Page 12 - lessonnotes_Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

 Psychological measurements do not have a true zero point.
 For example, no person has a zero intelligence.
 Scores on psychological studies are not absolute in nature, rather, they have
relative value.
b) Relative Nature of Psychological Tools:
 Psychological tests are developed keeping in view the salient features of a
particular context.
 For example, a test developed in the Western countries may or may not be
applicable in the Indian context.
c) Subjective Interpretation of Qualitative Data:
 Data from qualitative studies are largely subjective.
 The interpretations may vary from one individual to the other.
 It is, therefore, often suggested that in case of qualitative studies, the field work
should be done by more than one investigators who would discuss their
observations together and arrive at an agreement before assigning the final
meaning.

ETHICAL ISSUES

As psychological research is concerned with human behaviour, it should follow
certain ethics or moral principles while conducting the studies. These are-

1. Voluntary Participation :
 This principle states that the persons on whom you want to conduct the
study should have the choice to decide whether to participate or not to
participate in the study.
 The participants should have the freedom to decide about their
participation and also the freedom to withdraw from the research without
any penalty.

2. Informed Consent:
 This principle states that the potential participants must know what will
happen to them during the study before data is collected from them, so that
they can make an informed decision about the participation in the study.
 For experiments involves use of electric shock, harmful or unpleasant
stimuli, asked to give private information, for which it is important that the
participants should be explained about the nature of the study before its
actual commencement.
3. Debriefing: