One of the goals of science is description (other goals include
prediction and explanation). Descriptive research methods are pretty much
as they sound — they describe situations. They do not make accurate
predictions, and they do not determine cause and effect.
There are three main types of descriptive methods: observational
methods, case-study methods and survey methods. This article will briefly
describe each of these methods, their advantages, and their drawbacks. This may
help you better understand research findings, whether reported in the
mainstream media, or when reading a research study on your own.
Observational Method
With the observational method (sometimes referred to as field
observation) animal and human behavior is closely observed. There are two
main categories of the observational method — naturalistic observation and
laboratory observation.
The biggest advantage of the naturalistic method of research is
that researchers view participants in their natural environments. This
leads to greater ecological validity than laboratory observation, proponents
say.
Ecological validity refers to the extent to which research can
be used in real-life situations.
Proponents of laboratory observation often suggest that due to
more control in the laboratory, the results found when using laboratory
observation are more meaningful than those obtained with naturalistic
observation.
Laboratory observations are usually less time-consuming and
cheaper than naturalistic observations. Of course, both naturalistic
and laboratory observation are important in regard to the advancement of
scientific knowledge.
Case Study Method
Case study research involves an in-depth study of an individual
or group of indviduals. Case studies often lead to testable hypotheses and
allow us to study rare phenomena. Case studies should not be used to
determine cause and effect, and they have limited use for making accurate
predictions.
There are two serious problems with case studies — expectancy
effects and atypical individuals. Expectancy effects include the experimenter’s
underlying biases that might affect the actions taken while conducting
research. These biases can lead to misrepresenting participants’
descriptions. Describing atypical individuals may lead to poor generalizations
and detract from external validity.
Survey Method
In survey method research, participants answer questions
administered through interviews or questionnaires. After participants
answer the questions, researchers describe the responses given. In order
for the survey to be both reliable and valid it is important that the questions
are constructed properly. Questions should be written so they are clear
and easy to comprehend.
Another consideration when designing questions is whether to
include open-ended, closed-ended, partially open-ended, or rating-scale
questions (for a detailed discussion refer to Jackson, 2009). Advantages
and disadvantages can be found with each type:
Open-ended questions allow for a greater variety of responses
from participants but are difficult to analyze statistically because the data
must be coded or reduced in some manner. Closed-ended questions are easy
to analyze statistically, but they seriously limit the responses that
participants can give. Many researchers prefer to use a Likert-type scale
because it’s very easy to analyze statistically. (Jackson, 2009, p. 89)
In addition to the methods listed above some individuals also
include qualitative (as a distinct method) and archival methods when discussing
descriptive research methods.
It is important to emphasize that descriptive research methods
can only describe a set of observations or the data collected.
It cannot draw conclusions from that data about which way the relationship goes
— Does A cause B, or does B cause A?
Unfortunately, in many studies published today, researchers
forget this fundamental limitation of their research and suggest their data can
actually demonstrate or “suggest” causal relationships. Nothing could be
further from the truth.
References
Jackson, S.L.
(2009). Research Methods and Statistics: A Critical
Thinking Approach 3rd edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar