Title: Descriptive Research | Introduction to Psychology
Headings: 
Descriptive Research
What you’ll learn to do: describe the strengths and weaknesses of descriptive, experimental, and correlational research
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Learning Objectives
Descriptive Research
Try It
Case Studies
Link to Learning
Try It
Naturalistic Observation
Try It
Surveys
Try It
Think It Over
Archival Research
Longitudinal and Cross-Sectional Research
Try It
Glossary

Content: In the lecture, you’ll learn about breaking social norms, “WEIRD” research, why expectations matter, how a warm cup of coffee might make you nicer, why you should change your answer on a multiple choice test, and why praise for intelligence won’t make you any smarter. YouTube
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Lec 2 | MIT 9.00SC Introduction to Psychology, Spring 2011
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Learning Objectives
Differentiate between descriptive, experimental, and correlational research
Explain the strengths and weaknesses of case studies, naturalistic observation, and surveys
Describe the strength and weaknesses of archival research
Compare longitudinal and cross-sectional approaches to research
Descriptive Research
There are many research methods available to psychologists in their efforts to understand, describe, and explain behavior and the cognitive and biological processes that underlie it. Some methods rely on observational techniques. Other approaches involve interactions between the researcher and the individuals who are being studied—ranging from a series of simple questions to extensive, in-depth interviews—to well-controlled experiments. The three main categories of psychological research are descriptive, correlational, and experimental research.