Kudos to all my lovely readers!! We are back with our next topic of psychology. Yesterday we discuss about Some basics of Psychology . Our topic of discussion for today is: “GOALS AND STEPS INVOLVED IN SCIENTIFIC STUDY IN PSYCHOLOGY” . Lets recall few of them before moving forward.
REVISION TIME
Psychology covers a wide range of topics, including human development, sports, health, clinical, social behaviour, and cognitive processes. When we observe others, our own worldviews or techniques of understanding the world have an impact on how we interpret their behaviours and experiences.
In most circumstances, it is also a topic of social science. Human-computer interactions and artificial intelligence will stall unless psychologists have a better understanding of cognitive processes. As already indicated, psychology has also philosophical beginnings. In contrast, modern psychology has advanced as a result of the scientific method’s application to psychological phenomena.
For detail revision of the the topic , click on –
Now lets start our discussion for today:
GOALS AND STEPS INVOLVED IN SCIENTIFIC STUDY IN PSYCHOLOGY.
Lets first discuss the goals of scientific study.
GOALS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY
The goals of psychological study, like any other scientific research, are to describe, predict, explain, and control behaviour, as well as to apply knowledge obtained in an objective manner.
1. DESCRIPTION
Our first goal for scientific study is : DESCRIPTION.
We try to characterise a behaviour or phenomena as accurately as possible in a psychological study. This aids in the differentiation of one behaviour from another.
Attending all of your classes on time, submitting assignments on time, arranging your study calendar, studying according to a predetermined schedule, and editing your work on a daily basis are all examples of good study habits.
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It has a further detailed descriptions within a given category. The researcher must explain what “study habits” means to her or him. The description necessitates the documentation of a certain behaviour in order to fully comprehend it.
2. PREDICTION
SECOND GOALS IN SCIENTIFIC STUDY IN PSYCHOLOGY: PREDICTION
You can learn about the relationship between a given behaviour and other sorts of behaviours, events, or phenomena if you can effectively grasp and explain the behaviour. You can then predict that this behaviour will occur within a specified margin of error under certain circumstances.
3. EXPLANATION
The third objective of psychological research is to identify the elements that cause or influence behaviour. The elements that cause behaviour are of primary concern to psychologists.
As a result, this purpose is concerned with determining the determinants or antecedent conditions of the behaviour under investigation in order to create a cause-and-effect relationship between two variables.
4. CONTROL
You can regulate a behaviour by changing its antecedent conditions even if you can explain why it happens. Making a given behaviour happen, limiting it, or improving it are all examples of control.
A good illustration of control is the change in behaviour brings psychological treatment in terms of therapy in people.
5. APPLICATIONS
The scientific investigation’s ultimate purpose is to bring about beneficial changes in people’s lives. Psychologists are quite concerned about people’s quality of life as a result of their efforts.
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However, our discussion over goals comes to an end. I hope you have understand the concept. Now, lets start second part of discussion :
STEPS INVOLVED IN SCIENTIFIC STUDY
Science is defined less in terms of what it studies and more in terms of how it studies it. The scientific method aims to investigate a specific event or phenomena in a technique that is objective, systematic, and measurable.
The term “objectivity” refers to the idea that if two or more people investigate the same event independently, they should come to a same conclusion to a large extent. The second distinguishing feature of scientific inquiry is that it follows a well-defined protocol or investigational steps. It include conceiving an issue, gathering data, generating conclusions, and refining research findings and theory.
1. Conceptualising a Problem
When a researcher chooses a theme or issue to investigate, the scientific research process begins.
This is however accomplished by a review of previous studies, observations, and personal experiences. In psychology, we look at a wide range of issues involving behaviour and experiences. These issues could also be related to (a) our own behaviour, (b) comprehending the behaviour of others, or (c) group influences on individual behaviour.
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Following the identification of the problem, the researcher develops a hypothesis, which is a proposed solution to the problem.
2. COLLECTING DATA
The gathering of data is the next phase in scientific inquiry. Data gathering necessitates the creation of a study’s research plan, or blueprint.
It necessitates choices in four areas:
(a) study participants,
(b) data gathering methods,
(c) research instruments, and
(d) data collection procedure.
The researcher must determine who will be the participants (or informants) in the study based on the nature of the investigation.
The second decision concerns data gathering methods such as observation, experimentation, correlational analysis, case studies, and so on. In order to collect data, the researcher must also select how the instruments should be used. Following that, the data is actually gathered.
3. DRAWING CONCLUSIONS
The next stage is to apply statistical tools to analyse the data obtained so that you can figure out what it all means. This is possible by using graphs (e.g., preparation), cumulative, pie-chart, bar-diagram by utilising various frequencies, etc.) and by utilising various methods of statistics Analysis’s goal is to test and make conclusions from a hypothesis appropriately.
4. REVISING RESEARCH CONCLUSIONS
The researcher may have started the study with the assumption that there is a link between children’s aggression and their exposure to violence on television. He or she must check to determine if the conclusions back up the hypothesis. If they do, the hypothesis/theory that already exists is confirmed.
If not, he or she will update or state an alternate hypothesis/theory, test it again using new data, and draw conclusions that future researchers can verify. As a result, research is a never-ending task.
CONCLUSION OF GOALS AND STEPS INVOLVED IN SCIENTIFIC STUDY IN PSYCHOLOGY
Human behaviour, according to psychologists, can and should be researched using the same methods used in disciplines like physics, chemistry, and biology. Human behaviour is predictable, caused by both internal and external causes, and can be watched, measured, and controlled, according to this perspective.
To accomplish these goals, psychology focused on the study of overt behaviour, or behaviour that could be observed and measured, during the majority of the twentieth century.