Characteristics of methods: concepts and types, classification and features

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The scope of any research activity has its origins in methodology. Every phenomenon in nature, every object, every essence is considered by scientists in the context of a specific method of knowing a certain substance. Nothing is done unfounded, each construction of a theory must be substantiated by an evidence base, which is developed through various methodological studies. This pattern has not bypassed the knowledge of psychological processes. But what is the basis for characterizing the methods used in psychology to study certain causal relationships?

The concept of method in psychology

Humanity is accustomed to the fact that the phenomena existing in the world are explained by natural reasoned justifications. It rains because the evaporation of water is converted into clouds. The sun rises and sets because the planet rotates on its axis during the day. A person continues his race and contributes to childbearing, because it is so laid down by nature. It is exactly the same in psychology: there is a concept, a phenomenon, a process of a psychological nature; its existence is due to a scientifically reasoned justification. And each such concept is deeply and extensively reflected in various textbooks and teaching aids. But how do they come to this? Based on what are the main methods and characteristics of the research process?

In itself, the concept of a method involves the use of a tool, a lever of influence on a particular element of study, in the process of influence on which certain scientific conclusions are made about the history of the formation, application in life and functional orientation of a particular subject of study. In other words, the characteristic of the concept of method includes various directions of ways and means of cognition of a particular phenomenon in nature, science, life, and psychology. But what is the importance and depth of significance of the research methods that exist in nature and are used today to identify natural patterns?

Meaning of methodology in psychology

What justifies the weight of the methodological principle in any research activity, including psychology?

Firstly, the value of the totality of existing methods and the general characteristics of each of them separately in the study of a particular object is reflected in the need for research specialists to rely on any techniques and means that canoperate in the course of their experimental activities. That is, each scientist must work on the basis of such a methodological base that will allow him to obtain reliable information and use it in the future to put forward specific theories, hypotheses and provide instructions of a recommendatory nature. So, for example, in order to determine a person’s temperament, a psychologist needs to conduct observational activities, test in the “question-answer” key and, based on this, draw specific conclusions about the person’s psychotype. Methods of observation and test are the protagonists of this action.

Secondly, the characteristics of research methods suggest the possibility of knowing internal mental phenomena through the analytical aspects of the influence of external factors on the object under study. That is, the methodology plays an important role in the order of registration, identification, fixation of psychological facts, conducting experiments, experiments and using their results to build a theoretical conclusion. Moreover, different methods can be used in working with the same development object and bear the fruits of a well-conducted analysis in the synthesis of different methods. So, it is much faster to diagnose a mentally ill person with mental disorders by applying the method of conversation and the method of experiment to him at the same time.

The definition of methods and the characteristics of their classification provide for the existence of four main areas of research: organizational, empirical, interpretative and data processing methods. What doeseach one separately?

Organizational methods

If we talk about the organization of the research process, then methods of a specific approach to the study of the object are applied, which mainly focus on aspects of the organization of ongoing research. So, there are three types of organizational methods, the general characteristics of which are reflected in the following:

• comparison method - is determined by comparing different groups of persons over whom analytical activities are carried out, with their differentiation by age, gender, occupation and other similar factors;
• complexity method - several specialists from different scientific fields are involved in the development at once to derive a specific theory from the perspective of a look from different sources of scientific justification;
• longitudinal method - due to the study of the same group of people for a long time.

Empirical methods

If we talk about empirical methods, it should be noted that in their complex they include many different approaches to research activities in various directions, which makes it possible to give an objective assessment of a particular process or phenomenon. As in any other field, the characterization of the methods of psychology from the perspective of empirical research implies the mandatory use of the following methods of influencing the object of the survey:

• observation methods;
• methods of psychology and diagnostics;
• methodssimulation;
• experimental;
• praximetric;
• biographical.

All of the listed variations of the research process are aimed at collecting primary information, which is further analyzed and predetermines the formation of specific conclusions.

Information processing methods

Speaking of the methodology arising from the collection and processing of information obtained at the stage of empirical research, two main directions can be distinguished both in psychology and in the study of other sciences.

The first direction is the quantitative study of the object of analysis. The characteristics of the main methods in this vein are predetermined by statistical indicators, on the basis of which specific conclusions are drawn about a particular psychological process - the object of study.

The second direction is the quality side of the coin. It involves identifying the features and differentiation of the studied materials into groups and allows you to establish patterns that are not visible to the naked eye, but are hidden in the depths of the main properties of the object of study, hidden from the general primary perception.

Interpretation methods

statistics in numbers. This includes methods of genetics and structure.

The genetic method provides for the study of an object in terms of its belonging to a person and society in general, and its elements characterize the analysis "in depth". That is, to work in this vein, data is collected in many areas, based on various relationships between the studied material and its environment.

The structural method analyzes the subject of study "in breadth": on its basis, various classifications, typologies, and the psychological profile of the test object are understood.

Thus, a brief description of research methods in psychology is outlined by the main four directions. But the empirical component requires a more detailed and in-depth consideration, since it is the empirical methods of studying psychological processes that reveal the essence of the test object as deeply and comprehensively as possible.

Non-experimental methods

Characteristics of research methods, the basis of which is not an experiment, determines the non-experimental methodological base in psychology, as well as in other sciences. This direction is profiled on several basic methods of studying objects of psychological processes.

The first, most effective, popular, convenient and significant way of mastering and comprehending an object in terms of its interrelationships and interdependence with its environment is observation. The simplicity, regularity, effectiveness of this method in achieving specific goals allows us to givecharacterize the method of observation only in a positive way, since it is a universal, purposeful and specially organized way to collect the information necessary for analysis. This is the most relevant method for studying human psychology today, which allows you to identify the factors of his existence and life activity necessary for research. For example, a psychologist uses this method of working with a patient suspected of schizophrenia, based on gradual, systematic communication with him from the position of an observer: thus, observing his ward, he identifies specific habits, mannerisms, snatches of speech and thoughts aloud spoken by the patient in order to draw definite conclusions about his diagnosis. This is how observation works.

Another fairly effective way to do quality research and come up with reliable results is through conversation. The characteristics of the method and its application in practice are due, first of all, to simplicity and accessibility, the cost of a small amount of time, the ability to accumulate statistical information and subsequently apply it to many other patients. So, a specialist can conduct a conversation with his ward, asking him a list of various questions. Day after day, working with the same patients with approximately the same problems, the doctor can summarize the information received and develop a standard questionnaire, on the basis of which he will interview all the subjects and decipher the answers received with concrete conviction in his diagnosis. Subspecies of this empiricalmethods are interviews, surveys, questionnaires - in any form, the information received reaps the benefits of effectiveness and efficiency.

An equally significant way of knowing a person as a person is to analyze the results of his work. Thanks to him, psychologists have the opportunity to indirectly study the psychology, mood, worldview, attitude towards the surrounding society of the subject, revealing his character traits, habits, aspirations, and the like. The characteristic of the method of analysis of products of activity includes work with drawings, crafts, applications of children whose consciousness is amenable to research, as well as paintings, musical works, singing of mentally ill patients or people who died from suicide, whose motives must be identified by forensic psychologists to issue their medical verdict.

A more extensive method of work in object research is called sociometric. Due to the fact that it is directly related to the study of the subject and his consciousness in connection with the people around him, the characteristics of the method of sociometry predetermine the group study of people by the psychologist. That is, the work of a specialist is carried out not with one person, but with him and his environment - a group of close people (colleagues, relatives, friends, friends - those who are with him most often).

Psychodiagnostic

Characteristics of the methods of psychodiagnostic analysis involves an empirical study of the object of study through testing. The test is one of the highest quality formsempirical study of an object in the person of a person, which allows, through a list of standardized questions with possible answers, to draw a clear picture for the psychologist about the patient in terms of his psychological state, if the research process is aimed at this. The versatility of the method and the characteristics of the classification of tests is represented by a wide range of various questionnaires:

• free - provide a question-answer within the framework of the subject's possible independent answers, that is, it is either a question for listing the list of correct answers that a person must reflect himself, or a test as a sentence with an addition, or a test to identify an error;
• structured - meaning the ability to answer yes or no, or underline the correct answer, or choose the best answer;
• scaled - represent the possibility of choosing an answer from one extreme to another: always, never, and in between - rarely, sometimes, often;
• with spaces - it means that the text in the body of which contains a space is reflected in the voluminous test task, and you need to fill this gap with the only correct answer.

Thus, choosing a specific type of test, a psychologist initially knows which method of studying an individual personality will suit him best in a given period of time working with a patient. The advantage of testing is the objectivity of assessing the psychological state of the test person, the efficiency in testing the method on a large number of different people, as well as the possibilitycomparison of data obtained by different specialists from different patients.

Experimental methods

Characteristics of experimental methods suggests that in the course of them there should be some kind of experience, on the basis of which certain conclusions are drawn regarding the object under study. The experiment is considered one of the main methods in the psychology of modernity - this is a way of considering an object in the circle of its cause-and-effect relationships, during which researchers create the conditions necessary for the manifestation and measurement of specific data to establish the necessary factors.

The main features of the experiment are the following:

• possibility of repeated application of research methods, if necessary, to test the hypothesis put forward;
• organization of a certain situation in which one or another property of the subject, required for study, is manifested;
• recordability of the data obtained during the experiment in order to fix the date, time, final indicators of the result obtained at the end of the experiment.

Experiments are often carried out not only for research purposes, but also for pedagogical purposes. The characteristics of the methods for studying the object of the experiment include four possible types of experiments:

• laboratory - is considered as accurate as possible, since it is carried out in a special place equipped for this with the help of various instrument designs;
• natural - involves the study of the object of study in a completelynormal and habitual conditions of existence for him, with the most frequent option that the subject does not even know about the experiment being carried out on him - he simply lives his life in a normal rhythm with the usual signs of his life activity;
• stating - aimed at stating a specific fact or refuting it based on the results of the experiment;
• formative - provides for a direct impact on the life and activities of the subject, assigning and imposing on him the conditions of living and functioning necessary for the study of specific psychological phenomena.

Methods of corrective action

In addition to the listed methods for studying the psychological state of a person and his relationship with his environment, methods that are based on specific psychological concepts are considered important: assessment, management, education.

The characteristics of upbringing methods are reflected, in particular, in classical psychoanalysis, which assumes the relationship of a person with his past, with childhood, with the adoption of childhood memorable moments in adult real life. So, working with a patient, a specialist from the field of psychology influences him in the course of treatment by balancing the balance between his current consciousness and current life, gradually switching him from the insults, problems, dangers of childhood, rooted in the patient’s memory, to a calm peaceful existence in the current real life. life.

Characteristics of assessment methods often appear in behavioral psychotherapy. This methodimpact on a person involves working with his phobias. So, for example, a patient comes to a psychologist complaining of a fear of the dark. The specialist objectively assesses the overall picture, the level of pathological fear of his patient and, for the purpose of psychotherapy, organizes situations for him in which he will go through his phobia again and again until he feels the extinction of the focus of his fears. At first, a psychologist will be present with his patient in a dark environment, then he will consolidate the effect obtained through independent training of the person who asked for help.

The characteristics of management methods are reflected through hypnosis, auto-training and neurolinguistic programming. As you know, hypnosis is based on immersing a person into a light unconscious state, in view of which a specialist can ask him all the questions that concern the patient and get those answers that are not distorted by the patient’s cunning due to his embarrassment or tendency to deceive. The task of the psychologist in this case is to give the patient the opportunity to look at the situation, which the patient considers a problem that depresses his consciousness, in a new light, in a positive way.

This also applies to the auto-training technique, only it involves one's own immersion in oneself, in the depths of one's consciousness in order to give oneself specific settings to achieve the effect of self-hypnosis. Regular organization of conditions in which the brain is reconfigured tothat “it should be better”, that “everything will be fine”, “I can”, “I can handle it”, helps a person to mobilize his energy in the right direction and go through life easily and naturally. The programming technique is exactly the same: through neurological influence and linguistic channels of influence on a person, you can set a psychological program for his further actions. Through perception with the help of hearing, vision, smell and language elements, a specialist penetrates into the mind of his patient in order to give him further attitudes and eliminate the psychological problems that disturb him.