Research Methods and Designs - Abnormal Psychology

Research Methods and Designs

Research Methods and Designs

Samantha Clay

Abnormal Psychology

Research Methods and Designs

I have chose to discuss the three following research methods: Epidemiological Research, Cross Sectional Designs, and Research Across Cultures. I will define each method, provide strategies, give examples of probable situations that might arise during the research, and explain the different methods of evaluation found upon conducting the research. I also will discuss the challenges faced in certain methods of research along with the benefit of conducting certain methods of research.

In Epidemiological research, researchers study incidence, distribution, and consequences of a problem or a set of problems in one or more populations. There are different strategies that can help make these determinations, for example; prevalence, which is the amount of people with a disorder at any one time. Another strategy to help come to there determinations is incidence, the number of new cases during a specific time period. This study also explains the consequences of the disorder such as substance abuse, declined health, severe addiction, and loss of life.

Longitudinal designs are the systematic study of changes in the same individual or group examined over time. This type of research gives the advantage of assessing individual changes. This also allows researchers to monitor a group over a long period of time, preserving data for finding long -term participants. Researchers for example, study the use of spanking and how it influenced child behavior. How spanking promoted behavior and anger problems. The long-term effects of spanking used to discipline children and how it impacted them with age.

I believe the study is very detailed and researchers must be organized in keeping data to show the long-term effects of the research and how it affects these children in adulthood and how it plays a significant part in their choices for disciplining their children. I believe these researches though costly if the research question is something that affects our society in a negative way it can provide answers on how we make changes to avoid future generations in making these choices I’ve come to conclude this research method as productive.