Research methods
Monday 12 May 2025
Research methodology comprises research methods, sampling techniques, procedures, data collection and analysis. It is part of every context and forms the focus of the class practicals. All students need to be familiar with the research methods and learning outcomes for research methodology (Psychology Guide, pp. 26-28). However, SL students are not assessed on data analysis and interpretation. One approach to teaching research methods is to teach the methods and their related concepts together.
To get started, check your course plan. For more help, see the blog post on planning your course and the corresponding InThinking pages. Consider the following questions:
* With which context am I planning to start the course?
* Which research method does the class practical for this context use?
* Should I introduce research methodology separately at the beginning of the course, or immediately within a specific context?
* When do I want to introduce the IA proposal planning, as I need to have introduced some relevant methods by this date?
The next step is to clearly define each research method and relate it to one or more key concepts. The most relevant concepts include bias, causality, and measurement. However, choosing a specific research method for a topic indicates a decision regarding the type of data required and reflects a particular perspective. All research must take ethical responsibility seriously, and longitudinal studies are crucial for measuring change. So we can see that all of the concepts are relevant, and any one can provide a helpful prompt for critical thinking about research.
Finally, review your course sequence to identify the contexts and their corresponding learning outcomes, enabling you to integrate appropriate research methods into each. A suggested approach to integrating the survey or questionnaire method is outlined below.
Integrating a research method
Which context are we exploring? | Human relationships |
Which research method is recommended for the class practical? | Survey/questionnaire (The IB Diploma psychology guide uses the two terms interchangeably). |
What is a definition of this method? | A set of questions, or in the case of a survey a series of questionnaires, used to obtain information from a respondent about a topic of interest. It may be distributed to large numbers of people online, or printed and given out, or the questionnaire may be completed face to face with the respondent. |
What are one or more relevant concepts? (These could be changed for others). | Bias – what are some issues with bias when using surveys to obtain data? Measurement – how can we measure something as personal as human relationships through surveys or questionnaires? |
How might I integrate this method into my unit? | By investigating how a survey/questionnaire could be designed to investigate the role of communication in interpersonal relationships. For example – a survey regarding the role of communication in personal relationship satisfaction could be sent out initially through a teen website on relationships. Then later it could be sent out again to a different population, maybe of older adults, for the purposes of comparing the results and drawing conclusions. |
Linking a research method immediately with a concept and context, as shown here, provides basic material for responding to the Paper 1 Section C question. However, this is just a suggestion. There are many other ways to integrate research methods. Surveys and questionnaires are, of course, used in other contexts, but this provides a good introduction to them.
Once students have learnt this research method in context, you might like to introduce another method and allow them to research and complete the sections, using the relevant InThinking research methods page.
Upcoming post
The next blog post will demonstrate how psychological theory can be applied to current events. Psychological principles need to be connected to social issues, and the new course demonstrates this by eliminating the need for intensive memorization of studies to focus instead on understanding theory. For example, mobile phones are now banned in schools in several countries. What psychological theory could be relevant to this decision, and how can we analyse the reasons given and the effects on student behaviour?