Important Questions & Answers: Methods of Enquiry in Psychology | Psychology Class 11 - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Q.1. The variables on which the effect of independent variable is observed is called ___________.

dependent variable

Q.2. State two points of difference between Structured and Unstructured interview.

Q.3. Scientific observation is different from day to day observation in three respects. Explain.

(a) Selection

• Psychologist select one particular behaviour for observation instead of considering all.
• For example, you may be interested to know how children studying in Class XI spend their time in school.
• Based on this example two things are possible at this stage.
• As a researcher, you might think that you have a fairly good idea about what happens in school. You might prepare a list of activities and go to the school with a view to finding out their occurrences.
• Another aspect is, you do not know what happens in the school and, by your observation you would like to discover it.

(b) Recording: While observing, a researcher records the selected behaviour using different means, such as marking tallies for the already identified behaviour whenever they occur, taking notes describing each activity in greater detail using short hand or symbols, photographs, video recording, etc.
(c) Analysis of data: After the observations have been made, psychologists analyse whatever they have recorded with a view to derive some meaning out of it.

Q.4. Explain Participant and Non-Participant observation.

Observation can be done in two ways.
One, you may decide to observe the person or event from a distance.
Two, the observer may become part of the group being observed.

Participant Observation

• In participant observation, the observer becomes a part of the school or the group of people being observed.
• In participant observation, the observer takes some time to establish a rapport with the group so that they start accepting her/him as one of the group members.
• The degree of involvement of the observer with the group being observed would vary depending upon the focus of the study.

Non-Participant Observation

• In non participant observation , you decide to observe the person or event from a distance. An example is you want to observe the pattern of interaction between teachers and students in a particular class.
• There are many ways of achieving this goal. You can install a video camera to record the classroom activities, which you can see later and analyse.
• Alternatively, you may decide to sit in a corner of the class without interfering or participating in their everyday activities. This type of observation is called non-participant observation.
• The danger with this type of observation is that when you know someone is sitting and observing that will bring a change in the behaviour of students and the teacher.

Q.5. What do you understand by demographic information?

This information generally includes personal information like name, age, gender, birth order, number of siblings, education, occupation, marital status, number of children, locality of residence, caste, religion, parental education, occupation, and family income, etc.

Q.6. State two points of difference between Speed tests and Power tests.

Q.7. Explain Voluntary Participation as one of the ethical issues.

• 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 without any pressure or excessive inducement, and the freedom to withdraw from the research without penalty, once it has begun.

Q.8. State and explain any three goals of psychological enquiry.

Following are three goals of psychological enquiry :
Description

• In a psychological study, we attempt to describe a behaviour or a phenomenon as accurately as possible.This helps in distinguishing a particular behaviour from other behaviours.
• An example, the researcher may be interested in observing study habits among students.Study habits may consist of diverse range of behaviours, such as attending all your classes regularly, submitting assignments on time, planning your study schedule, studying according to the set schedule, revising your work on a daily basis etc.
• The researcher needs to describe her/his meaning of study habits. The description requires recording of a particular behaviour which helps in its proper understanding.

Prediction

• The second goal of scientific enquiry is prediction of behaviour. If you are able to understand and describe the behaviour accurately, you come to know the relationship of a particular behaviour with other types of behaviours, events, or phenomena.
• You can then forecast that under certain conditions this particular behaviour may occur within a certain margin of error.
• For example, on the basis of study, a researcher is able to establish a positive relationship between the amount of study time and achievement in different subjects.
• Later, if you come to know that a particular child devotes more time for study, you can predict that the child is likely to get good marks in the examination. Prediction becomes more accurate with the increase in the number of persons observed.

Explanation

• The third goal of psychological enquiry is to know the causal factors or determinants of behaviour. Psychologists are primarily interested in knowing the factors that make behaviour occur.
• For example, what makes some children more attentive in the class? Why some children devote less time for study as compared to others?
• Thus, this goal is concerned with identifying the determinants or antecedent conditions of the behaviour being studied so that cause-effect relationship between two variables (objects) or events could be established.

Q.9. Explain Speed and Power tests.

Psychological tests are also classified into speed and power tests.

• In a speed test, there is a time limit within which the test taker is required to answer all the items. Such a test evaluates the individual on the basis of time taken to answer the items accurately.
• In a speed test, all the items are of the same degree of difficulty.
• On the other hand, power test assesses the underlying ability (or power) of the individuals by allowing them sufficient time, i.e. these tests do not have any time limit.
• In a power test, the items are generally arranged in an increasing order of difficulty.If a person, for example, is unable to solve the 6th item, s/he will have difficulty in answering the subsequent items.
• It is, however, difficult to construct a pure speed or power test. Majority of the tests are a combination of both speed and power.

Q.10.  What are extraneous variables, and why should they be controlled in an experiment?

Extraneous variables are factors other than the independent variable that may influence the dependent variable, making it difficult to determine the actual cause of changes in the experiment. These variables need to be controlled to ensure that the results are solely due to the manipulation of the independent variable.

There are three types of extraneous variables:

1. Organismic Variables – These are individual differences among participants, such as personality traits, intelligence levels, or past experiences. For example, in an experiment on problem-solving ability, differences in intelligence among participants can affect the results.

2. Situational Variables – These refer to environmental factors such as temperature, lighting, noise, or time of day, which may impact participants’ behavior. For instance, if one group of participants completes a task in a quiet room while another does it in a noisy environment, the results may be influenced by the noise rather than the independent variable.

3. Sequential Variables – These occur when participants undergo multiple conditions or tasks, leading to fatigue, practice effects, or boredom. For example, if a participant is required to take multiple tests in one session, their performance may decline due to exhaustion rather than the effect of the independent variable.

By carefully controlling these variables, researchers can ensure that the observed changes in the dependent variable are actually caused by the independent variable, making the experiment more reliable and valid.