Goals & Objectives
Of
Psychological Research
Every science has goals. In physics, the goals are concerned with learning how the physical world works. In astronomy, the goals are to chart the universe and understand both how it came to be and what it is becoming.
The goals of psychologist conducting basic research are to describe, explain, and predict, and control behaviour.
The applied psychologist has a fifth goal also, that is application of psychological techniques and principles to improve the quality of human life. Most applied psychologists are able to conduct their own basis research, scientifically studying particular problem in order to solve them. The process of accomplishing one goal and moving on to the next is ideally a natural, flowing experience energised by the psychologist's interest in the question being studied.
☆ DESCRIPTION: What is Happening?
The first step in understanding anything is to give it a name. Description involves observing a behaviour and noting everything about it; for example, what is happening, where it happens, to whom it happens, and under what circumstances it happens.
For example, a teacher might notice that a young girl in second grade classroom is not behaving properly. She is not turning in her homework, her grades are slipping badly, and she seems to have a very negative attitude towards school. The teacher here describes the student's behaviour, and this description of what she is doing gives a starting place for the next goal : why is she doing it?
☆ EXPLANATION: Why is Happening?
To find out why the girl is not behaving properly, the teacher would most likely ask the school counsellor to administer some tests. Her parents might be asked to take her to a paediatrician to make sure that there is no physical illness, such as allergy. They might also take here to a psychologist to be assessed. In other words, the teacher and others are looking for an explanation for the young girl's behaviour.
Finding explanation for behaviour is a very important step in the process of forming theories of behaviour. A theory is a general explanation of a set of observations or facts. The goal of description provides the observations, and the goal of explanation helps to build the theory.
If all the tests seem to indicate that the young girl has a learning problem, such as dyslexia (an inability to read at expected levels for a particular age and degree of intelligence), the next step would be trying to predict what is likely to happen if the situation stays the same.
☆ PREDICTION: When Will It Happen Again?
Determining what will happen in the future is a prediction. In the example, the psychologist or counsellor would predict (based on previous research into similar situations), that this little girl will probably continue to do poorly in her schoolwork and may never to be able to reach her full learning potential.
Clearly, something needs to be done to change this prediction, and that is the point of the last of the four goals of psychology: changing or modifying behaviour.
☆ CONTROL: How Can It Be Changed?
Control, or the modification of some behaviour, has been somewhat controversial in the past. Some people hear the word control and think it is brainwashing, but that is not the focus of this goal. The goal is to change a behaviour from an undesirable one (such as failing in school) to a desirable one (such as academic success). Such efforts also include attempts at improving the quality of life.
In the example of the young girl, there are certain learning strategies that can be used to help a child (or an adult) who has dyslexia. She can be helped to improve her reading skills (Aylward etal, 2003; Shaywitz, 1996). The psychologist and educators would work together to find a training strategy that works best for this particular girl.
☆ APPLICATION: Improving The Quality of Life.
Psychological research are often conducted to solve various problems faced by the society at different levels such as individual, organization, or community. Psychological applications to solve problems in diverse settings, such as in a classroom in a school, or in an industry, or in a hospital, or even in a military establishment, demand professional help. Applications in the health sector are remarkable. Because of these efforts quality of life becomes a manor concern for psychologists.
Not all psychological investigations will try to meet all five of these goals. In some cases, the main focus might be on description and prediction, as it would be for a personality theorist who wants to know what people are like (description) and what they might do in certain situation (prediction).
Some psychologists are interested in both description and explanation, as in the case with experimental psychologists who design research to find explanations for observed (described) behaviour. Therapists, of course, would be more interested in control, although the other four goals would be important in getting to that goal.
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