AMU The Research Methods in Psychology and Conceptual Foundation Discussion

Respond to three questions:

1. Imagine you are conducting a literature review in preparation for a study of expectations regarding the sharing of financial and practical responsibilities among married and cohabiting couples in which both partners are between the ages of 20 and 29. Conducting a keyword search on “couples” and “responsibility,” you generate a lengthy list of research articles. You decide to shorten the list by eliminating all articles that were not published in prestigious research journals and to only include the remaining articles in your literature review. What is gained and lost by using that approach. Is it an appropriate one for a scholarly literature review?

2. While reading a literature review written by a novice researcher in your field, you notice that the researcher seems to have relied heavily on the Internet in preparing the review. Your hunch is supported when you glance at the reference page and find a long list of web addresses. What goes through your mind regarding the quality and adequacy of the literature review in this situation?

3. Describe two different problems related to research design that are commonly encountered when doing research and for each explain how a complete and detailed research proposal would help the researcher avoid the problem.

Label each answer with the corresponding number accordingly so everyone can easily see where the answer to question 1 of your post ends and answers to questions 2 and 3 begin.

Sources

https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_research-metho…

https://www.youtube.com/embed/aMPH9WuDy2c?wmode=opaque&rel=0

https://www.youtube.com/embed/O6uX312in-M?wmode=opaque&rel=0

https://www.youtube.com/embed/qtLnBz6lbRQ?wmode=opaque&rel=0

https://www.youtube.com/embed/NfNMmnWWlpk?wmode=opaque&rel=0

Response 1 (100 words+)

Hello class and Dr. Diehl,

1. By eliminating all articles that were not published in prestigious research journals, I eliminated articles that are possibly opinions, rather than stating factual research. The internet is full of false information and opinions. Prestigious research journals tend to publish serious articles that are full of facts. However, by eliminating all of these articles I may have also eliminated some new, not profoundly studied ideas within my research topic. When conducting a literature review, we should search for professional journals and papers because they will include peer-reviewed articles written by experts of certain fields and include factual data, rather than opinions. They are written for educating and not entertaining. We should look for conference papers, past theses, and academic and professional sources.
2. We all know that the internet can be a great source for research. As long as the web addresses are of academic sources, government pages, or professional journals, I would not eliminate the research, but rather read through some of the sources myself and figure out if they are indeed solid and factual. However, it would take a lot more time to review this article than it would something that has peer-reviewed, up-to-date references.
3. There are plenty of problems that could be encountered when doing research. One problem could be finding a new angle to an existing research topic and proving that the researcher can answer that new question as well as proving his/her knowledge of the existing research (Sudheesh et al., 2016). A detailed research proposal will help the researcher avoid the problem because it entails a thorough literature review in which the researcher acquires knowledge about his/her topic. The researcher will know about the research that has been done on the subject up to that point and will be able to draw lines between past studies and his/her research.

Another problem that could occur is ethical predicaments (Research Guides, 2020). The researcher is responsible for the participants’ safety and integrity and while not putting the research at risk, making sure participants have given consent and are not being harmed. A well thought through research proposal will entail how the research can guarantee this and prepare his/her research for what-ifs.

Thanks for reading my forum!

Stefanie

References

Research Guides. 2020. https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/designflaws

Sudheesh, K., Duggappa, D. R., & Nethra, S. S. (2016). How to write a research proposal?. Indian journal of anaesthesia, 60(9), 631–634. https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5049.190617

Response 2

Hello Everyone,

1. Literature review should include the body of literature that is relevant to the proposed research topic. By eliminating research based on a where they were published does more harm to the review and narrows the perspectives that could emerge and help you better create your research study plan. Keeping all the peer reviewed research that is relevant to the topic can give insights for methodology that may not be published in the prestigious journals. The less re-invention a researcher has to do in their process to more the field they study can progress an benefit from new technologies/methods being added and improvements on existing ones can emerge and benefit the whole field.
2. References that are purely web based do not tap into the whole body of research in the topic of study. I would conclude that the research review I was looking at did not come from an in-depth review of the available research on the topic. And the researcher does not have a full understanding of the current standing in their field of study. Without the proper literature review I would also think that what I was reading from the novice would probably not help advance the topic they wrote the review about. It would also be possible that what they wrote about had already been written about and they didn’t realize it because their literature review was not complete.
3. One research design problem that a researcher can encounter based on their research design is using research technique they are more familiar with instead of following the research problem to direct the design. For this problem the researcher would benefit from making a checklist that will help tackle the specific research problem and keep the research methods within the scope of the research. A second problem that can be encountered when conducting research is improperly selecting a sample set for a study. Sometimes in research determining the sample set to study that best represents the population can be wrongly determined especially if the population being studied is not properly identified. For this problem the researchers need to determine the whole population and allow for each member a chance to be included in the sample before proceeding to randomly selecting the sample to be studied. – Annbritah

Response 3

1. When reviewing literature in anticipation for a project or study, it is necessary to utilize the most relevant and accurate information available. Much of the information derived from studies conducted by prestigious universities, think tank groups and scientific publications are well known in the public realm for their perceived academic quality and factual data. Solely relying on these avenues for research data can enhance studies, especially knowing the information was obtained through scientifically approved and tested practices.

But the process does possess some limitations. While the likelihood of identifying relevant literature related to the topic at hand is strong, the age of the article or journal in question may render it obsolete and outdated. For example, a study on relationships in the United States in 1993 may be considered obsolete since relevant consumer practices, the economy and relationship/marriage practices have drastically changed in the last few decades. This may force the researcher to focus only on articles and studies conducted within the last few years, severely hampering their available information.

While the “less prestigious” articles may not appeal to some researchers, they do provide valuable information on topics still being studied or expanded on. If the article is professionally written and cite sources to its material, it is possible to review the information and determine whether it can be used as part of one’s study. In many instances, these articles cite references from recent studies and research one can integrate in their study.

2. With the ever-increasing use of electronics and the internet for everyday life, it is unsurprising much of the information we gather is derived from these mediums. The physical inaccessibly of information in some regions of the world coupled with the extensive length of time it takes to find it makes internet research an attractive prospect. However, it does put into question the validity of the sources obtained when preparing the literature review. Sometimes, quality and the location these sources were obtained from may be questionable or lack hard data. This sometimes causes me to be highly skeptical of the information’s accuracy. But I believe it is important to view website references as a new method of research in study while still closely scrutinizing the sources it is derived from for accuracy and bias. In doing so, a researcher ensures they are using the most accurate information available in their study.

3. One of the biggest issues regarding research design and execution is determining the topic. Given the wide range of subjects available, it can be a daunting task to decide on one. The researcher must also identify topics that have not already been investigated to avoid those too extensive or broad to study. To counteract this, researchers should narrow their attention to minor or subset areas of the topic in their proposal. For example, if I choose to write about the environment’s effect on joggers, I would focus on the conditions of my neighboring area instead of the continental US which varies in air quality and pollution.

Another problem with research design is the ability to carry out the actual research, especially if the topic becomes too ambitious. Research study can be costly, time consuming and may require a cross section of specialists and experts to execute. This problem almost guarantees the need of a research proposal to highlight any short comings and/or requirements prior to conducting the study. In some cases, it is better the study proposal be rejected and sent back for further tweaking then move forward and become an unintended disaster. – Juan