TRENDS AND BEHAVIOR - Research Paper Example

Psychological researchers can use the internet to collect data from a large population in a cost effective manner. Researchers can expand their scale of subjects in a study easily without having to incur huge costs in terms of logistics and resources required. The article by Kraut et al (2004) points out that internet chat rooms, social networking sites and instant chat tools offer psychological researchers new ways of investigating social phenomena. Internet also presents psychologists with an opportunity to study very large social groups and analyze group behavior.

On top of this, internet enables researchers to easily collect archival information that is stored in datasets as well as automating some data collection However, the article notes that internet research also poses some challenges to psychological research. One of the concerns about internet research is the issue of data quality that is collected. According to Kraut et al (2004), the researcher has a lesser amount of control over the environment in which the research is carried out compared to traditional research methods.

For instance, it is difficult to accurately verify the details of the participants in internet research and the validity of the data collected. The issue of online anonymity can either be beneficial or detrimental to internet moderated research. This is due to the fact some internet based research participants may invest less time and focus on the research process since they may feel less accountable. In comparison to traditional research methods, internet based research is easier and cheaper to conduct.

The core benefits of internet research are cost and economies of scale (Dennisen et al, 2010). The use internet research enables a researcher to easily recruit subjects for a given study. It is possible to recruit a diverse sample of participants for a particular study by posting invitations in relevant websites and blog spots. In fact, the internet provides a researcher with a global audience which can be harnessed by a press of a button. It is easy for a psychologist to conduct research of a given behavior on all populations in the world at a fraction of the cost that it would take in traditional research (Brockman, 2011).

Also, internet is active for throughout and therefore the researcher can work full time to obtain the required results without being limited by normal day time schedules. Online research methods are also beneficial for observing social behavior. The psychologist can monitor and investigate the behavior of large groups without being obtrusive. People act more naturally when they know they are not under direct observation by third parties. In this regard, the psychologist can research on subjects’ behavior on social networking sites even without telling them.

One of the main concerns in regards to internet based research for psychologists is sample bias. A critical component of any academic research is that the sample selected must be representative of the entire target population. Therefore, internet research begs to question on whether the internet accessed samples are fully representative of the larger population (Kraut et al, 2004). The issue of sample bias in internet mediated research arises due to the fact most internet users are often persons who are technologically suave and educated.

This implies that illiterate people with little know-how are likely to be excluded from this