Issue Strengths / Weaknesses

Nature vs. Nurture The debate is on interested in whether we are like the way we are because of nature (inherited and genetic) or nurture
(experiences and influences in the society after conception).
Strengths:
 The distinction can help us identify behaviours that are inherited or learned.
 Allows us to consider and appreciate contributions by Psychologists about inheritance and learning.
 It is valuable to discover that some behaviours are inherited and not because of inappropriate upbringing by
parents.
 Appropriate for more research investigations and to employ the correct treatment plans once the cause has been
established.
 The two sources are interconnected, not as opposing alternatives, and it is the way that they interact that helps
us understand how an individual functions due to the interaction of both.
 Helps us to distinguish between universal characteristics of behavior and culturally specific behavior.
Weaknesses:
 It’s too simplistic to divide explanations into either nurture or nature as both combine in complex ways to
influence behavior.
 Discovering that some behavior or abnormality is inherited may lead to the assumption that many more
behaviours are inherited and ignore the effect of the environment.
 By saying that some aspect of behaviour is caused by solely by genes, or solely by experience could be seen as a
reductionist argument.
 Looking at one side of the debate makes generalizations difficult as the view may not be representative of the
entire population (e.g. twin studies % are not 100% what is responsible for the other percentage)
 One sided views are also not ecologically valid as they do not represent how behavior is experienced in real life
and tend to lean on only one aspect of life.
Ethnocentrism/ The tendency to interpret human behaviour from the viewpoint of our own ethnic, social or other group. Scientific racism.
Cross-cultural To favour our own groups over another.
studies Strengths:
 Ethnocentrism which is the root cause of prejudice and discrimination helps us understand the mechanism by
which forms of discriminations arise in society
 Gives insight into what aspects off society we should target to better improve social interactions
 Helps us to study and see differences between different cultures hence encourage the promotion of individual
differences Gives insight into what aspects of behavior are nature or nurture (universal or culture specific)
Weaknesses
 All research is conducted in a particular social and cultural context hence results cannot apply to all people in all
cultures.
 When studying other cultures the samples may not be representative.
 Cross-cultural studies are difficult to conduct as researchers bring their own cultural norms and values to the
situations they are studying.
  Researcher bias in interpretation of results. May not be objective and may stereotype others.
 Very expensive and time consuming to study different cultures. So does not happen very often. As a result our
psychology tends to be ‘western psychology’ and may not apply to the rest of the world.
 Can misinterpret the data and give inappropriate explanations.
 Test materials must be appropriate. This includes questions. Take into consideration the familiarity of the
materials.
 Language barriers may also lead to inaccurate results.
Reductionism vs. Reductionism is the argument that we can explain behaviour and experiences by reference to only one factor, such as
Holism physiology or learning. Breaking down a complex phenomenon into smaller or simpler parts.
Strengths:
 By breaking down a phenomenon to its constituent parts it may be possible to understand the whole.
 Helps us to understand the world and fundamental way to do that is to break things down into component parts,
test them and then build them back again to the whole.
 It is easier to understand and test one component rather that several interacting components.
 It is more objective and scientifically acceptable to isolate one component which you control to show clear cause
and effect.
Weaknesses:
 By isolating different factors it does not always give a proper, valid and full account of a behavior.
 Any behavior may not be meaningful if studied in isolations from the wider social context
 Reductionist arguments are too simplistic because they ignore the complexities of human behaviour and
experience.
 Behaviour often has a number of different causes and to reduce the possible explanations to one level can only
provide a limited understanding.
**holism is the opposite of reductionism as it looks at more than one factor***(the above weaknesses will be the
strengths)
Determinism and Determinism is the argument that we do not have much control over our actions but are controlled by factors such as
Free Will our biology or genes, or by the way we are brought up. A consequence of this is that determinists believe that we are
mainly passive responders to our past or biology and that we have no free will. Free will represents the view that our
behaviours and mental acts all come as a result of our own choice and volition (cognitive model).
Strengths of determinism:
 The cause and effect factors make the world more understandable and predictable.
 Helps us to see what we can change in society to have positive effects
 Removes personal responsibility from an individual as blame tends to be from external factors
Weaknesses of determinism:
 Does not allow for free will and sees it as an illusion therefore removing personal responsibility can lead to
labelling
 The argument is often reductionist because behavior is far too complex to be explained as merely deterministic
 Does not account for behavior that is clearly made from our own choice and refuses to recognize the individual
Ecological If a piece of research is high in ecological validity it is easy to relate to real life and an experiment conducted in very
Validity artificial conditions would be said to be low in ecological validity.
Strengths:
 The more realistic the experiment is the more useful it is to understanding behaviour and relevant to real life
applications.
 You can generate new hypothesis from such research as you observe more aspects of behavior than intended
 It is objective as behavior is experienced in a real life situation as opposed to an enclosed artificial setting
 Participants are likely to behave more naturally if they are not aware you are studying them
 You are able to observe individual differences, attitudes and behaviours
Weaknesses:
 In real situation no chance to debrief participants and find out why they showed that behavior is difficult
 Difficult to replicate (repeat) if realistic study.
 Difficult to ask for consent (ethical) which makes experiment unrealistic.
 Likelihood to upset participants if they are not aware of the research.
 May violate the privacy of individuals.
 Unable to control extraneous variables due to the little control over the experiement.
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Advantages
Quantitative data  Easy to analyse and understand
 Less time consuming
 Objective conclusions are made
 Not subject to researcher bias and judgment
 Shows cause and effect clearly -IV and DV
 High reliability due to the controls and measures
Disadvantages
 Failure to provide detailed information and indepth data.
 Inability to control the environment where the respondents provide the answers to the questions in the survey
 Limited outcomes to only those outlined in the research due to closed type questions and the structured format;
 Not encouraging the evolving and continuous investigation of a research phenomenon/ new hypothesis.
Qualitative Advantages
 Detailed and descriptive data
 Explanations for behavior and emotions express
 Obtain more realistic feel of the world
 Provides a holistic view of the topic being researched
 Allows for flexibility of measurements and not limited like quantitative measures.
Disadvantages
 Lots of data to analyse and interpret
  Researcher bias: Arriving to different conclusions based on the same information depending on the personal
characteristics of the researcher
 Inability to investigate cause and effect
 Difficulty in explaining the difference in the quality and quantity of information obtained from different
respondents
 Requiring a high level of experience from the researcher to obtain the targeted information from the respondent;
 Lacking consistency and reliability because the researcher can employ different probing techniques and the
respondent can choose to tell some particular stories and ignore others.
Psychometrics Psychometric literally means, measuring the mind and, in one sense, any systematic attempt to assess mental
characteristics could come into this category. These is done through many tests such as IQ tests, personality tests etc.
Strengths
 Psychometry is based upon attempts to measure and express numerically the characteristics of behaviour in
individuals. It is therefore usually seen as an objective and scientific way of describing people and their behaviour.
 This technique, of course, provides lots of quantitative data which is easy to analyse statistically.
 Psychometric tests are usually easy to administer therefore less time consuming.
 They can be done by large groups of people at the same time.
 They are self-reported by individuals and therefore have low researcher bias or influence
 They provide a standardized way of testing people without influencing their behavior and answers.
Weaknesses
 Constructing valid and reliable tests is very difficult. They are usually developed by individual or a group of
Psychologists. (usually named after people who develop them e.g. the Wechsler Intelligence Test, Myer Briggs
Personality Test, Roscharch tests etc.
 Tests usually contain culture bias, especially intelligence tests. Some questions may not apply to some cultures,
they are mainly European.
 Most tests will contain designer bias, in the sense that any test is biased in the direction of the author's view.
 Most tests make the assumption that characteristics to be measured are fixed and unchanging, both in relation to
time and also in relation to circumstance or situation. Some tests have been used for years even when times have
changed.
 There is the danger that the labeling/stereotyping of an individual as possessing a particular trait or ability will
tend to encourage conformity to that trait.
 The psychometric approach implies that people are capable of being classified and measured. The opposing view to
this would argue that humans are essentially individuals and not susceptible to classification.
 The view is frequently taken that the very fact that something is measured makes it exist as a concept. It is often
argued that 'intelligence is what intelligence tests measure'. Intelligence came to be defined in terms of test
performance rather than as an entity itself.
 One of the major dangers in psychometric testing is not so much the tests themselves, as their use by untrained or
politically motivated individuals.
Longitudinal vs. A snap shot study is a study carried out over a very short period of time such as hours and days. In comparison, a
Snapshot longitudinal study is carried out over a longer period of time such as months or years. Where a group of participants is
followed up after a period of time.
Evaluation Snapshot:
 Snap shot studies are obviously quicker and cheaper to carry out than longitudinal approaches
 They rarely suffer from attrition (drop out).
 Data is likely to be quantitative making statistical analysis possible
 They only provide us with a ‘snapshot’ of human behaviour and experience and therefore are not so useful when
investigating development or long-tern effectiveness
 Behavior reported is limited to that time, place and culture
 One is not able to see the effects of societal change over a period of time.
Evaluation Longitudinal
 Longitudinal studies are often found in the area of developmental psychology because they are ways of studying
change over time.
 They can show change and development systematically in an individual
 They give a fuller and probably more accurate picture of the behavior in general.
 Data is likely to be quantitative hence detailed and in-depth
 May suffer from attrition which refers to the loss of participants from a study. Reasons for attrition might include
participants no longer wanting to take part in the study, moving away or losing contact.
 When attrition occurs psychologists have to question the representativeness of the remaining sample.
 Can be costly and time consuming, also data is a lot hence difficulty in analysis

Ethics Ethics are the moral codes laid down by professional bodies to ensure that their members or representatives adhere to
certain standards of behavior. They include Deception; Consent; Protection of participants from physical and
psychological harm; The right to withdraw; Confidentiality; and Debriefing.

Arguments for breaking ethics: (its ok to break ethics!)

 Telling participants in advance what you are trying to find will almost certainly influence the way they respond,
they will not act naturally
 Debriefing can deal with any form of deception that has been employed
 Giving their consent in full knowledge of the aims of the study, the expectations of them and their right to
withdraw and to confidentiality. This raises the question about validity- the point in carrying out the research in
the first place if participants know everything.
 Confidentiality is one way of protecting participants from psychological harm if any has happened so if you do
something that you are ashamed of in the name of research but nobody gets to know its you its not going to be so
embarrassing.
  Cost-benefit analyses in which the likely benefits of a particular piece of research is weighed up against the costs
to human or animal participants. Put simply does the knowledge we gain about human behaviour and the
advantages this might have for the wider population warrant the suffering or embarrassment of a few individuals?
Arguments against breaking ethics: (don’t break ethics!)
 Protects the individual from physical or psychological harm
 Protects the wider social group from harm or prejudice (socially sensitive research)
 Protects animals from abuse whilst being used in psychological experiments.
 It is really a matter of common courtesy to debrief your participants at the end of any procedure and inform them
of the point of the research.
 As well as having the best interests of the participant in mind, debriefs can also be a useful source of additional
information in an experiment. Participants may tell you things that you would otherwise not be aware of.
 The BPS guidelines suggest that participants should be exposed to no more risk than they would be in everyday
life. If psychologists wish to study some aspect of driving related behaviour then the procedure they use should
not put their participants at greater risk than this.

Individual and These arguments refer to where we look for the cause of behaviour. Individual/Dispositional is where we look for the
situational explanation of behaviour being within the individual- individual's personality or dispositions. Situational is where we
explanations look for the explanation of behaviour as a result of the situation a person is in- group pressure, group membership, the
environment and so on.
Evaluation of strengths :
 The individual is able to look at how our personality affects our behavior and also situational how our situation
affects behavior and therefore what changes can be made to improve and come up with interventions for
treatments and therapy.
 Helps us to predict what sort of behavior or abnormalities that may come up as a result of that individual or
situation
 They both take into account individual differences as we grow up in different situations and are influenced
differently and that our biological mechanisms are different from each other
 If we can discover which behaviours are individually determined and which are situationally determined such
findings are useful in shaping the society for the better.
 It also generates new hypothesis by opening up new directions for further study.
 Both factor interact with each other and therefore cannot be addressed in isolation as they may not take into
account all aspects of behavior in real life is separated (ecological validity and non-reductionism)
Evaluation of weaknesses:
 Situational and individual explanations are deterministic and say that our behavior is controlled by external
factors e.g. our genes or parents , we are like puppets with no free will
 It can be difficult to separate the effects of a situation from the disposition of a participant. (which one influenced
the other first?- Cause and Effect)
  It is also difficult to investigate the two factors if done in a lab then there is low ecological validity and if done in
the field then thee is poor control of variables.
 There are also limited measurements to study both behaviours
 Ethical issues may arise while studying the factors in an individual or society.
 When researching whether behaviour comes from the individual or the situation it is very difficult to separate the
two factors.
 You can not take away all of an individuals past experiences and personality even in the most controlled
experiment.
Self-Reports A self report is any method which involves asking a participant about their feelings, attitudes, beliefs and so on.
Examples of self reports are questionnaires and interviews but note that self reports are often used as a way of gaining
participants responses in observational studies and experiments.
Strengths:
 They allow participants to describe their own experiences rather than inferring this from observing participants.
 Questionnaires and interviews are often able to study large samples of people fairly easy and quickly.
 They are able to examine a large number of variables and can ask people to reveal behaviour and feelings which
have been experienced in real situations.
 They yield both quantitative and qualitative data which is useful for data analysis.
 They can be administered in any location.
 Questionnaires are highly reliable and have low demand characteristics.
Weaknesses:
 Participants may not respond truthfully, either because they cannot remember or because they wish to present
themselves in a socially acceptable manner. Social desirability bias can be a big problem with self report measures
as participants often answer in a way to portray themselves in a good light –subjectivity.
 Questions are not always clear and we do not know if the respondent has really understood the question hence
not be collecting valid data.
 If questionnaires are send out, say via email or through tutor groups, response rate can be very low
 Questions can often be leading. That is, they may be unwittingly forcing the respondent to give a particular reply.
 Unstructured interviews can be very time consuming and difficult to carry out whereas structured interviews can
restrict the respondents’ replies.
 Demand characteristic are highly possible during interviews and so is researcher bias during interpretation of
data.
Reliability and Evaluation of Reliability:
Validity  Reliability refers to how consistent a measuring device is. A measurement is said to be reliable or consistent if the
measurement can produce similar results if used again in similar circumstances. For example, if a speedometer
gave the same readings at the same speed it would be reliable. If it didn't it would be pretty useless and
unreliable.
 Quantitative data is said to be high in reliability.
  Reliability can be improved by use of numerous testing equipment or measures that you can correlate to see if
they yield similar results e,g, questionnaires used with video recording, interviews, likert scales, observations etc.
 A common way of assessing the external reliability of observations is to use inter-rater reliability. This involves
comparing the ratings of two or more observers and checking for agreement in their measurements. Inter-rater
reliability can also be used for interviews.
Validity
This refers to whether a study measures or examines what it claims to measure or examine. Questionnaires are said to
often lack validity for a number of reasons. Participants may lie; give answers that are desired and so on.
 It is argued that qualitative data is more valid than quantitative data.
 Validity can be assessed by comparing the results of the self report with another self report on the same topic.
(This is called concurrent validity). For example if an interview is used to investigate sixth form students attitudes
to smoking the scores could be compared with a questionnaire of sixth formers attitudes to smoking.
 There are a number of ways to improve the validity of self report techniques. For example leading questions could
be avoided, open questions could be added to allow respondents to expand upon their replies and confidentiality
could be reinforced to allow respondents to give more truthful responses.
 Different types of validity: population validity (application to wider populations); ecological validity (application to
real life) face validity, concurrent validity and content validity etc.
Generalisations This is the application of research to large groups of people based on a particular research.
Strengths:
 Certain behavior is uniform and can be applied to other populations without studying them all
 Predictions about behavior can be made and general interventions to that behavior made e.g. through national
policies or treatments
 Can generate new hypothesis as people attempt to understand the general behavior of people.
 May apply to individuals with the same characteristics as participants.
 Wider scale treatments can be generated that help larger groups of people
Weaknesses:
 Behaviour observed may contain researcher bias or ethnocentric bias and may therefore further isolate some
people or stereotype them
 It does not take into consideration that individuals have differences and we cannot all be the same.
 It may be culturally biased if only a certain race of people or location is studies and then applying to large
numbers

In order for it not to jeopardize the reliability and validity it is more important to actually have a varied test group where
people from as diverse a culture would take the same test, allowing the results to be more suited for a world wide
application.
On the other hand, research studies can also be tailored for smaller countries or cities where the participants can be
people taken from a certain environment and thus, allow more reliable and valid findings to be taken and applied for that
specific country.