Title: Social Psychology Research Methods
Headings: How Social Psychologists Conduct Their Research
How Social Psychologists Conduct Their Research
Social Behavior
Descriptive Research
Types of Descriptive Research
Surveys
The Observational Method
Case Studies
Correlational Research
Experimental Research
Why Social Research Methods Are Important

Content: Surveys
Surveys are probably one of the most frequently used types of descriptive research. Such surveys usually rely on self-report inventories in which people fill out questionnaires about their own behaviors or opinions. The advantage of the survey method is that it allows social psychology researchers to gather a large amount of data relatively quickly, easily, and cheaply. The Observational Method
This involves watching people and describing their behavior. Sometimes referred to as field observation, this can involve creating a scenario in a lab and then watching how people respond or performing naturalistic observation in the subject's own environment. Each type of observation has its own strengths and weaknesses. Researchers might prefer using observational methods in a lab in order to gain greater control over possible extraneous variables, while they might prefer using naturalistic observation in order to obtain greater ecological validity. However, lab observations tend to be more costly and difficult to implement than naturalistic observations. Case Studies
A case study involves the in-depth observation of a single individual or group. Case studies can allow researchers to gain insight into things that are very rare or even impossible to reproduce in experimental settings.