Projective methods are aimed at studying the properties of the personality, as well as the features of intelligence. The features that distinguish them from standardized methods of psychological research are the following.
Firstly, it is about the features of the stimulus material offered to the respondent. It is distinguished by its low structure, uncertainty and ambiguity. Only in this case will be able to "earn" and realize the projection principle. When the respondent begins to interact with the stimulus material, it is structured. But in this process, the person begins to project the characteristics of his mental world: anxieties, conflicts, needs, value orientations, and so on. Therefore, projective techniques are very convenient to use.
Secondly, the respondent is given a special task, which is relatively unstructured. She admits a huge number of diverse answers. It turns out that the study, which is carried out using projective techniques, is disguised. The respondent will not be able to guess what in his answers will become a subject for the interpretation of the experimenters. That is why projective techniques in psychology are subject to a minimum degree of falsification than those questionnaires that are based on information about the individual.
Thirdly, projective techniques differ in features in the processing and interpretation of the results. They are not standardized, since in most of them there is no mathematical apparatus in order to obtain objective processing of the results. Projective methods of personality research do not contain any norms. They are based on a qualitative rather than a quantitative approach. Therefore, up to now, optimal methods for testing them have not been developed, how reliable and valid they are. Therefore, to obtain the most accurate data, it is recommended to correlate the results with the data that are available from the use of other, more reliable methods.
Projective techniques are classified for various reasons. The most complete is the following:
- Addition techniques, when a set of stimulus words acts as a stimulus material. The respondent must name those words that will “come to mind” in connection with the word that was heard. For example, the associative test created by K.G. Jung, methodology of "unfinished offers." In addition, those techniques that need to be given a clear number of answer options are very popular. For example, the test "Who am I?"
- Interpretation techniques when a set of pictures and photographs acts as stimulus material. In this case, the respondent will be required to compose a whole story (SAT, TAT), based on the proposed pictures, or to answer the questions that are asked in situations on them, or you need to select pleasant and unpleasant photo-pictures. For example, the test for detecting Rosenzweig frustration, the Gilles technique or the Sondi test.
- Structuring techniques when analyzing associative relations that arose after viewing stimulus material that is unstructured. For example, the interpretation of Rorschach forms.
- Methods of studying expression, which is based on the analysis of handwriting or characteristics in speech behavior.
- Analysis of human creativity products, when the subject created by the respondent based on the assignment becomes the subject of interpretation. For example, "Two houses", "Pictogram", "Self-portrait" and so on.
Projective techniques are usually an additional method in psychological research.