Essay Example on Research Methods in Psychology

INTRODUCTION

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A dream is a set desire to achieve something. Dreams are specific, strategic and realistic with set deadlines. Dreams incites hope and longlining, however successful dreams are accomplished through action, not desire alone. Our country’s is driven on the pursuit of life, liberty and the American dream. It’s the internal drive that influences our decision, long-term and short-term goals. The opportunity to dream is free to any willing participant, however what it takes to achieve a dream is up to you.

Past research suggests that individuals’ desires are driven by various intrinsic and extrinsic motivations (Assaraf, 2014). However one’s successful achievement of such dreams can be impacted by factors: age, gender and socio-economic status. This research aims to investigate how age, gender, and socio-economic status positively and/or negatively impacts one’s ability to achieve their heart-felt dreams.

This is a research proposal paper that is going to focus on dreams. This paper will focus on the following research aspects in details:

1. Participants

2. Materials

3. Procedures

4. Ethical concerns

5. Preparation of raw data

6. Analytic procedures

7. Descriptive statistics

8. Anticipated results

Types of research methods in psychology

PARTICIPANTS

To avoid selection bias, the research is set to use 30 participants randomly selected in equal male to female ratio. Two students would will be selected from each departments. The whole idea of using this criterion for choosing participants is to ensure that everyone is presented fairly (Ogden & Goldberg, 2002).

MATERIALS

This being an online survey, the materials needed will basically be computers with internet access. Each student will be given website details where they are going to fill a questionnaire online and submit it for analysis.

PROCEDURES

In coming up with methodology procedures, data are to be collected from primary sources. The survey will be administered to individuals taking PSY 520 strictly and therefore, secondary sources will not be necessary.

The following procedures would be effective:

1. Questionnaires – the research committee is to come up with open and close-ended questionnaires that are going to emphasize on dreams. The questionnaires will include a personal details section that is going to be used in analyzing the various responses from different target groups. The participants will be advised to provide information that is true and reliable for accurate findings. The questionnaires will not be too detailed to avoid boring the participants as this could make them fill in just for the sake of completing purposes.

Reliability and validity will be ensured by restricting the research to psychology students. The response format of the survey will be simple structured comprising of only 10 items completed in a span of thirty minutes maximum.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

1. The surveys and identity of the participants will be kept private.

2. The participants will be selected on a voluntary basis and no one will be coerced into participating in the research.

3. If a participant wishes to withdraw from the research at any point, he/she will be allowed.

4. Bribery and corruption such as offering money for information will be avoided.

It needs to be conducted in such a way that it will not offend or get into the private space of the participants. Having in mind that the participants are the primary source of data, a lot of caution ought to be taken while dealing with them. The research members should be cooperative with the participants and make them comfortable so as they can give us the information we need. With these ethical considerations observed, the integrity of the research will be outstanding and unquestionable.

DATA ANALYSIS

Data analysis techniques such as frequency, median and mean will be used to summarize the information collected. For every question in the questionnaire, a frequency table will be made to see what the most popular answer is and what made it popular. In coming up with age data, mathematical methods such as mean and mode will be used to deduce average age details.

ANTICIPATED RESULTS

I anticipate to find evidence from the research to support my hypothesis but also give allowance to evidences contradicting my hypothesis.

For instance, females’ dreams vary from males’. In general, males tend to be more motivated as comparted to males and they tend to have bigger dreams. This does not mean that females don’t have big dreams but their frequency is quite low.

When it comes to age, the size of dreams reduces with increasing age. Very few adults still hang on to their dreams as most just become contented with their current position and this hinders them from dreaming more.

We also give allowance to the percentage of participants with no real dreams and believe in living life as it comes.This are predictions based on past researches and current trends (Assaraf, 2014).

REFERENCES

Assaraf, J. (2014). Having it all. New York: Atria Books.

Ogden, T. & Goldberg, I. (2002). Research proposals. San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press.