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Common research designs and data collection methods include: Archival research; Case study uses different research methods (e.g. interview, observation, self-report questionnaire) with a single case or small number of cases. Computer simulation (modeling) Ethnography; Event sampling methodology, also referred to as experience sampling ...
Cross-sectional research is a research method often used in developmental psychology, but also utilized in many other areas including social science and education. This type of study utilizes different groups of people who differ in the variable of interest, but share other characteristics such as socioeconomic status, educational background ...
Naturalistic observation, sometimes referred to as fieldwork, is a research methodology in numerous fields of science including ethology, anthropology, linguistics, the social sciences, and psychology, in which data are collected as they occur in nature, without any manipulation by the observer.
Developmental psychologists who study children use a number of research methods. For example, they make observations of children in natural settings such as preschools [175] and engage them in experimental tasks. [176] Such tasks often resemble specially designed games and activities that are both enjoyable for the child and scientifically useful.
Sound methodology is essential to the study of complex behavioral and mental processes, and this implies, especially, the careful definition and control of experimental variables. The research methodologies employed in experimental psychology utilize techniques in research to seek to uncover new knowledge or validate existing claims.
For example, in Thomas Dishion's study on the cyclical nature of deviancy in male adolescent dyads, he explicitly defines the ways in which each behavior was recorded and coded. A "pause," for instance, was defined as three or more seconds of silence; a "laugh" coded for all positive affective reactions. [6]
Developmental psychology employs many of the research methods used in other areas of psychology. However, infants and children cannot be tested in the same ways as adults, so different methods are often used to study their development. Developmental psychologists have a number of methods to study changes in individuals over time.
In its most common sense, methodology is the study of research methods. However, the term can also refer to the methods themselves or to the philosophical discussion of associated background assumptions. A method is a structured procedure for bringing about a certain goal, like acquiring knowledge or verifying knowledge claims.