Appendix B

Associate Level Material

Appendix B

Research Methods Matrix

A psychologist is planning to conduct a study that would examine pathological liars and the quality of their romantic relationships. You have been asked to provide the psychologist with a recommendation for which research method should be used to gather data on the pathological liars and their spouses.

Using the table below list each research method and its advantages and disadvantages for use in this study.

|Research Method |Advantages |Disadvantages |

|Naturalistic Observation |Provides a great deal of firsthand behavioral|The presence of an observer may alter the |

| |information that is likely to be accurate |participants behavior. Basically a |

| |than reports after the fact. |pathological liar will just get better at |

| | |lying. |

|Case Studies |Yields a great deal of detailed descriptive |This method can be time consuming and |

| |information. |expensive |

|Surveys |Enables an immense amount of data to be |Sampling biases can skew results. Poorly |

| |gathered quickly and inexpensively. |constructed questions can result in |

| | |answers that are ambiguous, so data are |

| | |not clear. |

|Correlational Research...