My name is Addy McCoy and I am a senior this year. I live in Cornelia, Georgia with my mom and dad. I spend all my time playing volleyball and when I have time I like to be with my friends. I’ve heard this is a fun class and I think psychology is super interesting so I’m excited to learn more about it!
When examining these articles, it seemed as if neither of the articles proved to be scientifically accurate. Both research studies used cross-sectional research, which is a method used when “a researcher compares multiple segments of the population at the same time” (Spielman, 2014, p. 47). In the article, Early Television Exposure and Subsequent Problems in Children, the researcher claims that their longitudinal research has been lacking, which leads readers to assume that their work might not be extremely accurate. The method to conduct one of the research studies was a survey, a method that has been proven to not be the most efficient due to many reasons such as the ability to not collect in depth data and the possibility of inaccurate answers from people (Speilman, 2014, p. 46).
I learned how important the different types of research methods are when conducting an experiment. Prior to the reading, I did not have a deep understanding on how research was organized and how the different methods have an effect on accuracy. For example, longitudinal research may be more effective than a survey because of deeper observations within a certain group of people in a long time span rather than generalization through a series of questions.