Research Methods

Imagine you are going to conduct research investigating a human behavior that you would be interested in learning more about.

1.  describe what research method you would use for investigating it.  PLEASE NOTE:  Although you as a researcher in the real world might use more than one or a combination of research methods to study a topic of interest, please select ONE method to discuss for the sake of this academic exercise.

2. What drew you to this method? Why would it be well suited for your hypothetical research?

3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of this type of research?

To help jump start this part of the discussion, here is an example of a human behavior that has been researched:  Say you were interested in whether men or women approach each other first in social situations where they do not know one another. You might have an opinion based on personal experience, but you want to avoid bias toward one's own experience and ideas that such might cause, so you are going to conduct a research study. To research this, you might choose "naturalistic observation," which could require going into nightclubs and taking note of what you observe men and women doing. Another research method would be to give out a survey to see how men and women respond to the question of whether they approach the other. Each method has strengths and weaknesses.