sensitive topics because it allows for anonymity

Weaknesses

• Participants can lie

• Participants can misunderstand the question or prompt

• Wording effect: Questions can be written in a way that affects the participants perception and therefore response

• Cannot easily ask follow-up questions

Case Study

• The opposite of surveys

• Gathers lots of deep data about a specific individual or group

Strengths

• Can provide more context

• Follows participants through time, not just a moment

• Chronological data

Weaknesses

• Time consuming to gather such detailed data about people’s lives

• Hard to conduct and expensive

• Hard to get approved

• Privacy/ethics concerns

• Drop outs can be catastrophic

• Can’t assume causality

• May not be generalizable

Naturalistic Observation

• People who know they’re being observed may not act normally

• Going into an environment undetected is a good way to gather veritable data

Strengths

• Allows for authentic data

• Participants can’t react to observer’s presence, assuming they don’t know they’re being watched

• May allow for “real” treatment

Weaknesses

• Privacy and ethical concerns

• May ignore informed consent

• Lack of “control”

• Results can only be descriptions, not explanations or deeper insight

Cross Sectional and Longitudinal

• These studies are not research methods but rather ways in which research can be conducted

Cross Sectional

• Compared different groups

• Gathers data from one point in time

• Snapshot, doesn’t give full picture or context

Longitudinal

• Follows one group

• Gathers data over a long time

• Questions about generalizability

• Good for questions of development (Unit 6)