Personal Relationships - Discuss one or more research methods used in the study of personal relationships.
Observation
Gottman - 1994 - correlation is not and cannot be taken to imply causation. Even if there is a very strong association between two variables we cannot assume that one causes the other, thus meaning that there is low internal validity - allows the researcher to investigate naturally occurring variables that may be unethical or impractical to test experimentally- allows the researcher to clearly and easily see if there is a relationship between variables- unstructured/open-ended interviews have increased validity because it gives the interviewer the opportunity to probe for a deeper understanding, ask for clarification & allow the interviewee to steer the direction of the interview etc.- time-consuming
A True Experiment Psychology
IV is manipulated in a setting
critical thinking
Limitations of research methods; construct validity in measuring "attraction," demand characteristics; ability to generalize; ability to replicate; temporal validity; sampling bias.
Observation
Observation is one method for collecting research data. It involves watching a participant and recording relevant behavior for later analysis.
Discuss one or more research methods used in the study of personal relationships.
There are several methodological considerations when we study human relationships. One of the most basic issues in the research is that it is very difficult - and often unethical - to carry out experimental research on couples. Therefore, the majority of research carried out in this chapter is correlational in nature - not establishing a cause and effect relationship. In cases where experiments are actually done, many use "hypothetical" situations. Although the presence of consistent results is promising, the predictive validity of the research has to be questioned - is this really what would happen in a real, rather than a hypothetical, situation? Another concern is sampling bias. The majority of the studies come from three populations. First, a large number of studies use university students as their sample. This makes it difficult to generalize the findings to other age groups. Secondly, as noted above, the majority of the research has been carried out in individualistic cultures. This means that many of the studies may lack cross-cultural validity. Finally, a significant number of studies look at couples who have sought out therapy to save a failing marriage. This also will bias the sample, not looking at couples who struggle in marriage but do not seek counseling. Although some of the studies are prospective in nature - that is, the couples are evaluated at the beginning of their relationship and then observed over time - the vast majority of the studies are retrospective in nature. In this case, couples are asked to talk about their relationship or marriage. There are some limitations of this approach. First, it is often impossible to verify that what the participants say is accurate. Secondly, whenever we are asked to remember something, there is the possibility of memory distortion. In particular, in cases where the relationship is in danger, the peak-end rule may influence perception - that is, the participants will tend to remember examples of very bad events in their relationship (peak) and the most recent behaviour (end), which tends to be negative. Finally, since the data is self-reported, there is the problem of demand characteristics such as the social desirability effect. Participants may say what they feel is "correct" or that makes them look good in front of the researcher.
Experiment
Zajonc (1968) A true experiment High internal validity. Replicable to establish reliability. Low ecological validity. Questionable definition of "attraction."
