An overview of research methods in psychgology
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Description and Application of each of the following. The name of a research method used in psychology. Then write a brief description of that research method. Then provide a situation when this method could be applied.
Scientific method
Case study method
Survey method
Naturalistic observation method
Correlation method
Experimental method
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Solution Summary
Most people go in to psychology classes not realizing that at its heart it really can be scientific. If you take away the perceptions of it being about talking about your feelings, the basis of what psychologists, both researchers and therapists, say is based on a model of science that combines rationalism and empiricism, along with other epistemologies. Below I provide you with a brief overview of the scientific methods used by psychologists to arrive at conclusions about humans and nonhumans alike.
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To give the method a name is odd. There is not a name per say.There a number of methods that psychologists employ, ultimately it is a model based on empiricism and rationalism. Both of these stem from ancient philosophical traditions that date back to the Greeks. Empiricism is that idea that one must see, taste, touch, etc something for it to be real. This is of course a fundamentally flawed idea on its on for psychologists who have to postulate the existence of what are called hypothetical constructs. A hypothetical construct is something we can show that reasonably exists, say its consequents, even though we cannot touch it it. Personality psychology is often faced with this problem. In comes rationalism. If we can think through the existence of a given state then it can be true. However, on its own rationalism is fundamentally flawed because it leads to Matrix-like thinking, where reality is completely subjective. Although it is beyond my answer here I woudl suggest ...
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