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.