Psychological research: requirements for the organization and its stages
Classification of research methods
Characteristics of the main empirical methods of psychology
Mastery of methods for studying personality psychology is one of the necessary components of a lawyer’s professional activity. A lawyer must be able to identify, analyze and take into account the individual psychological characteristics of a person (witness, suspect, accused), the goals of their actions and actions, hidden motives of behavior. The choice of methods for studying the personality of subjects of various legal relations in the professional activity of a lawyer, as well as the adequacy of the methods themselves, largely depends on the goals that he faces and on the nature of the issues that require resolution.
Observation
The most primary way of obtaining the facts of mental life is observation.
Observation
In psychology, it is a specially organized, purposeful and systematic perception of mental phenomena.
The observation method involves setting a goal, planning, identifying units of observation (a certain type of emotion, words, gestures, etc.), observation conditions, a method of recording results, and the number of observers.
By its type, observation can be : field and laboratory, direct and indirect, included and not included, direct and indirect, continuous and selective, systematic and non-systematic.
The advantages of observation in psychology are considered to be the possibility of direct perception of natural human behavior, and the disadvantage is the influence of a large number of side factors on the process and results of observation.
Experiment
Experiment
A specially organized form of research, which consists in obtaining scientific knowledge through targeted intervention in the mental life of the subject.
The main feature that distinguishes experiment from observation is the active position of the researcher.
According to their type, experiments are as follows : laboratory, field (natural), ascertaining, formative, pathopsychological, psychological and pedagogical experiment, etc.
The advantage of the experiment is that it allows the researcher to create certain conditions in order to cause certain mental phenomena or states (for example, stress, monotony, cognitive dissonance, etc.). The experiment also allows the same experiment to be repeated over and over again, which is almost impossible with observation. During repetitions, it is possible to vary the experimental conditions.
Basic methods of psychology
The main methods of psychological science can be called observation and experiment.
Observation
Imagination - what is it in psychology, definition
Observation is a psychological method that involves a targeted and planned study of a person’s behavioral reactions or psyche in normal, familiar conditions with the obligatory maintenance of a protocol.
Important! The observation must be carried out by an experienced specialist, because the observed facts must be correctly described.
Experiment as a method of psychology
Experiment is the main method of psychology and pedagogy. In psychology, all experiments are usually divided into:
- Aerobatic experiments. This is the name for research in little-studied areas of science that is carried out in the absence of the possibility of formulating a hypothesis.
- Pedagogical experiments are the organization of studying the features of the educational and educational process in educational institutions. Subjects of different age groups are involved in participating in these studies: from junior preschoolers to students.
- Natural experiments. They involve the study of one or another mental phenomenon in conditions familiar to people.
- Laboratory experiments are the organization of studying some mental phenomenon in artificially created conditions that exclude the influence of external factors that can distort the results of the study.
- Ascertaining experiments. They are aimed at identifying the characteristics of the development of an individual or group.
- Formative experiments. They are aimed at the development of certain qualities in an individual or the formation of group unity of a team.
- Control experiments. They are carried out in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the developed program for developing skills or qualities among the participants in the experiment.
Additional Information. This division of experiments into types is arbitrary. Some types of experiments are complementary, others are complementary.
Survey
Survey
A method of obtaining answers to specific questions that are formulated by the researcher.
It includes: questionnaire, conversation, interview.
Questioning is a method of psychological research using questionnaires. Using questionnaires, biographical data, values, attitudes, and personality traits are studied. A questionnaire is a list of questions that provides for the study of a certain psychological characteristic. Questionnaires can be open or closed.
Conversation is a method of obtaining facts by communicating with the respondent. Unlike a questionnaire, the researcher has the opportunity to ask additional questions.
An interview , like a conversation, is a method of obtaining facts through verbal communication. The main difference is that the researcher only asks questions. He does not interfere with the answer, its content and form.
Research methods in psychology
Scientific research methods are those techniques and means by which scientists obtain reliable information, which is then used to build scientific theories and develop practical recommendations. A method is a way of knowledge, it is a way through which the subject of science is learned. (S.L. Rubinstein). Translated from Greek, "methodos" means "path".
When organizing research, it is important that one or another method used is subordinate to the issue being solved and is adequate to it. First of all, the task that has arisen, the question to be studied, the goal that must be achieved are clarified, and then, in accordance with this, a specific and accessible method is selected. At the same time, in order to competently use psychological methods, the researcher must be quite well oriented in the issue of psychological methods. Note that psychological research methods must meet the following requirements:
1. Objectivity . Its use involves the unification of external and internal manifestations of the psyche, based on the objective nature of the psyche. The objectivity of the method lies in the totality of general ways, means and requirements for psychological research, ensuring maximum unambiguity and reliability of the results obtained.
2. Validity . Test validity - the adequacy and effectiveness of the test - is the most important criterion for its good quality, characterizing the accuracy of the measurement of the property under study, as well as the extent to which the test reflects what it is supposed to evaluate; how adequate the individual samples are to the problem under study.
3. Reliability . Reliability of the test – consistency, stability of the results obtained with its help; the quality of the research method, allowing one to obtain the same results when using this method multiple times.
In psychology, there are various classifications of methods for studying the psyche. In the classification proposed by B.G. Ananyev distinguishes four groups of methods:
Group I – organizational methods. They include the comparative method (comparing different groups by age, activity, etc.); longitudinal method (multiple examinations of the same individuals over a long period of time); complex method (representatives of different sciences participate in the study; in this case, as a rule, one object is studied by different means. Research of this kind makes it possible to establish connections and dependencies between phenomena of different types, for example, between the physiological, psychological and social development of the individual).
Group II - empirical methods (see Fig. 4), including: observation and self-observation; experimental methods, psychodiagnostic methods (tests, questionnaires, questionnaires, sociometry, interviews, conversations), analysis of activity products, biographical methods.
Group III - data processing methods , including: quantitative (statistical) and qualitative (differentiation of material into groups, analysis) methods.
Group IV - interpretive methods, including genetic (analysis of material in terms of development, highlighting individual phases, stages, critical moments, etc.) and structural (establishes structural connections between all personality characteristics) methods.
Psychology methods aim not only to record facts, but also to explain and reveal their essence. And this is quite natural. After all, the form of objects and phenomena does not coincide with their content. But this requirement cannot always be met using one method, and therefore, when studying mental phenomena, various methods are usually used, complementary to each other. For example, an employee’s manifestation of confusion when performing a certain task, repeatedly noted by observation, has to be clarified by conversation, and sometimes verified by a natural experiment, using targeted tests.
Rice. 4. Classification of methods of psychological research
The uniqueness of mental phenomena lies in the fact that they, as such, are inaccessible to direct observation. For example, sensation and thought cannot be seen. Therefore, we have to observe them indirectly. At the same time, the key to understanding a person is given by his practical deeds and actions.
Generalization of information obtained from the study of one personality in various types of activities will reveal the psychological essence of this personality. This reveals one of the basic principles of psychology - the unity of personality and activity.
Empirical research methods are divided into basic and auxiliary.
1. Basic methods. Observation is one of the main empirical methods of psychology, consisting in the deliberate, systematic and purposeful perception of mental phenomena in order to study their specific changes in certain conditions and search for the meaning of these phenomena, which is not directly given. Everyday observation is limited to recording facts and is random and unorganized. Scientific - is organized, involves a clear plan, recording the results in a special diary. A description of phenomena based on observation is considered scientific if the psychological understanding contained in it of the internal side of the observed act provides a logical explanation for its external manifestation. With participant observation (it is most often used in general, developmental, educational and social psychology), the researcher acts as a direct participant in the process over which he is observing. Uninvolved (external), unlike included, does not imply the personal participation of the observer in the process that he is studying.
Observation is also divided into external and internal. External observation is a way of collecting data about the psychology and behavior of a person through direct observation of him from the outside. Internal observation, or self-observation, is used when a research psychologist sets himself the task of studying a phenomenon of interest to him in the form in which it is directly presented in his mind. Internally perceiving the corresponding phenomenon, the psychologist, as it were, observes it (for example, his images, feelings, thoughts, experiences) or uses similar data communicated to him by other people who themselves conduct introspection on his instructions. Self-observation is observation, the object of which is the mental states and actions of the subject himself.
Experiment is the main method of psychology, which relies on precise accounting of variable independent variables that influence the dependent variable. Let us list its advantages: the researcher does not expect the random manifestation of mental processes of interest to him, but he himself creates the conditions to evoke them in the subjects; the researcher can purposefully change the conditions and course of mental processes; in an experimental study, strict consideration of the conditions of the experiment is required (what stimuli were given, what the responses were); the experiment can be carried out with a large number of subjects, which makes it possible to establish general patterns of development of mental processes.
There are two main types of experiment: natural and laboratory. They differ from each other in that they allow one to study the psychology and behavior of people in conditions that are remote or close to reality. A natural experiment is a psychological experiment, organized and carried out in ordinary life conditions, where the experimenter practically does not interfere with the course of events, recording them as they unfold on their own. Usually it is included in gaming, work or educational activities unnoticed by the subject. Laboratory experiment is a method of psychology, carried out in artificial conditions with strict control of all influencing factors, i.e. This type of experiment involves the creation of some artificial situation in which the property being studied can best be studied.
Depending on the degree of intervention of the experimenter in the course of mental phenomena, the experiment is divided into: ascertaining, in which certain mental characteristics and the level of development of the corresponding quality are revealed, and teaching (forming), which involves a targeted influence on the subject in order to develop certain qualities in him.
2. Auxiliary methods. A survey is a method in which a person answers a series of questions asked of him. The survey is divided into free and standardized, oral and written. A free survey is a type of oral or written survey in which the list of questions asked and possible answers to them is not limited in advance to a certain framework. A standardized survey, in which the questions and the nature of possible answers to them are determined in advance and are usually limited within a fairly narrow framework, is more economical in time and material costs than a free survey.
Oral questioning is used in cases where it is desirable to observe the behavior and reactions of the person answering the questions. Can be carried out in the form of conversation and interview. Interviewing is a method of social psychology that involves collecting information obtained in the form of answers to questions posed. Conversation is one of the methods of psychology that involves directly or indirectly obtaining information through verbal communication. The researcher asks questions, and the subject answers them.
A written survey allows you to reach more people. Its most common form is a questionnaire survey. An essential feature of a questionnaire survey is the indirect nature of the interaction between the researcher and the subject, who communicate using a questionnaire, and the respondent himself reads the questions offered to him and records his answers. The questionnaire is a questionnaire with a pre-compiled system of questions, each of which is logically related to the central hypothesis of the study. The use of questionnaires in research makes it possible to collect a large amount of factual material - this is the value of the method. The disadvantage of questioning is that the sincerity of respondents is not controlled, because their opinion is being clarified, and not their actual attitude towards a particular object. Therefore, the survey requires supplementation with other methods.
Testing is the collection of facts about mental reality using standardized tools - tests. The test is a standardized method of psychological measurement, consisting of a series of short tasks and designed to diagnose an individual’s severity and mental properties or states when solving practical problems. In this case, the psychological measurement is normalized in terms of interindividual differences. Using tests, you can study and compare the psychological characteristics of different people, give differentiated and comparable assessments.
The advantages of the tests are that it is possible to obtain comparable data from large groups of subjects. The difficulty of using tests is that it is not always possible to identify how and due to what the result obtained during the testing process was achieved.
Tests are divided into two main types: psychological tests proper and achievement tests . Achievement tests are tests designed to measure the quality of educational or professional knowledge, skills and abilities. They are designed taking into account the content of educational or professional tasks for certain conditions and testing purposes (selection, certification, exam, etc.); are widely used in selection for higher education institutions.
Also distinguished: projective tests; intelligence tests, aptitude tests, personality and socio-psychological tests; school readiness tests, clinical tests, vocational selection tests, etc.; individual and group, oral and written, forms, subject, hardware and computer, verbal and non-verbal .
In verbal tests, the subject’s activity is carried out in a verbal, verbal-logical form; in non-verbal tests, the material is presented in the form of pictures, drawings, and graphic images.
Ability tests are methods that diagnose the level of development of general and special abilities that determine the success of education, professional activity and creativity. Intelligence and creativity tests are widely used to determine a person's overall talent. There are tests of special abilities: sports, music, art, mathematics, etc. There are also tests of general professional abilities.
Intelligence tests are psychodiagnostic techniques designed to determine the level of intellectual development of an individual and identify the characteristics of the structure of his intellect.
Personality tests are psychodiagnostic techniques aimed at assessing the emotional-volitional components of mental activity - relationships (including interpersonal), motivation, interests, emotions, as well as characteristics of an individual’s behavior in certain social situations described in given social situations. Personality tests include projective tests, personality questionnaires, and performance (situational) tests .
Projective tests are a group of techniques intended for personality diagnosis, in which subjects are asked to react to an uncertain (multi-valued situation), for example: interpret the content of a plot picture (thematic apperception test, etc.), complete unfinished sentences or statements of one of the characters in the plot picture (Ronzweig test), give an interpretation of uncertain situations (Rorschach ink blots), draw a person (Machover test), a tree, etc. It is assumed that the nature of the subject’s answers is determined by the characteristics of his personality, which are “projected” into the answers. For the subject, the purpose of projective tests is relatively disguised, which reduces his opportunity to make the desired impression of himself.
Personality questionnaires are one of the types of psychological tests. They are intended to diagnose the degree of expression of certain personality traits or other psychological characteristics in an individual, the quantitative expression of which is the total number of responses to items in a personality questionnaire. Various personality questionnaires have been developed and used to diagnose stable personality traits; certain types of motivation (for example, achievement motivation); mental and emotional achievements (eg, anxiety); professional and other interests, inclinations.
Professional selection is a specialized procedure for studying and probabilistically assessing the suitability of people to master a specialty, achieve the required level of skill and successfully perform professional duties in standard and specifically difficult conditions.
In recent decades, the modeling method has become widespread in psychology, reproducing certain mental activity for the purpose of studying it by simulating life situations in a laboratory setting. Modeling as a method is used when the study of a phenomenon of interest to a scientist by simple observation, survey, test or experiment is difficult or impossible due to complexity or inaccessibility. Then they resort to creating an artificial model of the phenomenon being studied, repeating its main parameters and expected properties. Models are built using special modeling devices (devices, consoles, simulators), which can be used for didactic and research purposes. This model is used to study this phenomenon in detail and draw conclusions about its nature. Models can be technical, logical, mathematical, cybernetic.
The method of expert assessments involves experts conducting an intuitive-logical analysis of a problem with a quantitatively based judgment and formal processing of the results. Experts can be persons who know the subjects and the problem being studied well: class teacher, teachers, coach, parents, friends, etc. Analysis of the process and products of activity involves the study of the materialized results of a person’s mental activity, the material products of his previous activities (for example, various crafts, technical devices, keeping a notebook, writing an essay, etc.). The products of activity reveal a person’s attitude to the activity itself, to the world around him, and reflect the level of development of intellectual, sensory, and motor skills.
The biographical method is a way of researching and designing a person’s life path, based on the study of documents of his biography (personal diaries, correspondence, etc.).
The twin method helps to identify the role of heredity, environment and upbringing in the mental development of the individual. Comparison of intrapair similarity in twins makes it possible to determine the relative role of genotype and environment in the determination of the trait being studied. Currently, psychology also uses: the method of separated monozygotic twins, the control twin method, and the twin pair method.
Sociometric method (sociometry) is the use of standardized tests to measure interpersonal relationships in small groups in order to determine the structure of relationships and psychological compatibility. It is carried out by asking indirect questions, answering which the subject makes a consistent choice of group members preferred to others in a certain situation. The disadvantage of this method is that it does not allow us to identify the actual motives for choice or understand the reasons for the existing structure of relationships.
Testing
Testing
A method of obtaining psychological facts using a list of standardized questions or tasks (test).
Currently, tests have been created designed to study almost any mental processes, states and personality traits. The widespread use of testing in psychology is due to the fact that with the help of tests it has become possible to compare and determine the mental development of individual functions and qualities of people relative to normal and pathological conditions. In addition, testing allows you to collect a large amount of material in a short period of time and process it quite easily.
