NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Psychology Chapter 2: Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

Chapter at a glance

Exercise Questions

Answer

1. Description: describing a behaviour or phenomenon accurately and distinguishing it from other behaviours (e.g. defining what “study habits” include).
2. Prediction: forecasting when and under what conditions a behaviour will occur, based on relationships between variables (e.g. more practice → better performance).
3. Explanation: identifying the causes or antecedent conditions of a behaviour — why it occurs (cause-effect relationships).
4. Control: making a behaviour happen, reducing it or enhancing it (e.g. therapy to reduce anxiety, training to improve learning).
5. Application: applying knowledge to solve real-life problems and bring positive change (e.g. counselling, improving teaching methods); and generating new theories.

Description, prediction, explanation, control and application of behaviour.

Answer

1. Conceptualising a problem: selecting a topic and formulating a research question; then developing a hypothesis — a tentative, testable answer stating the relationship between variables. Ideas come from observation, past research, experience or theory.
2. Collecting data: deciding the participants (who), the method (observation, experiment, survey, test, case study), the tools (questionnaires, tests, interview schedules) and the procedure (how and when data will be collected).
3. Drawing conclusions: analysing the data using statistical (quantitative) or qualitative methods, and finding whether the hypothesis is supported or rejected.
4. Revising research conclusions: comparing the findings with existing theories; if they do not agree, theories are revised or new hypotheses are formulated and tested further. Science is thus a self-correcting process.

1. Conceptualise the problem and form a hypothesis; (2) collect data — participants, method, tools, procedure; (3) analyse data and draw conclusions; (4) revise conclusions and theories.

Answer

1. Types of data: demographic information (age, gender, education), physical information (living conditions, rural/urban), physiological data (heart rate, brain activity), and psychological information (intelligence, personality, emotions, attitudes, experiences).
2. Data are not independent of the physical or social context: behaviour varies with the situation (e.g. a person may be confident at home but shy in a crowd), so data must be interpreted in context.
3. Data are not independent of the method: what is collected depends on the method used (observation, interview, test) and the characteristics of the researcher and participants.
4. Data are not a direct reflection of reality: they are interpretations — e.g. self-reports may be influenced by memory or social desirability.
5. Data may be quantitative (numbers) or qualitative (descriptions, narratives).

Psychological data include demographic, physical, physiological and psychological information; they depend on context and method and are interpretations rather than direct reflections of reality, both quantitative and qualitative.

Answer

• The experimental group is the group of participants who are exposed to the independent variable (the manipulation or treatment).
• The control group is a comparable group treated identically in every respect except that it is not exposed to the independent variable.

The control group serves as a baseline; any difference in the dependent variable between the two groups can be attributed to the independent variable.

Example: to study the effect of music on concentration, Group A (experimental) solves arithmetic problems while soft music is played; Group B (control) solves the same problems in silence. Both groups are matched for age, ability and time of day. If Group A performs better or worse, the difference is due to music.

The experimental group receives the independent variable (treatment), while the control group, otherwise identical, does not; e.g. solving problems with music (experimental) vs in silence (control).

Answer

Hypothesis: “Children (or people) cycle faster in the presence of other people than when they are alone.” (Social facilitation.)

• Independent variable: the presence of people (present vs absent) — manipulated by the researcher.
• Dependent variable: the speed of cycling — measured as the outcome.

Hypothesis: people cycle faster in the presence of others than alone. Independent variable: presence of people; dependent variable: speed of cycling.

Answer

Strengths

1. It establishes cause-and-effect relationships between variables.
2. The researcher can control extraneous variables and manipulate the independent variable precisely.
3. Experiments can be replicated by others to verify the results.
4. Results are objective and quantifiable.

Weaknesses

1. Artificial setting: laboratory conditions are far removed from real life, so results may lack ecological validity (generalisability).
2. Not all problems can be studied experimentally due to practical or ethical reasons (e.g. effects of child abuse).
3. It is difficult to know and control all relevant variables.
4. Participants may behave differently because they know they are being studied (demand characteristics).

Field experiments and quasi-experiments partly overcome these limitations.

Strengths: establishes causation, controls variables, replicable and objective. Weaknesses: artificial settings limit generalisation, ethical/practical limits, difficulty controlling all variables, participant reactivity.

Answer

Method: naturalistic, non-participant observation — behaviour is observed in its natural setting (the nursery school) without any manipulation or control by the observer.

Process

1. Selection — decide what behaviour to observe (e.g. sharing, aggression, cooperation), which children, at what time.
2. Recording — record behaviour using notes, tally marks, checklists, video recording.
3. Analysis — analyse the recorded data to draw inferences about children’s play patterns.

The observer stays unobtrusive so that children behave naturally.

Merits

• Studies behaviour in its natural setting, so findings are realistic.
• Useful for studying young children or animals who cannot answer questions.
• Gives rich, first-hand information.

Demerits

• Time-consuming and labour-intensive.
• Observer bias — the observer’s expectations or values may influence what is recorded.
• Children may behave differently if they notice the observer (observer effect).
• No control over variables, so cause-effect cannot be established.

Naturalistic non-participant observation: select behaviour, record and analyse it without interference. Merits: realistic, suits children, rich data. Demerits: time-consuming, observer bias, observer effect, no causal conclusions.

Answer

Examples

1. Finding out the opinions of voters before an election (opinion poll).
2. Studying the study habits, screen time or after-school activities of secondary students, or attitudes towards family planning, or consumer preferences for a product.

Limitations

1. People may not give honest answers — they may give socially desirable responses or hide sensitive information.
2. Respondents may not remember information correctly.
3. Questions may be misunderstood; low literacy limits questionnaires.
4. Low response rate in mailed and online surveys.
5. Gives only surface-level information; not suitable for in-depth understanding.
6. Interviewer bias may affect responses.

E.g. pre-election opinion polls and surveys of students’ study habits. Limitations: dishonest or socially desirable answers, faulty memory, misunderstood questions, low response rates, shallow data, interviewer bias.

Answer

An interview is a direct, flexible conversation allowing clarification (suits illiterates but is costly and slow); a questionnaire is a written set of questions, quick and economical for large groups but needs literacy and allows no clarification.

Answer

A standardised psychological test is an objective instrument used to assess a characteristic (e.g. intelligence, aptitude, personality). Its characteristics:

1. Reliability — consistency of scores: the test gives similar results when repeated (test-retest reliability) or across two halves (split-half reliability).
2. Validity — the test measures what it claims to measure (e.g. an intelligence test should measure intelligence, not language ability).
3. Norms — the average performance of a large representative group, against which an individual’s score is compared.
4. Standardised procedures — uniform instructions, administration, scoring and interpretation for all test-takers.
5. Objectivity — scoring is free from the examiner’s personal judgement.

Reliability (consistent results), validity (measures what it claims), norms (standard reference scores), uniform procedures of administration and scoring, and objectivity.

Answer

1. Lack of a true zero point: psychological measurement has no absolute zero (e.g. no one has zero intelligence), so scores are relative and cannot be interpreted as absolute quantities.
2. Relative nature of psychological tools: tests developed in one culture may not be valid in another; they need to be adapted for different contexts.
3. Subjective interpretation of qualitative data: data from interviews and case studies depend on the researcher’s interpretation, which may differ between researchers.
4. Human behaviour is complex and influenced by many variables, which cannot all be controlled; participants may also react to being studied.

No true zero point in measurement, culture-bound relative tools, subjective interpretation of qualitative data, and the complexity of behaviour that cannot be fully controlled.

Answer

1. Voluntary participation: participants must take part of their own free will and be free to withdraw at any time without penalty.
2. Informed consent: participants should be told about the nature of the study and possible risks before it starts, and agree to participate (for children, parents/guardians give consent).
3. Debriefing: after the study, participants are given full information about its purpose, and any distress or misunderstanding caused is removed, so they leave in the same state as they came.
4. Sharing the results: the researcher should share the findings with participants.
5. Confidentiality of data source: participants’ privacy must be protected; information should be kept confidential, identities coded and used only for research.
6. Protection from physical and psychological harm.

Voluntary participation, informed consent, debriefing, sharing results with participants, confidentiality and protection from harm.

Topic checklist

• Goals and steps of scientific enquiry
• Nature of psychological data
• Methods: observation, experiment, correlation, survey, tests, case study
• Limitations of psychological enquiry
• Ethical guidelines

Total questions answered: 12 of 12