Descriptive Research

Descriptive Research: describe the subject that is being observed
 -Any research that observes and records

Types of Descriptive Research

~Case Studies

~Survey

~Naturalistic Observation

Case Studies: A detailed picture of one or a few sunjects

Survey: Measures correlation and can be done in an interview, mail, phone, internet, etc.
-Most common type of study in psychology

Random Sampling: Identify the population you want to study
-Sample must be represenative of the population you want to study

*Why do we sample?*
-One reason is the false consensus effect=the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

-Reasons Why Survey Method Is Sometimes Bad--Low response rate

-People lie or just misintrepret themselves

-Wording effects

Naturalistic Observation: Watch subjects in their natural environments and avoid in manipulating it

Hawthorne Effect: when the subject becomes aware that they are apart of an experiment being conducted, changes their activities in their environment