Research Methods in Psychology: Students Study Guide

Research is a process through which new knowledge is discovered. Research questions in psychology are about variables. A variable is a quantity or quality that varies across people or situations. For example, the height of the students in a psychology class is a variable because it varies from student to student. The sex of the students is also a variable as long as there are both male and female students in the class. A quantitative variable is a quantity, such as height, that is typically measured by assigning a number to each individual. Other examples of quantitative variables include peoples level of talkativeness, how depressed they are, and the number of siblings they have. A categorical variable is a quality, such as sex, and is typically measured by assigning a category label to each individual. Other examples include peoples nationality, their occupation, and whether they are receiving psychotherapy. Researchers in psychology are usually interested in drawing conclusions about some very large group of people. This is called the population. It could be American teenagers, children with autism, professional athletes, or even just human beings-depending on the interests and goals of the researcher. But they usually study only a small subset or sample of the population. This Book is useful for Students pursuing M.A. (Master of Arts) in Psychology studying in Universities such as IGNOU, Nalanda, Andhra, Kakatiya, BHU, Kota, Tamilnadu, Bihar, Rajasthan, etc.