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Block 1 Foundations of Positive Psychology

Unit 2 Research Methods and Assessment in Positive Psychology

1. Describe the meaning and goals of research:

• Meaning: Research is a systematic and objective process that follows specific steps to investigate a phenomenon, concept, or issue. It's a way of thinking that helps us understand the world around us through observation and analysis.
• Goals: The goals of research include:
  • Description: To describe the nature, characteristics or components of a situation, population or phenomenon.
  • Explanation: To explain why things are the way they are, uncover relationships, and identify causes.
  • Prediction: To anticipate future outcomes based on the findings and to be able to predict events based on research outcomes.

2. Justify the statement ‘research is a way of thinking’:

• Research involves a systematic approach to questioning, observing, and analysing phenomena.
• It encourages critical thinking by demanding evidence-based reasoning and logical evaluation of information.
• Research cultivates a curious mindset, promoting the exploration of new ideas and challenges to existing knowledge.
• It requires objective analysis and interpretation of data, promoting logical and reasoned thought processes.

3. Explain the types of research based on objectives:

• Descriptive Research: Aims to describe the characteristics of a population or phenomenon. It focuses on "what," "where," "when," and "how" of a phenomenon.
• Explanatory Research: Aims to explain why a phenomenon occurs and uncover relationships between variables. It focuses on understanding "why" things happen.

• Predictive Research: Aims to forecast future outcomes based on established relationships between variables. It focuses on anticipating what will happen in the future.

4. Explain the process of topic selection in research, and differentiate between literature review and literature summary:

• Topic Selection:
  • Identifying a broad area of interest.
  • Narrowing the focus to a specific research question.
  • Considering the feasibility and significance of the topic.
  • Ensuring there is an alignment of the topic with researcher's interest and expertise.
• Literature Review vs. Literature Summary:
  • Literature Summary: Briefly recounts the main points of a source. It presents an overview of information from a source or multiple sources in a condensed form.
  • Literature Review: A more comprehensive and critical analysis of existing research on a topic. It synthesizes findings from various sources, identifies gaps, critiques methodologies, and provides a theoretical framework for research. It is more in-depth and analytical.

5. Explain the steps involved in psychological test construction:

• Planning: Defining the purpose, target group, and constructs to be measured.
• Item Writing: Generating test items that assess the identified construct. This includes selecting appropriate item types and ensuring clarity and comprehensibility.
• Item Analysis: Evaluating the psychometric properties of the items, including difficulty, discrimination, and internal consistency to determine the quality of the test items.
• Reliability and Validity: Assessing the reliability (consistency) and validity (accuracy) of the test.
• Norms Development: Establishing norms for score interpretation, so that test scores can be compared against relevant groups.
• Standardisation: Defining procedures for test administration, scoring and interpretation in order to ensure uniformity.

6. Describe the research designs used in qualitative research.

• Case Study: An in-depth exploration of a single individual, group, or event, to get a detailed understanding of a particular phenomenon.
• Ethnography: Studying and describing a culture or social group and their shared beliefs and behaviours in their natural setting.
• Grounded Theory: Developing theory from qualitative data, through systematic data analysis and the identification of patterns and concepts.
• Phenomenology: Understanding and describing the lived experiences and perceptions of individuals concerning a specific phenomenon.
• Narrative Inquiry: Exploring and interpreting the stories or narratives of individuals to better understand their experiences.

7. Critically discuss the research methods used in positive psychology and suggest improvements:

• Discussion: Positive psychology employs both quantitative and qualitative methods, including surveys, experiments, interviews, and case studies. However, it has been criticised for an over-reliance on quantitative methods and a neglect of cultural contexts. There is a need for methodological rigour in research in positive psychology. Some concerns with the research methods currently used are:
  • Only focusing on positive aspects while neglecting negative ones.
  • Neglecting cultural contexts when studying positive psychology constructs.
  • Questionable generalisability of research findings.
• Improvements:
  • Use of mixed-methods research to combine both quantitative and qualitative data collection.
  • Increased emphasis on longitudinal studies to study development of positive psychology constructs.
  • Utilising large and diverse samples from varied sociocultural contexts.
• Employing complex data analysis techniques.
• More emphasis on qualitative research methods to bring academia and society closer.
• Triangulation of findings to strengthen the research base.

8. Discuss the ethical guidelines in the conduction of a research study:

• Informed Consent: Participants should be fully informed about the research, including its purpose, procedures, potential risks, and benefits.
• Voluntary Participation: Participation in research should be entirely voluntary, and participants should be free to withdraw at any point.
• Confidentiality and Anonymity: Ensuring that participants' identities and data are kept confidential and protected from unauthorised access. Data should be reported in a way that does not identify participants.
• Beneficence and Non-maleficence: The study should aim to maximize benefits for participants and society, while minimizing potential harm.
• Debriefing: Providing participants with information about the study, including the purpose and results, after data collection.
• Integrity: Researchers should act with integrity and adhere to professional standards throughout the research process.

Important Points

1. Research aims at filling the gaps in our existing knowledge of the phenomenon.
2. The three main goals of research are description, explanation, and prediction.
3. The types of research based on inquiry mode are quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods.
4. The ‘why’ of research is addressed by explanatory research.
5. Quantitative research involves a philosophy of rationalism.
6. The "How" of research is indicated by the process of research.
7. When our null hypothesis is true, but we reject it, it results in Type I error. And when the null hypothesis is false but we accept it, it is Type II error.
8. Research design is called as the blueprint of a research study.
9. Experimental design studies the phenomenon under a controlled condition involving manipulation of the variable and randomisation of the sample and/or treatment.
10. Case study is a detailed, in-depth study.
11. Longitudinal design tells us about the pattern of change or how change has progressed/occurred.
12. References in psychology are written in APA format.
13. Some of the qualitative research methods include observation, focus group, interview, and case study.
14. Quantitative research uses methods of data collection involving pre-determined questions.
15. Observation can be used as an assessment method in both quantitative and qualitative research.
16. Psychological assessment is different from psychological testing.
17. Confidentiality in research needs to be maintained, but there are some exceptions, especially when there is a risk of harm to self or others.
18. Debriefing happens after the data collection process is completed in a research study.