RESEARCH METHODS IN COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY

Community Psychology:
Community Psychology is a branch of psychology that deals with the behavior of an individual
with his society. It mainly studies the interconnectedness of humans, societies and communities.
It concerns with how individuals relate to society. Community psychology focuses on social issues,
social institutions, and other settings that influence individuals, groups, and organizations.

Research:
Research means to add a unique knowledge in the sea of existing knowledge. Research is creative
and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection,
organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic.

Community Based Research:

Community-based research is a methodological practice that uses scientific methods and places
community partnerships at the forefront. CBR approaches are marked by the following principles:
 Collaborative: Community partners and academic experts work together to develop questions
that are responsive to community needs, determine appropriate data collection methods, and
develop strategies for dissemination of effective knowledge.
 Change-oriented: Although community-based research can make important contributions to
knowledge, its ultimate objective is to promote positive social change. Community-based
research seeks to empower communities and effect policy changes.
 Inclusive: Community-based research seeks to democratize knowledge by recognizing and
valuing the unique strengths and perspectives of all members involved in the research process.
CBR projects often use multiple and innovative data collection strategies and analysis methods
that reflect the diverse expertise and experiences of the research team.

The Scientific Method of Research:

The scientific method of research is the process of answering questions in a systematic way. There
are six steps of the scientific method:

 Ask a question:
A question arises when the researcher faces a problem. During this stage, background research
on prior studies is performed, which is called literature review. A researcher must finds a
research gap in it, which leads to a question.
 Observations:
Observations are made with five senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch.
Observations may be both qualitative and quantitative. Quantitative observations are
considered more accurate than qualitative ones because the former are invariable and
measurable and can be recorded in terms of numbers.

 Form a hypothesis:
Observations do not become scientific observations until they are organized and related to a
question. Researcher organizes his/her and others’ observations into data form and constructs
a statement that may prove to be the answer of the problem under study. This tentative
explanation of observations is called a hypothesis. It may be defined as a proposition that
might be true.

 Interpret and analyze data:

Data analysis is necessary to prove or disprove a hypothesis by experimentation. It is done
through the application of statistical methods i.e. ratio and proportion.

 Perform the experiment:

The most basic step of research method is experimentation. A researcher performs
experiments to see if hypotheses are true or not. The deductions, which are drawn from
hypotheses, are subjected to rigorous testing. Through experimentations, researcher learns
which hypothesis is correct. The incorrect hypotheses are rejected and the one which proves
correct is accepted. An accepted hypothesis makes further predictions that provide an
important way to further test its validity.

 Draw conclusions:
Researcher gathers actual, quantitative data from experiments. Data for each of the groups are
then averaged and compared statistically. To draw conclusions, he/she (researcher) also uses
statistical analysis.

 Communicate results:
Researchers then publish their findings in scientific journals and books, in talks at national
and international meetings and in seminars at colleges and universities. Publishing of results
is an essential part of scientific method. It allows other people to verify the results or apply
the knowledge to solve other problems.

Traditional Community Research Methods:

The research designs or methods used traditionally in community psychology are following:
i. Descriptive Research
ii. Correlational Research
iii. Experimental Research
Descriptive Research:
Descriptive research is designed to create a snapshot of the current thoughts, feelings, or behavior
of individuals. Following are the three types of descriptive research: case studies, surveys, and
observation.
 Case Study Method
Sometimes the data in a descriptive research project are based on only a small set of individuals,
often only one person or a single small group. These research designs are known as case studies.
Sometimes case studies involve ordinary individuals.
For example, when developmental psychologist Jean Piaget used his observation of his own
children to develop his stage theory of cognitive development. More frequently, case studies are
conducted on individuals who have unusual or abnormal experiences or characteristics or who find
themselves in particularly difficult or stressful situations.
 Survey
In other cases the data from descriptive research projects come in the form of a survey. It is a
measure administered through either an interview or a written questionnaire to get a picture of the
beliefs or behaviours of a sample of people of interest. The people chosen to participate in the
research known as the sample, are selected to be representative of all the people that the researcher
wishes to know about. In election polls, for instance, a sample is taken from the population of all
likely voters in the upcoming elections.

 Observation
A final type of descriptive research known as naturalistic observation, is research based on the
observation of everyday events. For instance, a developmental psychologist who watches children
on a playground and describes what they say to each other while they play is conducting descriptive
research, as is a bio-psychologist who observes animals in their natural habitats. A community
psychologist may visit the flood affected areas and observe the issues faced by the sufferers.
One example of observational research involves a systematic procedure known as the strange
situation, used to get a picture of how adults and young children interact. The data that is collected
in the strange situation is systematically coded in a coding sheet.

Correlational Research:
Correlational methods include a class of designs and measurement procedures, as well as
techniques that allow one to examine the associations or relationships between two or more
variables in their natural environments. In other words, correlational methods do not contain
active manipulations of the variables under study rather they are usually descriptive.
The defining feature of correlational research is that neither variable is manipulated. It does not
matter how or where the variables are measured.
A researcher could have participants come to a laboratory to complete a computerized backward
digit span task and a computerized risky decision-making task and then assess the relationship
between participants’ scores on the two tasks.
A researcher could go to a shopping mall to ask people about their attitudes toward the environment
and their shopping habits and then assess the relationship between these two variables. Both of
these studies would be correlational because no independent variable is manipulated.

Experimental Research:
Experimental research is the act of applying experimental research methods to the study of human
behavior. Most experimental research in psychology uses human or animal subjects.
An experiment is a carefully designed procedure to answer a question or test a hypothesis. The
experimental design is considered by many to be the ‘gold standard’ for research.
Experiments include a class of designs e.g., between-groups designs where no two groups receive
the same treatment and measurement procedures that allow one to manipulate independent
variables and observe the resulting effects on dependent variables. There are two types of variables
used:
i. An independent variable is the condition that is varied between groups e.g., people in one
group receive a treatment; people in the other do not.
ii. The dependent variable is what the scientist measures to see the effects of the independent
variable e.g., doing better in terms of number of positive social contacts.

Alternative Community Research Methods:

The reason to do research is to understand the world better in which we live. Although traditional
designs and methods continue to hold sway over the field of psychology, there are alternatives that
have gained increasing currency. Users of these alternatives hope to gain a better sense of reality
and to recognize and overcome the limitations of traditional methods.
i. Ethnography:
Ethnography refers to a broad class of designs and measurement procedures where one speaks
directly with participants of the study. The primary purpose of ethnography is to allow one to gain
an understanding of how people view their own experiences. The effort is to see the world from
their perspective.
Ethnography allows an individual study participant to describe his or her own experiences without
having to translate them into the words of the researchers. In other words, the informants or
participants use their own language to describe their own experiences. An ethnographic
interviewer probably also explains why he or she is asking particular questions so the informants
understand more fully.
Similarly, in contrast to the more traditional scientific methodological efforts to remain objective
or neutral, in ethnography the value systems of the researcher may influence social interactions
between the researcher and the informants, and this is acknowledged.
ii. Participant Observation:
Participant observation is a special type of ethnographic technique. Although the researcher often
assumes the role of an observer, the usual assumption is that the observations are made with
detached neutrality. In participant observation, the researcher is actively engaged in the dynamics
within the setting. There are assumed to be ongoing dialogues between the researcher and the
participants.
iii. Epidemiology:
Epidemiology is a research methodology used in public health. The research entails the study of
the occurrence and distribution of diseases and other health-related conditions in populations. This
includes a broad class of designs and measurement procedures and techniques. There are two
measures of the rate of illness in the community: prevalence and incidence. The prevalence of a
disease or health-related condition is the total number of people within a given population who
have the disorder. Incidence refers to the number of people within a given population who have
acquired the condition within a specific time period such as a week, a month, or a year.
iv. Interview:
Interviews in community-based studies involve asking a series of questions to an individual with
knowledge or experiences about the community. A set of questions and probes are prepared in
advance specific to the interviewee. The interviews are audio recorded, from which written
transcriptions are made for data analysis purposes. Data analysis involves comparing the nominal
responses interviewees made to similar questions in order to list and describe the themes.
v. Focus Groups:
Focus groups have many similarities with the interview method. In both cases a series of questions
and probes are asked; the responses are recorded and transcribed; the written transcriptions become
the data to be analyzed. However, there are several aspects of focus groups that are unique. Focus
groups typically involve six-to-ten participants, last 75-to-90 minutes, and involve three-to-five
questions, plus probes.