PSY 326 Week 3 Discussion 1

Case studies – A case study is a study that is analyzed over a patient’s treatment through a series of interviews that are very detailed to include direct quotes and observations that the person interviewing perceives from the patient and usually takes place in a therapeutic setting (Newman, 2011).

Pros to case studies are they are easy to control or persuade and also they are useful for psychologists to really dive into rare conditions and really learn about their circumstances (Newman, 2011).

Cons to case studies are that the observer can be very biased and also it can be difficult to summarize the patient’s experiences.

Case studies would be best effective for individuals that have certain diseases like depression, PTSD, or bi-polar. You can hone in on that individual and really see what is causing this disease to affect them. Questions that could be asked are, How is this affecting your daily life? How is your family reacting to your behavior? Does anything help or hinder your current behavior or interaction with others?

Archival research – Archival research is using previously collected data and drawing your own conclusions from their study for another purpose. Just because you may not be actually doing your own study, “the process of doing archival research requires dialogue, interaction, consultation, and, sometimes, negotiation with multiple audiences” when collecting your data for archival research (McKee & Porter, 2012, p. 79).

Pros to archival research are that you have previous data so you are not looking to create or use other resources and that you can avoid ethical problems with the participants involved because you are using previous data not actually looking for those to do your studies on.

Cons to archival research are that you have no control over the data that is collected and that the data can be limited to the research you are trying to conduct.

Archival research would be best effective in things like elections. I say this because every four years when the election comes around they use the past voting season to see where the votes in each state could possibly go. Questions that could be asked are how many participants actually vote? Are there non-citizens that voted? Is the state predominately democrat or republican?

Observational research – Observational research is a systematic or sensible and replicable way of collecting data (Newman, 2011). This is done by observing their behaviors and collecting the data by either questionnaires, recording them on video, or any other way that they can capture their observations of their patient. “Observational research is often used to address important clinical questions in the absence of randomized clinical trial data, but may also make important potential contributions even when randomized controlled trials have been conducted” (Boyko, 2013, para. 3).

Pros to observational research are that the observer has a lot of control in the research being conducted and that they are able to be direct and observe their behavior in the situation that they are in.

Cons are observer bias meaning that they could possibly want to see or expect a certain behavior and wrote that down instead of what they actually saw and that it can be very time consuming and labor and resource intensive.

Observational research would be best effective for things like new drugs being produced like our last week’s discussion post. Questions that could be asked are is this drug more effective than other one’s that are being used for diabetes? What are the effects of this drug? Are there any dangers to this drug? Are there any limitations when taking this drug like does it cause drowsiness or not able to operate a car?

The best descriptive design to me is observational research because it allows the observer the most control of what goes on in the research. It allows the observer to actually state their hypothesis and when everything is all said and done it is either accepted or rejected which leaves little or no room for error.

Reference

Boyko, E. J. (2013). Observational research — opportunities and limitations. Journal of Diabetes and its Complications, 27(6), 642-8. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2013.07.007

McKee, H. A., & Porter, J. E. (2012). The ethics of archival research. College Composition and Communication, 64(1), 59-81. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1081827130?accountid=32521

Newman, M (2011).  Research Methods in Psychology.  San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.