• Can be split into two broad categories: quantitative and qualitative.
• Think of it like food: some prefer burgers (quantitative), while others go for the fine dining experience (qualitative).

• Data comes in numbers, similar to how many bites are in a burger.
• Like in physics (remember Newton's laws of gravity?), it aims to find rules applicable to large groups, a bit like saying all burgers have buns, patties, and lettuce. This is called the nomothetic approach.
• Concepts in psychology, known as variables, are registered and quantified. Variables could be anything from the type of burger, the size, or the toppings.

• Constructs are theoretical variables like happiness, aggression, or love, kind of like the taste of a burger - you can't see it, but you can define and experience it.
• Operationalization makes these constructs measurable. For example, if the construct is 'love for burgers', operationalization could be 'the number of burgers eaten in a week'.

• There are three: experimental, correlational, and descriptive.
• Experimental Studies: We have an Independent Variable (IV), like the type of sauce in a burger, and a Dependent Variable (DV), such as people's satisfaction with the burger. If the satisfaction changes with the sauce type, we can say the sauce "caused" the change.
• Correlational Studies: We're looking for connections without messing with variables. For example, does the amount of time a person spends talking about burgers correlate with their love for burgers? But remember, we can't say which causes the other - maybe they talk a lot about burgers because they love them, or maybe they love them because they talk about them so much!
• Descriptive Studies: Imagine doing a survey on how many people like chicken burgers over beef burgers. We're just describing the situation without looking for connections.

• This is more like fine dining, where it's all about an in-depth experience.
• It delves into human experiences and interpretations, more like knowing why people love a particular dish.
• Data comes in the form of texts like interview transcripts or observation notes. Think of it like a food critic's notes on a new fancy restaurant.
• This approach is called the idiographic approach, focusing on deep understanding of specific cases instead of creating universal laws.

• There are five main types: observation, interview, focus group, case study, and content analysis.
• Observation and interviews are like sitting in a restaurant and watching what people order, or asking them why they ordered it.
• Focus groups and case studies are like having a small group of people try a new dish and give their feedback, or studying how a single chef creates a new recipe.
• Content analysis is like reviewing all the comments on a food blog to get an idea about people's preferences and opinions.

And there you go! Research methods in psychology, explained using food. Who knew research could be so delicious? Remember, it's not about which is better, quantitative or qualitative. It's about picking the right tool for the job, like choosing between a burger flipper or a chef's knife. Happy studying!