Question

Identify and discuss some research designs that are used to study personality development. Respond to one of your peers with a critiques of the designs to include strengths and weaknesses.

Answer 1

Research designs are  set of methods and procedures used in collecting and analyzing measures of the variables specified in the problem research.It is a frame work created to find answers to research questions. Eg;: descriptive, hypotheses, experimental etc.

In personality studies the common research designs used are case study, correlational study, experimental study etc

Studying personality means asking the questions ',why are specefic people generally the way they are'.There are an array of approaches foe understanding personality development.

The different methods of personality assesment can be devided in to

1.subjective mrthods

2. objective methods.

Objective test measures aspects of an individual's personality in relation to academically recognized norms .Most common example is MMPI-2 that is Minnesota  Multiphasic Personality Inventory. It identify potential personality features such as anger or addiction. It is also used in settings such as mental health and medical fields. The test is comprehensive and designed to ward agaist false positives and lyings of the responents. this test is used for evaluaing candidates for high risk occupations. eg Airline piolets.

This test comes under the category' self report inventories',, involving ,the test takers read questions and then rate how well the question or statement applies to them.

Strengths
The tests are  standradised and use established norms.It is relatively easy to administer and have much higher reliability and validity than projective test .One individual might be high on a specefic trait, this trait can help the individual can gain greater insight in to his/her own behavioral pattern.It will help the indivdual to develope the trait and use it appropriately.

Disadantages

It is possible for people to engage in lying or giving false statements while answering the questions.Even tough questions can be used to prevent deception , people can still sucessfully provide false answers, often making an effort to make appear more socially acceptable and desirable.People are not always good at accurately describing their own behavior.People may overestimate certain tendencies (what society  consider as desirable). People may underestimate other charecteristics . This will cetainly affect the accuracy of the test.

Another defect is self report personality test can also be quite long.In some cases it take several hours to complete the test and the responents may get frustrated and bored, and so they will answer as quickly as possible even without reading the test items.

Proective test is a a subjective method of evaluation of personality Eg Rosarchach Ink Blot test

After looking at inkblots of varing shapes and colors clients are asked to descibe what they see.Studies shows that it is not an adequate test for understanding the nuances of personality.