Psy 270 Research Methods Advantages And Disadvantages

Research Methods
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PSY/270 date instructor

Research Methods Research Method | Advantages | Disadvantages | Case Study | * The case Study can provide a very accurate record of treatment that is put together in a way that is easily understood and studied by others (Comer, 2005). * Case Studies offer the opportunity for the researcher to promote new ideas to their colleagues through collaboration (Comer, 2005). * Researchers are able to accurately provide evidence of a theory through the use of the Case Study (Comer, 2005). * The Clinician can use the case studies to challenge other theories that their research and Case Study does not support (Comer, 2005). * For newer techniques, the Case Study can benefit other researchers
by providing value to new techniques that they or the researcher are working on (Comer, 2005). * The Case Study can also offer the researcher the opportunity to study a very unique or unusual problem that doesn’t happen very frequently (Comer, 2005). | * Results are often biased to the observer and are in favor of the researchers point of view (Comer, 2005). * The Case Study only shows what the researcher wants the reader to see, so the evidence is often considered very subjective (Comer, 2005). * Case Studies offer a very narrow focus and not able to apply to a wide variety of situations(Comer, 2005). The Case Study provides a detailed view of one individual, treatments, responses, and progress, but does not allow for a broader application, as the information is very specific instead of broad (Comer, 2005). | Correlational Method | * The Correlational Method can be used in a broader and more general scope, in that it can be applied to a larger population than the group that was studied (Comer, 2005). * Researchers are able to repeat the correlation on other groups of people to check the validity (Comer, 2005). * The Correlational Method can potentially predict occurrences of a given disorder with in a given group type (age, sex, ethnicity, race, etc.) (Comer, 2005). | * Through the use of the Correlational Method , researchers are able to describe the variables between relationships, but cannot describe the relationship itself. In other words, the method is very broad and cannot be applied to a narrow or very specific individual (Comer, 2005). * A chosen group of subjects may not truly reflect an accurate correlation with in the general population. In other words, if a correlation study was conducted on one ethnic group, that same correlation would not be valid on another (Comer, 2005). | Experimental Method | * This method can be replicated several times. The more times the results show the same, the more confident we can be that the data is accurate (Comer, 2005). * The researcher has more control over the variables, so that they can isolate a particular variable (Comer, 2005). * Results are able to be quantified through statistical analysis. This can help rule out the possibility that an occurrence was due to chance (Comer, 2005). | * Some lab research may rely on a natural setting, which may not be applicable to a general group (Comer, 2005). * There is a potential for the results to be derived unethically (Comer, 2005). * The selection of subjects might be selected in a biased way, in order to skew the results in favor of a researchers theory (Comer, 2005). * There is a possibility that Experimenter bias can influence the subjects in a way that could skew the experiment results (Comer, 2005). |

Reference
Comer, R. J. (2005). Fundamentals of abnormal psychology (4th ed.). New York, NY: Worth.