Dse212_Tma01

TMA 01 part 1 Psychology is an evidenced based science and this has led to many differences of opinion over what constitutes reliable evidence and how that evidence should be interpreted. The types of evidence Different psychological methods and theories have gained and lost popularity over the last century, for example, the problems of acquiring reliable and comprehensive data from the method of eliciting subjective self reports of cognitions from people in ‘introspectionism’, led to ‘behaviourism’, the objective study of externally observable behaviours, being a favoured method, and then on to ‘cognitive psychology’ which, without returning to introspectionist methods, have included internal cognitive processes in their gamut of research aims, through mainly objective experimental methods. More recently, there has been a move towards the increased credence being given to subjective accounts from individuals. This essay will describe two of these methods, the Twenty Statements Test and Semi Structured Interviews along with an analysis of how these methods have developed our understanding of identity. The first of these methods is the Twenty Statement Test developed by Kuhn & McPartland in 1954 (Phoenix 2007, p47). In this method, participants are allowed 12 minutes to write down twenty statements in answer to the question “Who am I'”. The qualitative data collected is then analysed and responses are assigned to categories created by the researcher, designed to produce useful data toward the intended outcomes of the study. Examples of the types of responses are, physical characteristics, social or group roles, personality, interests, beliefs and current feelings or emotions. (Phoenix 2007, p47) Benefits of this method are firstly that it is very quick, the results can be analysed rapidly and it can be scaled up easily to a study of any size The method also encourages disclosure of more than one identity by not giving the participants time to consider answers and control the presentation of their identity. The Twenty Statements Test has provided a quick way of indirectly accessing an individuals insider accounts of how they perceive their identity. Limitations of this method are that: ▪ Due to lack of time allowed, the responses can lack a depth of thought or reflection which may otherwise produce more insightful and meaningful answers. ▪ Some of the detail and meaning in the written answers can be lost when data is categorised or summarised ▪ This method may be vulnerable to being criticised as only allowing a superficial description of identity and only gathering those aspects of identity which individuals are willing or able to recount in the allowed 12 minutes. ▪ Unknown Knowns will be rarely presented, for example, able bodied participant will rarely comment on how their identity is affected by being so, however, disabled participants will be all too aware of the consequence to their identity. (Phoenix 2007, p51) The second method to be discussed is the Semi Structured Interview developed by James Marcia in 1966 in order to provide a method of measuring the ideas of crisis in the development of Ego identity in adolescence put forward by Erik Erikson. (Phoenix 2007, p55) The Semi Structured Interview is designed to gather data on a specific theme whilst allowing flexibility in how the questions are asked, to enable the interviewees own words to be reflected back to them and developed further using counselling techniques to probe and develop responses. This also allows the interviewer to add spontaneous questions or follow tangential lines of inquiry suggested by participants answers The Semi Structured Interview is also a qualitative method, meaning that the data obtained is not directly measurable as the results will usually be descriptive personal accounts of peoples experiences, thoughts or feelings. However quantitative data can be produced if the researcher then creates categories for the data to be sorted into and establishes rules for the interpretation of how the responses qualify for these categories. The benefits of Semi Structured interviews are that: ▪ The interview can feel less formal to the interviewee than a structure interview with rigidly set questions. ▪ The qualitative data produced can be rich in reflection and depth of thought allowing analysis of themes, cognitions and perceptions in the persons account ▪ The data can also be analysed quantitatively, categorised and then manipulated as statistics to illustrate the outcomes of the study. Marcia’s Identity Status Interview is a Semi Structured Interview (Phoenix 2007, p58) and it has enabled the development and study of the four distinct stages in the development of identity which Marcia had identified, namely, Identity Diffusion, Identity Foreclosure, Moratorium and Identity Achievement. This has promoted the view that the healthy development of identity is a process involving all four of these stages as a fundamental task of adolescence and that this process necessarily involves a crisis of identity. As this method is quite time consuming for both interview and analysis. The samples have to be smaller than those for questionnaire studies for example the Twenty Statements Test discussed above. The quality of interview can also be dependent on interviewers skill and experience so two different interviewers could produce significantly different data with the same individual. Both of the methods discussed here lend themselves to be used in any of the main theories of identity. The depth of the responses varies but it is the theory applied to those responses which guides their meaning. The method chosen to work with people is very important in relation to the way in which individuals will attempt react or adapt to any situation they find themselves in, so the effect of the experiment itself on behaviour or cognitions needs to be minimised or allowed for when analysing the results. The researchers own life experiences, beliefs and cognitions can also influence the perspective from which the data are viewed. For example the possible feelings toward his mother experienced by Freud and the adolescent difficulties in establishing a stable identity of Erik Erikson (Bradley, 1989 cited in Phoenix & Thomas 2007, p14). Bibliography Phoenix, A. (2007) Identities and Diversities, in Miell, D. et.al (eds.), (2007), Mapping Psychology, Open University Phoenix, A. & Thomas, K. (2007) Psychology In The 21st Century, in Miell, D. et.al (eds.), (2007), Mapping Psychology, Open University Bradley, B.S. (1989) Visions of Infancy, Polity