Kee Chung midterm questions

Critical and scientific thinking in psychology; there are 5 descriptive studies regarding establishing the facts. State the five and explain what they are:

           The first one is Descriptive methods and it allows psychologist to describe and predict behavior but not necessarily to choose one explanation over others. Such methods include case studies, observational studies, psychological tests, and surveys, as well as correlational methods.    The Case studies are detailed descriptions of individuals. They are often used to clinicians, and they can be valuable in exploring new research topics and addressing questions that would be otherwise be difficult to study. But because information is often missing or hard to interpret, and because the person under study may not be representative of people in general, case studies are typically sources rather than tests of hypotheses.

           In observational studies, the researcher systematically observes and records behavior without interfering in any way with the behavior. Naturalistic observation is used to find out how people behave in their natural environments. Laboratory observation allows more control and the use of special equipments; behavior in the laboratory, however, may differ in certain ways from behavior in natural contexts.

           Psychological tests are used to measure the evaluate personality traits, emotional states, aptitudes, interests, abilities, and values. A good test is one that has been standardized, is scored using established norms, and is both reliable and valid. Critics have questioned the reliability and validity of even some widely used tests.  

           Surveys are questionnaires or interviews that ask people directly about their experiences, attitudes, and opinions. Researchers must take precautions to obtain a sample that is representative of the larger population that the researcher wishes to describe and that yields results that are not skewed by a volunteer bias findings can also be affected by biased questions, and by the fact that respondents sometimes lie, misremember, or misinterpret the question.

Kee Y. Chung 

MIDTERM QUESTION