Psychologists across all of the different disciplines test research questions and this involves a variety of research designs. For example, Industrial and Organizational (I/O) psychologists may use surveys to assess complaints at a particular company. Research designs are generally experimental or non-experimental and can be further divided based on data collection methods. These include the following: experiments, archival research, case studies, modeling, secondary data analysis, content analysis, interviews, meta-analysis, neuroimaging, observational or naturalistic, program evaluation, quasi-experiments, survey, twin studies, and animal research. Each field has its own type of research methods, which are the specific tools and techniques used to collect data. For example, developmental psychologists may use an experimental research design that involves the research method of gaze studies to see what babies find novel (how long they look at something and what they choose to gaze at first).
For this Assignment, you will examine the research questions and methods related to your chosen professional role; you will also propose a way to study a research question that you are interested in.
To prepare:
Find research papers in your chosen professional field and investigate the types of research methods used in the papers. What questions are the studies answering? Why are these important questions? Think about a research question you are interested in for your chosen field and propose a study that would best address your research question.
To Complete this Assignment:
Submit a 2- to 3-page paper that discusses research questions in your chosen field and what research methods have been used to answer these questions. First, find three journal articles that are actual studies (not review articles, background information, etc.) that are from your field of interest. Discuss what research questions have been asked in your field. How were the studies were carried out (methods)? What have the findings been? What questions still remain? NOTE: For the articles that you find for this section, don’t write about each one separately. Rather, synthesize the information.
Next, propose your own study to answer a specific research question from your chosen field. What is your research question? Be as specific as possible. Why is this an important question or area to study? What are two specific hypotheses stemming from your research question? Finally, discuss the specific research methods needed to answer your research question. Give some detail. Why is this the best method to use? What kind data will you collect? What is / are your IV(s) and DV (if applicable)? Conclude by discussing how your proposed study will contribute to your chosen field.
