Comparing Mainstream and Critical Psychology - 1708 Words

One of the main divisions between mainstream and critical psychology is that of the methods adopted. Discuss with reference to the cognitive social and at least one other social psychological perspective. The theoretical perspective of any approach in social psychology governs the methods adopted, which in turn have an affect on the knowledge produced. Using examples from the cognitive social and the discursive psychological perspectives, this essay examines how far it can be said that the methods adopted is one of the main divisions between mainstream and critical approaches. It will conclude that, whilst there are divisions between mainstream and critical social psychology, they are not clear-cut. It goes on to examine further†¦show more content†¦The discursive psychological approach analyses discourse, in the form of spoken or written word. The ontology is that people and their responses are socially constructed and situated, creating an identity that is contingent with that context. Researchers examine what is said in verbal or written form, analysing it to create qualitative data. The importance of this can be seen in the discussion by Hollway (Hollway, 2007) about research on ‘hate’, where there is an emphasis by discursive psychologists on collecting information as it is found naturalistically, rather than create it for their use. They do, however, sometimes make use of research interviews, and as Edwards points out (Edwards 1999, cited in Hollway, 2007) the validity of this continues to be debated for the same reasons as in experimentation: the control of the situation rests with the researcher, and the power relations involved result in questions about ecological validity. The power imbalance of researcher giving orders to participant in Milgram’s experiment is an obvious example of this. Comparing a research interview, the very act of asking a question means that the response is constrained to some extent, an example of demand characteristics. This is a subtle focus for debate, but it would make a difference to results. In an attempt to carefully control in order to obtain reliability of results, researchers from both mainstream and critical social psychology make it harder to obtainShow MoreRelatedSocial Psychology And Mainstream Approach2191 Words   |  9 Pagestowards Social Psychology and the mainstream approach, it is necessary to define the meanings of ‘critical social psychology’ and the ‘mainstream approach’ in order to view each meaning in an in-depth way. The essay will then be followed by support and a discussion of how the critical approaches view feminism research. The essay will then conclude by summar ising the essay and how both approaches can bring a varied and who view of social psychology. Introduction What is social psychology? A lot of researchersRead MoreQuestions On Thinking Towards Weibo1628 Words   |  7 Pages4.Critical thinking towards Weibo Just because of this freedom expression of Weibo, it also brings loads of rumors in cyber space. Famous American pioneer in personality psychology Gordon Willard Allport mentioned in his book â€Å"Psychology of Rumor† that he emphasis the unconfirmed of rumor. (Gordon Willard Allport, 1947) The French scholar Kapferer not only stresses on the unconfirmed of rumor but also emphasis the unofficial of rumor. (Jean-Noel Kapferer, 2011) In 2006, scholar Brendan NyhanRead MoreLgbt Community And The Community1240 Words   |  5 PagesStates. The paper will in addition be looking at the evolution, therefore comparing times along North Americans view on the LGBT community. Specifically, the essay will be mainly focused over the past six decades since there were major key events such as the big hippie (hippy) movement in the 1960’s that influenced the view of the LGBT community. The topic in set will reveal two social disciplines: psychology and history. Psychology is defined as â€Å"the study of human behaviour and mental processes†. ThisRead MoreThe Myers Briggs Type Indicator ( Mbti ) Are Both Personality Assessments Essay1096 Words   |  5 Pagesfor assessment, classification, human capital selection, motivation counseling and training, and not just an assessment inventory. (The Birkman Method: Your Personality at Work, 2013) The MBTI has produced a significant body of research. While the mainstream of MBTI studies has looked at classification of sixteen types, research has also been directed to the calculation of job performance. A major complication to the interpretation of structural research results is the disagreement among researchersRead MoreMy Field Experience At Interactive Neighborhood For Kids Essay1742 Words   |  7 Pageshesitant to explore due to parental discipline (Slavin,2012). I also observed a volunteer group from a special education course from Chestatee high school that would come and help clean the museum. My Field Experience: Connections to Educational Psychology Since I conducted my field experience in a non-traditional classroom setting, there were a limited number of activities I could do with the children. Primarily I spent my time observing the children at each exhibit. Particularly, how they used theirRead MoreOthering Through Media4677 Words   |  19 Pagesabout this unfamiliar other. Arguing that media have the potential to shape people’s perception of social relations and groups, this paper contains a literature review on the relation between media and the portrayal of ethnic minorities. By comparing mainstream media about minorities and ethnic media for and by minorities, I conclude that while the former is often guilty of negatively stereotyping minorities, the latter provide ethnic minorities with the opportunity to counterbalance these negativeRead MoreConsumer Behavior And Its Effect On Influencing Brand Recognition2427 Words   |  10 PagesBlackston, 1993; King, 1973; Plummer, 1984). The link between human and brand personality was made in two early research studies (Alt and Griggs, 1988; Batra et al., 1993), but the factor approach to the measurement of brand personality became a mainstream after Aaker’s (1997) article. Since Aaker’s (1997) article, brand personality research has been dominated by Aaker’s methodology (Freling et al., 2010), with all but one measurement scale (Sweeney and Brandon, 2006) using factor methods, and newRead MoreComparing and Contrasting Psychoanalytic and Existential/Humanistic Perspectives4364 Words   |  18 PagesIntroduction This essay is about comparing and contrasting two out of the eight personality theories commonly used to decipher one’s personality. Those two are the psychoanalytic perspective and the existential/humanistic perspective. Both perspectives are equally important as they play a major role in understanding personality in different ways and explaining them as well. Freud’s psychoanalysis helps us to understand the individual’s personality from its early years right up to adulthood whileRead MoreEthical And Ethical Aspects Of Social Ethics2191 Words   |  9 Pagessponsoring agencies, the public at large, and society. Ethics are self-regulating guidelines for making decisions. Research Ethics for Social Scientists states â€Å"for the conduct of social science research an understanding of normative ethics is more critical than a grasp of metaethics† (Isreal, Hays, 2010, pg. 12). Although codes, policies, and principles are very important they do not cover ever y situation and often require considerable interpretation. It is therefore important for researchers to learnRead MoreTransactional Analysis - Communication3356 Words   |  14 PagesTransactional analysis Eric Berne s Transactional Analysis - early TA history and theory Transactional Analysis is one of the most accessible theories of modern psychology. Transactional Analysis was founded by Eric Berne, and the famous parent adult child theory is still being developed today. Transactional Analysis has wide applications in clinical, therapeutic, organizational and personal development, encompassing communications, management, personality, relationships and behaviour. Whether