Scientific Study of Personality Case

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The disadvantage of this method is that the person is not studied in detail and the reliability can be skewed (Cervone & Pervin, 2010).

Experimental design

Experimental design is the third method of approach in personality; this approach is referred to as laboratory studies. In this environment the professional is able to use a controlled setting. The professional is able to see what a part of the experiment affects the variables and if they were manipulated (Cervone & Pervin, 2010). In doing this the professional is able to manipulate certain variables and record the data objectively is an advantage of this process. When this method is used there are something’s that cannot be measured or manipulated in a laboratory: but the disadvantage is that it may create a false situation that confines the amount of findings.

Differences of the methods

There are several different methods that are used to study personality; but the three most commonly used methods are case studies, correlational designs, and experimental designs.

Each one of these methods defines and study personality differs as it can provide specific information that includes disadvantages and advantages for each method.

Clinical research includes a complete and comprehensive study of a person.

Correlational research measures specific variables and it tries to understand how each variable relates to one another.

Experimental research conducts on manipulation of specific variables and finds the outcomes (McCrae, 2011).

Clinicians and professionals are all different and it is at their discretion on what method that they feel will be of the most benefit to their patient.

Conclusion

Personality is defined as how a person feels, thinks, and behaves, but it also said that personality makes a person unique and different from other individuals in a sense personality makes a person who they are meaning that a person’s personality could be either bad or good.

This paper set out to give a psychologists definition of personality, it also gave an overview of the definition of personality, it went on to discuss the three most commonly used methods that are used in personality theories, it named the advantages and disadvantages of these methods, and how they are used in personality testing.

Reference

Cervone, D., & Pervin, L. A. (2010). Personality: Theory and research (11th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons Inc.

Cherry, K. (2015). About Education. Retrieved from http://www.psychology.about.com/odoverviewofpersonality/a/persondef.htm

McCrae, R. R. (July, 2011). Personality Theories for the 21st Century. Teaching of Psychology, 38(1), 209-214. doi:10.1177/0098628311411785

Schwartz, S. H., Cieciuch, J., & Vecchione, M. (October, 2012). Refining the theory of basic individual values. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103(4), 663-688. doi:10.1037/a0029393

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