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 GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ENQUIRY :
Like any scientific research, psychological enquiry has the following goals:
 Description -Defining the behaviour or phenomenon as
accurately as possible to differentiate between two or more

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behaviours to understand properly.

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 Prediction -After describing we can predict the behaviour, we
forecast that under certain conditions that perticual behaiour

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may occur.
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Explanation -This goal focuses on the factors that do or do not
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cause that behaviour. Try to identify determinants of behaviour
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to establish cause and effect relationship between 2 variables.

 Control - changing antecedent condition to control behaviour.
3 things -making a particular beh happen, reduce it or enhence
it.
 Application -Applying the solution to bring positive change.
STEPS IN CONDUCTING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH :

- It attempts to study a particular event or phenomenon in an

Objective ( Two studies by different researchers on a topic should

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reach on same conclusion) & Systematic ( steps should follow)

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ALTERNATIVE PARADIGMS OF RESEARCH :
There were the two views that arrived at that time. First view is
that human behaviour is predictable that can be observed and
measured. It didn't focus on personal feelings, experiences,

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meanings etc. A different method known as interpretive has

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emerged. It emphasizes understanding over explanation and

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prediction.
 This viewpoint emphasizes the importance of human beings
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give meaning to events and actions and interpret them as a
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occurred in a particular context.
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 Subjective interpretation of the reality

 Explore different aspects of experiences and behaviour in
natural flow
 Psychological enquiry does aim at understanding the self by
reflecting on one’s own experiences and insights.
NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DATA :
 Information collected from different sources called as
data.

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 It relates to individual’s behaviour, subjective

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experiences and mental processes.

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 Method of data collection and characteristics of
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participants aslo, affect the nature and quality of data.
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 psychological data are independent entities.
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 Lastly, we have to interpret the data.

 In psychology, different types of data or information are
collected: Demographic information, Physical
information, Physiological data, Psychological
information.
SOME IMPORTANT METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY :
(As we collect data for psychological studies we use different methods to collect
different types of data)
OBSERVATION METHOD

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 - Powerful and effective method - Its just noticing other person

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in natural or lab setting

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 A scientific observation is different from day to day observation
in many respects.
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 These are: a) Selection b) Recording c) Analysis of data
 Types of observation : -
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 1) Naturalistic vs controlled observation

 2) Non participant vs participant observation
 It has many advantages and disadvantages, yet it is a influential
tool of psychological enquiry.
EXPERIMENTAL METHOD :
 -It is a method in which we study cause - effect relationship
between two sets of events or variables in controlled settings.

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 - Cause= changed event

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 - Effect= change in behaviour

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 - Another important term is Variable which is any stimulus or
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event which varies I.e, it takes on different values and can be
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measured.
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An object by itself is not a variable, but its attributes are.

 There are two types of variable: Independent (manipulated)
and dependent (effect of manipulation is observed).
 - There are some extraneous variable but the researcher may
not be interested in examining their effects.
 1) Experimental and control groups :
 Members of group are exposed to independent variable
manipulation is experimental groups.
 Treated in same way like the experimental group except that the

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manipulated variable is absent in control group

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 All relevant variables in experimental studies that might influence
depedent variable need to be controlled. These are of 3 major types:

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organismic variable, situational or environmental variables operating
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at a time of conducting the experiment. Sequential variable. There
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are some techniques used to control relevant variables.
 2) Field experiments and Quasi (as if) experiments
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 - Studies done in fields or the natural settings where the particular

phenomenon actually exists is called field experiments.
 - In Quasi experiments, the independent variable is selected rather
than varied or manipulated by the experimenter.
CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH :
 It is a type of non experimental research in which the
researcher measures two variables and assesses the statistical

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relationship between them with little or no effort to control

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extraneous variable.

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 The correlation is of three types: Positive correlation, Negative

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correlation, Zero correlation.
SURVEY RESEARCH : yc
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 - It came into existence to study opinions, attitudes and social
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facts. Main concern initially was to find out the existing reality
or baseline. It is sophisticated techinque which help in
inferring various kinds of casual relationships.
 - It includes different techniques for collecting information
like personal interview, telephonic surveys, etc.
 1) Personal interview
-Types of interviews: structured or standardised and
unstructured or non-standardised.

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- Combination of participants in an interview situation:

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individual to individual, individual to group , group to

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individuals, group to group.
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 2) Questionnaire survey
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- Pre determined set of questions.
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- Types of questions: open-ended & closed-ended.

 3)Telephone survey
- Surveys conducted through telephone.
 PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING :
 To assess the various human characteristics, psychology have
constructed different types of psychological tests.

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 It is a standardised and objective.

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 The construction of a test is a systematic process and involves

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certain steps. It involves detailed analysis of items and

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estimating reliability, validity and norms of the whole test.
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Reliability of the test refers to the consistency of scores obtained
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by an individual on the same test on two different occasions.
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There are two methods to assess reliability: Test-retest reliability

and split- half reliability.
 Validity refers to the question: “Does the test measure what it
claims to measure”?
 Norm is the normal or average performance on the group.
 Types of test :
- Depending upon language we have verbal, non verbal and
performance tests.

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- Depending upon mode of administration we have individual and

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group tests.

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- Also classified as speed and power tests.

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CASE STUDY
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- In depth study of a particular case.
- It involves multiple methods for collecting information like
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interview, observation etc.

- Case studies provide a narrative or detailed descriptions of the
events that take place in a perosn’s life. - It is valuable research tool
in the field of clinical psychology and human development.
ANALYSIS OF DATA :
 After collecting the data, the researcher’s aim is to draw
conclusion. There are two methods we use for methodological

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approaches for the analysis of data.

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 QUANTITATIVE METHOD - In this, the researcher converts

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the psychological attributes into quantity (usually numbers). -
Quantitative research is the process of collecting and
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analyzing numerical data. There are some statistical methods
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to do it.
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 QUALITATIVE METHOD - Quantitative research is the

opposite of qualitative research, which involves collecting and
analyzing non-numerical data (e.g. text, video, or audio). It
must be understood that these methods are not contadictory
rather they are complementary to each other.
LIMITATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ENQUIRY :
Here we will discuss some general problems faced by

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psychological measurement.

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 Lack of true zero point
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 Relative nature of psychological tools
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 Subjective interpretation of qualitative

ETHICAL ISSUES :
As psychological research is basically concerned with
human behaviour, so the reseacher should follow some

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ethics. These are:

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 1) Voluntary participation (choice of being

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participant or not)
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 2) Informed consent (information of the experiment)
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 3) Debriefing (necessary information of the research)
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 4) Sharing of the results of the study

 5) Confidentiality (privacy of the results)
Topics Covered :
 Goals of Psychological Enquiry

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 Steps in Conducting Scientific Research

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 Alternative Paradigms of Research

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 Nature of Psychological Data
 Some Important Methods in Psychology
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 Analysis of Data
 Limitations of Psychological Enquiry
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 Ethical Issue