Descriptive and Correlational Methods

Naturalistic observation and case studies

Descriptive research aims to accurately portray the current state of a phenomenon without manipulating any of its variables.

Naturalistic observation is a key technique in this group; it consists of recording behaviors as they occur in their natural habitat - such as an office or a factory - without making any modifications to the environment.

Its advantage lies in obtaining authentic samples of human behavior, although it lacks control over the factors that influence it.

Complementarily, the case study conducts an intensive, in-depth investigation of a single individual or a small group, often including psychological tests to gain a detailed insight into their history and personality.

Although they provide revealing findings, their main weakness is the difficulty in generalizing those results to larger populations due to the uniqueness of the cases studied.

Correlation coefficients and limits of causality

Correlational research seeks to determine whether there is a statistical relationship between two or more variables and the strength of that association.

The degree of connection is expressed by the correlation coefficient, a statistic that ranges from +1.0 to -1.0.

A positive correlation indicates that both variables increase or decrease together, while a negative correlation indicates that when one increases, the other decreases.

It is essential to understand that the fact that two factors are strongly related does not imply that one is the cause of the other.

For example, even if study time correlates with better grades, one cannot categorically state that study alone causes success without considering other variables.

This inability to demonstrate cause and effect is the main limitation of the correlational method, which nevertheless remains the most common in psychology because of its ease of detecting relationships in the real world.

Abstract

Descriptive research portrays the current state of a phenomenon without manipulating any variables. Naturalistic observation records authentic behaviors in their working habitat without modification.

The case study takes an in-depth look at an individual or small group through psychological testing. Although it offers revealing findings, its main weakness is the difficulty in generalizing the results.

Correlational studies determine whether there is a statistical relationship between factors by means of a coefficient. It is vital to understand that a strong correlation does not necessarily imply a causal relationship.