Research Methods

Question 1

Name the 3 levels of analysis observed by Kluckhohn & Murray (1948) & their corresponding research methods

Answer 1

Nomothetic
- like ALL others
- like SOME others
* Research methods used are correlation & experimental studies
Idiographic
- like NO other
* Research method used is case studies

Question 2

The 3 levels of analysis observed by Kluckhohn & Murray demonstrate different outcomes in that they each answer different questions about..

Answer 2

Like ALL others - human nature
Like SOME others - individual differences and group differences
Like NO other - individual uniqueness

Question 3

Like ALL others means to enquire into?

Answer 3

Human nature: focused on making generalisations about human species regardless of background, sex, culture etc. (refers to thoughts, feelings and behaviours that are universal to most, if not all human beings

Question 4

Evolutionary theories tend to focus on?

Answer 4

The human nature level of analysis
- Darwin would argue that it makes evolutionary sense that humans would want to belong to social groups as these alliances increase one’s chance of survival in hostile environments and increase the opportunity for reproduction. Overtime this adoptive trait is inherited and passed through the generations until it becomes a characteristic of the human species

Question 5

Like SOME others means to enquire into?

Answer 5

Individual differences: any psychological characteristic can be seen as a continuum. It is therefore possible to make generalisations about different people at different points on the continuum.
* some people score very low on the trait of agreeableness (irritable and suspicious)
* some people score very high (helpful and trusting )

Group differences: are when we make generalisations about the way people in one group differ from people in another group (on a continuum)
* most common examples include different cultures, age groups and sex differences

Question 6

Like NO other refers to?

Answer 6

Individual uniqueness; no two people ever have the same experiences or genetic makeup so it is always to some degree a distortion to see them in common terms, or even classify them as varying along common dimensions such as agreeableness

Question 7

What is the case study method ?

Answer 7

• The case study is used to develop an in-depth description of an individual
• This in-depth analysis can be based on a number of different sources of information, including personal interviews, direct observation, psychometric tests, archival records and documents (e.g., personal letters)
• Case studies are generally single-case design, but they can use multiple cases.

Question 8

What are the 3 main strengths of the case study method?

Answer 8

1. It can provide in-depth knowledge of a particular individual, for example in 1943 the OSS requested Walter Langer conduct a psych analysis of Adolf Hitler. Langer’s conclusions became an important reference for Allied leaders.
2. It maybe the only practical way to study rare phenomena - such as individuals with photographic memory, multiple personalities, or the so called idiot savant.
3. The in-depth analysis of an individual can be used to formulate general insights about human conduct - that can then be subject to nomothetic research.
   * Case studies by clinicians have played an important role in the development of some major theories of personality - Freud, Jung, Adler, Erikson, Kelly, Rogers ..

Question 9

Case study method limitations: Discuss confirmatory bias & selectivity.

Answer 9

In case studies we have to decide how to present an individual’s story; we have to subjectively decide, post hoc, what data to focus on and what to ignore.
- A Study in Psychosexuality (Freud 1947) is a great example. Freud had access to other passages by Leonardo da Vinci, but decided to focus on a dream passage that Freud in turn interpreted as the reason for Leonardo’s homosexuality. The passage was interpreted by Freud as mentioning a vulture which in ancient Egyptian mythology represents the mother. Leonard does make reference to a bird of prey, but a kite, not a vulture.
This kind of selectivity raises enormous potential for confirmatory bias (I.e., favouring information that confirms existing beliefs, expectations or hypotheses).

Question 10

Discuss the sample size limitation of the case study & some examples.

Answer 10

Because the case study is usually small and idiosyncratic, there is no way to establish that the data is representative of some larger population - therefore, conclusions must be limited to those who participated in the study.
* In the clinical domain, many case study participants come to the attention of personality theorists when they seek out psychotherapy, often because they do feel atypical.
* Clinically inspired theories of personality tend to be restricted to theories of maladjustment (usually theories of anxiety)
* These theories of maladjustment may not generalise well to all individuals

Question 11

Case study method: Limitations - there are many research questions that cannot be addressed by the case study method - discuss the main points

Answer 11

• Personality theories derived from case study, often tend to overemphasise particular periods or specific events - i.e., the critical period fallacy or eventism
• Factors that are not associated with a particular time period or event are likely to be overlooked when using the case study method - for instance the question of how genetic factors shape our personality is one that cannot be addressed through case study (case study focuses on life events)

Question 12

What is the correlational method used for?

Answer 12

Used to describe the relationships among naturally occurring variables i.e., without imposing manipulations.

Question 13

The correlational approach in personality psych is commonly used in one of two ways. These are?

Answer 13

1. To test descriptive theories by examining the relationship between various personality traits (are impulsivity and sociability correlated?)
2. To test casual theories by examining the relationships between personality and behaviour (e.g. are extroversion and skin conductance correlated?)

Question 14

Distributions that show the relationship between 2 variables are called?

Answer 14

Bivariate distributions

Question 15

Bivariate distributions are typically displayed…… which provides an indication of what two things?

Answer 15

A scatter plot which indicates the strength and direction of the relationship.

Question 16

In correlational analysis, the strength of the relationship between two variables in the scatter plot is defined by?

Answer 16

The degree of linearity

Question 17

What is Cohen & Cohen’s (1975) general rule of thumb for psychology significance?

Answer 17

r+|~ .10 Small
r+|~ .30 Medium
r+|~ .50 Large

Question 18

If 2 variables = r .50 then what is the effect size and what does the effect size represent?

Answer 18

r2 = .25
The effect size represents the amount of shared variance. Meaning 25% of the variance in Y scores can be accounted for by the variation in X scores

Question 19

In the aftermath of WWII, efforts were taken by researchers to establish those personality traits associated with blind obedience to authority. What 9 traits did Adorno et al. (1950) identify?

Answer 19

1. Blind allegiance to conventional beliefs about right and wrong
2. Respect for or submission to acknowledge authority
3. Belief in aggression towards those who do not subscribe to conventional thinking, or who are different
4. A negative view of people in general - i.e., the belief that people would lie, cheat, steal if given the opportunity
5. A need for strong leadership which displays uncompromising power
6. A belief in simple answers and polemics - e.g the media controls us all - the source of all our problems is the loss of morals these days
7. Resistance to creative, dangerous ideas. A black and white worldview
8. A tendency to project one’s feelings of inadequacy, rage and fear onto a scapegoated group
9. A preoccupation with violence and sex

Question 20

Correlational Method: Strengths - Why is personality research largely correlational?

Answer 20

Many aspects of personality and behaviour cannot be studied under rigorously controlled laboratory conditions for practical and ethical reasons. I’m such cases correlational research is the only option.

Question 21

The potential limitations of correlational research centre on the extent which causal action can be isolated. Identify the 2 main limitations.

Answer 21

1. The direction of causation is not always clear
2. A third unspecified variable may be causal

Question 22

Give an example of how correlational research does not always give a clear indication as to which personality traits can be said to have causal primacy.

Answer 22

Does being high on anti-social tendencies lead to poorer educational and employment opportunities and therefore lower income (trait primacy), or does being in a poorly paid job lead one to develop anti-social tendencies (situational primacy)?

Question 23

The argument that correlational research is simply descriptive and incapable of isolating causal action can be refuted in what circumstances?

Answer 23

The direction of causation can be established when it is shown that an invariable time sequence of x followed by y exists.

Question 24

Give an example of a correlational design that allows for the direction of causation to be established.

Answer 24

A Longitudinal study: where a group of 10 year olds, all with high cognitive ability at the start of the study & all of middle class background. If antisocial behaviour is found to be related to low income as tested at age 50 than the antisocial behavioural trait is of primacy & causality is supported.

Question 25

Discuss the correlational method limitation being the 3rd variable problem

Answer 25

The possibility exists, that some third variable, as yet unknown or unmeasured, has causal primacy. For example age and shoe size could be used to predict cognitive ability. Yet what we would find is that shoe size could not explain any unique variance in cognitive ability beyond that already explained by age,

Question 26

In psychology, experimental research is typically used to study……,

Answer 26

The effects of situational variables (independent variables) on thought, emotions, or overt behaviour (dependent variables).

Question 27

What is the Bandurra (1965, 1973) experiment?

Answer 27

• Children aged 3 to 5 years watched a televised film in which adults played with a variety of toys, including a large inflated Bobo doll
• the adult model engaged in distinctive aggressive behaviours that the children would not have seen before to provide an opportunity for the learning of new responses
• for example, the adult model first laid the bobo doll on its side, sat on it and punched it in the nose while remarking “pow, right in the nose, boom, boom.”

Question 28

Discuss the IV = models reinforcement contingency: (for Bandurra Bobo doll experiment)

Answer 28

• No Consequence Condition: for this group the film ended at the end of the sequence of physically and verbally aggressive behaviour.
• Model Punishment Condition: for the group the film ended with the adult model being punished by another adult for their aggressive behaviour.
• Model Reward Condition: for this group the film ended with another adult praising the aggressive behaviour (“ strong champion “) displayed by the adult model and rewarded with food

Question 29

What was the DV in the Bandurra experiment?

Answer 29

Distinctive imitative responses; observers counted the number of the distinctive physically or verbally aggressive response the children imitated from the film

Question 30

What were the findings of the Bandurra experiment?

Answer 30

• As predicted there was significantly less imitation in the model punishment condition than in the other two conditions
• there was no significant difference between the model reward condition and the model no consequence condition
• these modelling effects were similar for boys and girls, although girls behaved less aggressively overall

Question 31

What is the main strength of the experiment design and what is required for independent replication?

Answer 31

• the experimental approach had the ability to isolate cause- effect relationships
• the experimental procedure is reported in sufficient detail to allow for independent replication

Question 32

What are two important limitations associated with experimental research that make this design of limited use to personality psychologists?

Answer 32

1. Ecological validity
2. Sometimes experiments are not possible for technical or ethical reasons

Question 33

Discuss the ecological validity limitation of the Bandurra experiment..

Answer 33

• Experiments take the behaviour we are interested in, out of context which sometimes produces considerable artificiality and raises questions about legitimacy of generalising any findings back to the real world
• the bobo doll is in fact being used as per its intended design. It is not fluffy but is designed to be hit and to then pop back up (much like some games at amusement parks!). Is the child not doing as instructed by the important looking adults…?

Question 34

Discuss the ethical and technical limitations of the experimental design ..

Answer 34

• ethical concerns; is it ethical to manipulate exposure to the IV … if we genuinely believe that exposing children to violent TV increased aggression, are we justified in deliberately exposing children to such violence
• in the present context, you cannot randomly assign participants to have certain personality characteristics

Question 35

Anytime the research groupings reflect naturally occurring differences or are formed on the basis of characteristics possessed by the participants themselves (i.e., participant variables), then the research is not truly experimental. As a consequence of this limitation, the constructs used in experimental research are not necessarily interchangeable with those used in correlational research. Give an example.

Answer 35

A generally aggressive person (trait aggression) may not be comparable to a person who is behaving aggressively because of some experimental manipulation (state aggression)

Question 36

Much of what is termed “experimental research” in personality psychology actually uses non-manipulated participant variables - and as such is not true experimental research. Often researchers used a mixed design. Give an example

Answer 36

Eysenck (1969) hypothesised that extroverts will perform better than introverts in a high noise environment, while introverts will perform better in a low noise environment
* extroversion (participant variable)
* noise level (IV)
* performance on some task (DV)