The Study of Lifespan Development, Part 5

Question 1: Discuss the disadvantages of social surveys.

Answer 1: Social surveys must overcome internal biases and a lack of responses. The surveys depend on the voluntary participation of subjects, which is often not forthcoming. Moreover, there may be significant differences between those who respond to a survey and those who do not, and these differences can call into question the validity of the study. When social surveys gather information through interviews, it is quite possible that the subjects will adjust their responses depending on the personality and perceived interests of the researcher. In other words, the subject of an interview is likely to conform his answers to what he believes the researcher wants. Some people lie during interviews, and other people are unwilling to discuss personal matters candidly. Finally, social surveys are almost impossible to use with infants and young children.

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Question 2: Identify the limitations of naturalistic observation.

Answer 2: Naturalistic observation tends to be only as good as the environment in which it is conducted. Since there is no manipulation of the environment, as there is in experimental research, all of the observations must be made with the caveat that total environmental control was not attempted. For this reason, there is always the possibility that unseen or unacknowledged factors are influencing behavior. Also, naturalistic observation tends to be weakened when the observer has specific biases or intentions in observation. Sometimes, observers merely see what they want to see. Finally, the subjects of naturalistic observation may alter their behavior because they know they are being observed.

Question 3: Discuss the limitations of cross-cultural studies.

Answer 3: Cross-cultural studies require money and travel, so it is common for much of the data to be collected by amateurs and untrained researchers. This means that the quality of the data is variable. In some cultures, there may be very little background information, and so researchers must basically start from scratch. Cross-cultural studies often over-generalize about foreign cultures, ignoring the differences between individual members of the group. Also, researchers who conduct cross-cultural studies must guard against overemphasizing their own cultural perspective. For instance, it has long been a contention of third-world citizens that their lives are seen only through the lens of American and Western European thought.

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