Research Design

I remember that they offered a Research Methods course at Mari.

learned in psych101: https://nobaproject.com/textbooks/paul-wehr-new-textbook/modules/research-designs

Experimental Research

If somebody gave you $20 that absolutely had to be spent today, how would you choose to spend it?

In an experiment, researchers manipulate, or cause changes, in the independent variable, and observe or measure any impact of those changes in the dependent variable.

Most important thing

The most important thing about experiments is random assignment:Assigning participants to receive different conditions of an experiment by chance. Participants don’t get to pick which condition they are in (e.g., participants didn’t choose whether they were supposed to spend the money on themselves versus others).

Correlational Design

When scientists passively observe and measure phenomena it is called correlational research. Here, we do not intervene and change behavior, as we do in experiments.

Qualitative Design

Qualitative designs, including participant observation, case studies, and narrative analysis are examples of such methodologies.

Quasi-Experimental Design

A quasi-experimental design is similar to experimental research, except that random assignment to conditions is not used. Instead, we rely on existing group memberships (e.g., married vs. single).

Example

What if you want to study the effects of marriage on a variable? For example, does marriage make people happier? Can you randomly assign some people to get married and others to remain single? Of course not. So how can you study these important variables? You can use a quasi-experimental design.

Longitudinal Study

Another powerful research design is the longitudinal study. Longitudinal studies track the same people over time. Some longitudinal studies last a few weeks, some a few months, some a year or more.

Surveys

A survey is a way of gathering information, using old-fashioned questionnaires or the Internet.