Psychology 2075 Study Guide - Participant Observation, Social Desirability Bias, Blind Experiment

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2075
• Professor: Leslie Janes

Document Summary

Naturalistic observation: study of behavior in natural settings, observing sexual behavior in a bar, advantages: its more natural, less artificial. Case studies: single subject or a small group, the focus is on abnormal or unusual behavior, this is also used to look at people that are sex offenders. Representative sample (targeting a certain number of teens from each grade: stratified random sample, advantages: questionnaires anonymity may improve honesty, cheaper. Easy to collect a lot of data: interviews: more flexible, may improve clarity and understanding, disadvantages: Volunteer bias: people are willing to partake in sex research, are significantly different then those who are being examined. Faulty estimation: when people fill out a survey they are asked to estimate. Meanings of terms: there is no interview so people may be confused about the question or terms in the questions. People who are willing to be in a lab may be different from people in the rest of the population.