Psychology Practice Essay

When researching psychologists use three main research methods.

Psychologists use a case study research method, correlation study, and
experiment, which all contain advantages and disadvantages.
Case studies, correlation studies, and experiments are all useful forms
of research for psychology but can have some advantages along with
disadvantages. Strengths of case studies are that they provide insight to other
research and permit investigation on unethical situations. This is the basic
form of research for humanistic psychologists. Disadvantages are that case
studies can be very time consuming, difficult to replicate, and are easy to be
subject to researcher bias. The advantages to correlation studies are that they
can include a larger amount of people therefore, a more accurate study and it
allows the situation to be artificial while still having relevant research. The
disadvantages of this are that it can have unbalanced answers and results if
only a particular set of people are surveyed and some people may answer
surveys and questionnaires untruthfully leading to inaccurate research.
Lastly, the advantages to experiment as a research method are that it allows
you to control all variables precisely and the experiments can be replicated
easily. The disadvantages are that the experiments arent always typical for

real-life situations and that by controlling the situation so precisely, behavior

might be limited.
As a psychologist determining the effect of vitamin J on improving
memory, each research method can be used to achieve a significant find in
this study. By using a case study research method, you would be able to
investigate the history of someones life and apply that to the research to see
how their memory improves far before they started taking the vitamin J and
what happens to them after they start the study. By using a correlation study
you would have more subjects to research and ask a variety of questions on
how the vitamin J was affecting them and would be able to test their
memory through surveys. You would ultimately have a more accurate
representation by using a wider range of people. And lastly, by using an
experimental method, a researcher would be able to accurately control all
variables of the vitamin J and test their memory in more ways and in more
intricate ways to see surely if their memory is improving.
Case studies, correlation studies, and experimental studies all have
key disadvantages and advantages in research and can be helpful in different
scenarios. Each study can also help a certain experiment in its own way and
how the outcome comes out to bring a more general answer.