Environmental Survey

discussion

You have now learned the three major methods of studying human social behavior: The experiment, the survey, and field methods. For each of these methods, you were required to read an article that illustrated research using the method to address different research questions.

For this discussion, you will go back to one of those articles (depending on your last name) and describe the major research question(s)/interest(s) in it, THEN you will discuss why you think the author(s) selected the method that they used, AND you will discuss what a study of the same research topic would look like using the other two methods. So if you are assigned the experimental article, for example, you will discuss why you think they chose that method, and what the study would have looked like (including how the findings would have been different) had they chosen to use a survey, and then field methods, to pursue the topic.

IF YOUR LAST NAME BEGINS WITH A-G: Go back to the EXPERIMENT article, and discuss the methods as described above.

IF YOUR LAST NAME BEGINS WITH H-O: Go back to the SURVEY article, and discuss the methods as described above.

IF YOUR LAST NAME BEGINS WITH P-Z: Go back to the FIELD RESEARCH article, and discuss the methods as described above.
im doing the experiment article.
and i only need one page!! one page only.
write it like this format:
1 major research question(s)/interest(s)
2 why you think the author(s) selected the experiment method
3 what if using survey method
4 what if using field research method

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Here are two example of answer:
1)Article read: Experiment

Research question and/or interests:

The researchers were mainly interested in the amount of snack-food the participants consumed and the degree of intake matching eating companions.

Why they selected this method:

Considering the researchers were trying to test a certain hypothesis (Behaving in a socially desirable manner was an important motive for men, while being socially desirable and appearing feminine were important for women), the experiment method worked best because it is the best way to test a tightly defined hypothesis.

Also their goal was to determine the cause of why men/women consumed the X amount of food and to which degree that would be. In their experiment, one of the overall themes of the experiment was that opposite sex had a true determining factor in amount of food consumed by the opposite sex. Simply, in the presence of the opposite sex, they either matched them or ate considerably less than if they were with the same sex. This explains also why they used the experimental method because it was a “systematic attempt” to see the relationship between the different variations/factors.

Survey:

If this had been conducted in the survey method, the researchers would have most likely done mail in surveys or online surveys. The results would have differed because this type of method’s goal is mainly to gain a description like a populations thoughts on an issues. In regards to this example, the description would probably show the gender they usually eat with.

Field research:

Although there is a situation to study in this method, the goal is to study the altering affects of amount of food consumed. By observing out on the field it would be hard to compare the results because they are only observing the situation that is on going. But with that being said, in some aspects it could work because they can study their social behavior tendencies.

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2)Article: Experiment

Major Research Question: How do people adjust their eating levels depending on others present? (Specifically examining gender and familiarity influences)

Why did the researchers choose do to an experiment?

The experiment allowed researchers to establish a controlled environment where they were able to systematically observe specific scenarios. The researchers had control over how each scenario was set up, and they could ensure adequate numbers of participants for each scenario.

What if the researchers had chosen to do a survey?

Eating might be considered a sensitive subject, more so to some people than to others and most people would likely answer questions in a way that made their eating habits appear most appropriate. Also, in the specific scenarios of the research, people may not be aware they altered their eating habits. The action is subtle and most likely not the result of a conscience decision, but in the case where people were intentionally eating less, they probably would not have admitted that on a survey.

What if the researchers had chosen to perform field research?

In most cases, people going out to enjoy a dinner together probably do not want to be actively observed by a researcher. Finding a location were participants could be recruited would have been difficult. Furthermore, the researchers were looking for specific scenarios, so they would also need to find people meeting their criteria and willing to invite a researcher to join them. Any observations they did made would most likely mirror the results of the experiment since the basic meal setting is the same.

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