ABSTRACT
In social research, as in any other field of science, the use of the scientific method requires that assertions be based on observable phenomena (see chap. 1). Inferences about the causes and processes underlying social behavior must first be grounded in observations that can be recorded and replicated. Research that employs the experimental method involves manipulating some aspect of the physical or social environment, and then observing and recording some type of response on the part of participants in the experimental session. In some studies, the observed response is an overt behavior or action of some kind (e.g., stopping to give help, pressing a button to deliver an electric shock to another person, choosing a gift). More often, however, the observed response is a written or oral report from a participant of his or her reactions to the situation, a judgment, or a decision. Similarly, in survey research involving interviews or questionnaires, the observations consist of respondents’self-reports of their behaviors, feelings, or beliefs. Because inner experiences-personal feelings and mental life-are not directly observable, social researchers must often rely on people’s introspective reports of their private experience to acquire data that are amenable to recording and quantification.
