Research: Meaning, Purpose and Dimensions – Psychology UGC NET – Notes

Introduction

• Research in psychology is a vital tool for understanding human behavior, thoughts, and emotions. In this blog, we will explore the power of research in psychology, its history, research methods in psychology, importance of research in psychology, and recent breakthroughs. 
• Research methodology in psychology refers to the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. It involves collecting data, analyzing it, and drawing conclusions about human behavior and thinking patterns. Research in psychology uses various methods, including experiments, surveys, observations, and correlational studies. 

Types of Research in Psychology

There are several types of research in psychology, each with its unique purpose and methodology. Some of the major types of research in psychology include:

• Survey Research: Survey research involves collecting data through questionnaires, polls, or interviews. It is commonly used in social psychology to understand public opinion, attitudes, and beliefs. 
• Correlational Research: Correlational research examines the relationship between two or more variables. It helps identify patterns and trends but does not establish cause-and-effect relationships.
• Experimental Research: Experimental research involves manipulating one variable and measuring its effect on another variable. It is often used in cognitive psychology to understand memory, attention, and learning processes.

Scope of Research in Psychology

The scope of research in psychology is vast and varied. It covers a range of topics, including: 

• Cognition and Memory: Research in cognitive psychology explores how we process information, remember past events, and solve problems. 
• Emotion and Motivation: Research in affective psychology investigates emotions, motivation, and their influence on behavior. 
• Social Behavior: Social psychology research examines how we interact with others, form impressions, and build relationships. 
• Developmental Psychology: Research in developmental psychology focuses on human growth and development across the lifespan, including cognitive, social, and emotional changes. 

Nature of Psychological Research

• Importance and relevance of psychological research is well recognised almost in every sphere of human life. Notable progress has been reported in the field of organisational behaviour, applied aspects of human being, medical sciences and education, through application of psychological research findings. Empirical and theoretical researches in psychology are taking place in various fields, such as learning, motivation, perception, concept learning and memory and so on.
• In the quest of psychological facts, laws and theories, psychologists have found research studies very helpful in gauging human and animal behaviour. Psychological research attempts to understand why people and animals behave as they do. Psychologists usually define behaviour as overt activities, such as eating, recalling stories, and so on. What about covert psychological processes, such as thinking and feeling? Although thoughts and feelings are not directly observable, they influence such aspects of behaviour as reaction time and blood pressure, which are often used to measure these covert processes.
• Practical gains of psychological research are many, yet include discoveries such as improved methods of treating psychologically disordered people, better designs of vehicles to make them easier and safer to use, and new ways of enhancing the performance and happiness of workers.
• Before we examine what researchers have found in the major areas of psychology, we need to identify the ways psychologists gather data about behaviour and mental processes.
• You may be a daily consumer of mass media reports on research findings. Some of these are valuable, some are worthless, and others are confusing and misleading. You will become a wiser consumer of research-based conclusions as you develop your understanding of how psychological research is conducted and why the scientific view of knowledge dictates such methods. Let us turn now to how psychologists know what they know.
• Recall that psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental functioning of individuals. It is scientific because it uses the principles and practices of the scientific method.

Characteristics of Psychological Research

A good psychological research is systematic and scientific in nature. It also needs to be valid, verifiable, and replicable. A good psychological research should also be logical, and it should be possible to make generalisations or develop theories and principles based on the research outcomes. Thus, research can be carried out to systematically and scientifically test hypotheses and theories, and this is done by controlling extraneous or confounding variables.

An adequate psychological research needs to have the following characteristics:

• The purpose and objective of the research must be stated in a clear and specific manner: It is important that the purpose and objectives of the research are clearly defined because the choice of research design and other aspects of the research process depend on the objectives of the research.
• In order to ensure objectivity, the research procedure must be adequately planned: Any research study needs proper planning. Just as a plan is required while building a house, similarly a research plan is necessary while conducting research. Therefore, a research proposal or synopsis is often prepared that provides details about the research problem, objectives, hypotheses, sample, research design, tools for data collection, and methods of data analysis.
• Research design must be appropriately selected based on the purpose and objectives of the research: Research design provides the structure of the research study, and it is important to select a suitable research design according to the statement of the problem. The proper selection of research design helps in ensuring high internal validity.
• Appropriate tools must be used for data analysis: Data analysis is an important aspect of psychological research. Depending on the purpose and objectives of the research, suitable techniques of data analysis should be used to obtain accurate and meaningful results.

The Context of Psychological Research

Role of Theories, Hypotheses and Paradigms in Psychological Research

Psychological research focuses on four sets of concerns:

1. the stimulus events that cause a particular response to start, stop, or change in quality or quantity;
2. the structure of behaviour that links certain actions in predictable and orderly ways to other actions;
3. the relationships between internal psychological processes or psychological mechanisms and observable behaviour patterns; and
4. the consequences of behaviour on the individual’s social and physical environment.

Researchers begin with the assumption of determinism, the idea that all events (physical, mental, and behavioural) result from specific causal factors. Researchers also assume that behaviour and mental processes follow set patterns of relationships that can be discovered and revealed through research.

Psychological theories, in general, attempt to understand how brain, mind, behaviour, and environment function and how they may be related. Any particular theory focuses on a more specific aspect of this broad conception, using a body of interrelated principles to explain or predict some psychological phenomenon.

The value of a theory is often measured in terms of the new ideas, or hypotheses, that can be derived from it and tested. A hypothesis is a tentative and testable explanation of the relationship between two or more variables.

A variable is any factor that changes or varies in size or quality. To illustrate this, mood may be a variable, since people’s moods may vary from one situation to another. Test performance is another variable, since a person’s score may vary from one test to the next.

A hypothesis is a testable explanation of the relationship between variables; it is a tentative proposition based on observations, or it could be a hunch about how ideas go together. An instructor, for example, may have a hypothesis about how varying teaching techniques will cause changes in students’ test scores. Thus, the instructor may have formed this hypothesis by observing students; ideas about better teaching techniques are also generated from research in educational psychology.

Finally, our understanding of a complex process is also aided by using the correct paradigm. A paradigm is a model of the functions and interrelationships of a process, a way of thinking about the world and how to study it. Entire fields of knowledge, including psychology, can change directions when new paradigms challenge existing ones. When paradigms shift, revolutions of knowledge usually follow (Kuhn, 1970).

Before a new theory, hypothesis, or paradigm makes a difference in science, it has to undergo an ordeal of proof. Most often this happens when researchers publish their findings, and other scholars investigate whether they find the same patterns in their own data. This process of publication, communication, and verification moves scientific research into the public eye, where ideas are tested and proven.

Research Biases

• One of the challenges while doing research is to remain objective and free from biases. Most of your ideas and beliefs are probably linked with certain bias, because they are influenced by your opinions or values. A variety of biases have been found to distort people’s impressions of collected data.
• External influences such as one’s culture or the media can influence people to accept a particular world view.
• Personal bias distorts estimating or evaluating processes as a result of personal beliefs, attributes, or past experiences.
• Observer bias operates when one’s biases act as filters through which some events are noticed or seen as meaningful, while others are not. It must be kept in mind that researchers themselves were raised in certain cultures and societies. They also might have been exposed to certain gender role expectations. These background factors can affect the way researchers observe and interpret events in their lives.
• Expectancy bias can affect observations of behaviour by triggering reactions to the events being observed. Researchers sometimes expect to find specific outcomes, and being only human, they may see what they expect to see rather than remain objective. If one is not alert to the possibility of expectancy bias, it may seem as though the observed events are being discovered instead of created by the observer’s expectations.
• Finally, placebo bias operates when people strongly want to believe a treatment is successful. Believing in the treatment may make an ineffective treatment appear effective. For example, many people may claim to feel better after taking a placebo, such as a sugar pill. In cases where the outcome involves a subjective judgment about results—such as how well a person feels or whether the pain has been reduced or relieved—the desire for a drug or therapeutic method to work may be enough to achieve the desired result.

Context of Justification

• The context of justification is the second phase of research in which results are prepared for useful communication with other scientists. Psychologists face a difficult challenge when they try to obtain accurate data and reliable evidence that will generate valid conclusions.
• To accomplish this, they rely on one important ally: the scientific method. The scientific method is a general set of procedures for gathering and interpreting evidence in ways that limit errors and produce dependable conclusions.
• The scientific method also demands specific attitudes and values on the part of research scientists, ensuring that research findings remain objective, systematic, and reliable.

Scientific Attitudes and Values

• Scientists are motivated by curiosity about the unknown and the uncertain. Since the truth may be disguised, the scientific method demands a critical and skeptical attitude toward any conclusion until it has been duplicated repeatedly by independent investigations.
• By remaining open-minded, scientists keep the truth provisional, meaning it is subject to revision after new discoveries, while still agreeing to evaluate phenomena they may personally doubt or suspect. For example, instead of rejecting the possibility that psychic processes like ESP (extrasensory perception) exist, scientists prefer to collect evidence on which to base their judgments.
• Secrecy is banned from the research procedure because all data and methods must eventually be open for public verifiability. Other researchers must have the opportunity to review the data and conclusions and attempt to replicate the results. Thus, science is not merely a set of rules, but rather a process of asking questions, observing, explaining, testing, and retesting explanations of reality.
• Scientific knowledge is based on empirical evidence obtained through controlled observations and careful measurement. In science, when good data conflict with the opinions of experts, the data prevail. Science is therefore a way of knowing, not a hierarchy of experts. One does not need a special degree to think like a scientist, but one must make a strong commitment to objectivity.