Methods Of Psychology
...th a hypothesis. Their hypothesis was that there would be a relationship between the occurence of the full moon and an increase with the mental hospital admissions. They then chose their subjects which in this case were the people being admitted into a mental hospital. Then they used variables which were teh phases of the moon and rate of mental hospital admissions. So they asked themselves, as the moon changes or varies, how does admission rate vary? Researchers found this experiment to be inaccurate because they found that they missed a variable. The variable was the drop of admissions during the weekend. Other Methods for Studying Behavior A survey is a method of research using questions on feelings, opinions, or behavior patterns. Surveys are done by mail, in person, over the phone, and now a days over the internet. If you wanted to find out if people think that there is too much crime and that the prison sentences are too light on the criminals. Then you would use a survery or questionnaire. You would get a view of people's opinons on the subject. A sample represents a large group of people from various races, sexes, social classes, and age groups. A sample can give you results that are accurate. Another research method is studying subjects without them being aware they are being watched. This is called a naturalistic observation. Researchers secretly observe the subjects of the study in daily activity, recording their behaviors. It is realistic to get information from the naturalistic observation because the people are acting as they usually do. The only problem with this method is that you can not talk or interact with the subject. Another way of studying people and how they feel about things is to interview. You can study the people face to face asking them questions. The only problem wiht interviews is that the interviewees can lie about what they do and how they feel, just to present themselves as favorable. By using interviews, it wouldn't be as accurate as opposed to using other methods. The case study method develops in...