Discuss one or more research methods used in the study of personal relationships.

Refer to the paper 2 assessment criteria when awarding marks. These can be found under the “Your tests” tab > supplemental materials.

The command term “discuss” requires candidates to offer a considered review of research methods used in the study of personal relationships.

Relevant research methods could include, but are not limited to:

• interviews (eg focus group, semi-structured)
• naturalistic observations
• correlational studies (eg surveys)
• case study
• experiments.

Examples of studies that may be used could include:

• Flora and Segrin’s (2003) study, using interviews, of the relational history in married and dating couples
• Gupta and Singh’s (1982) study interviewing couples in love relationships and arranged marriages
• Glenn’s (2005) study using interviews and questionnaires to investigate cultural grounding of personal relationships
• Gatter and Hodkinson’s (2016) study of Tinder versus online dating agencies, using correlational design with a convenience sample and snowball sampling
• Levenson and Gottman’s (1983) observational study of marital dissatisfaction.

Discussion points may include, but are not limited to:

• demand characteristics/social desirability effect in self-reported studies
• experimental research may lack ecological validity
• issues and problems related to gender and cross-cultural differences
• sampling bias
• validity and reliability
• ethical considerations.