Like any other science, psychology has its own components that determine what it interacts with, what it studies and what it relies on in its research. This is the subject, tasks and methods of psychology - the three "whales" on which, in fact, is the basis of psychological science.
The subject of psychology is the functioning of the psyche, its laws.
The tasks of psychology: knowledge of the foundations and mechanisms of the emergence of mental activity and activity; identification and systematization of the detected phenomena and patterns; identification of mechanisms for the implementation of the established law; practical use and competent implementation of results and knowledge in real life.
Psychology also has a variety of methods in its arsenal. Their diversity is associated with many factors: objects and objects of research, the relevance of a particular method in a specific situation, and so on. In addition, the methods and methods are interpreted differently, there are different psychological schools, and time adjusts the need for certain methods, due to which some disappear, others appear, existing ones change. However, there are classifications of methods of psychology that are multifaceted and universal. One of these classifications was proposed by B.G. Ananyev, a classic of Russian psychology.
So, what methods of psychology does Ananyev offer?
1. Organizational methods. This is the most global in the meaningful sense group of methods of psychology on which the study is based. This group includes: comparative method, longitudinal, integrated.
2. Empirical methods. This is the most extensive and ramified group of methods on the basis of which the practice of research is actually based. We single out the main methods that belong to this group. This: observation, self-observation (it is also called introspection), experiment. The experiment, in turn, has many divisions: distinguish laboratory, field, training, psychological and pedagogical, modeling and other types of experiment. The natural (field) experiment, which was proposed by the domestic psychologist Lazursky, is one of the most reliable and accurate methods, since throughout the entire period of such an experiment, the subject does not guess about his participation in the study, therefore, the facts are not distorted and the results are most accurate .
Such methods of psychology as a test, questionnaire, questionnaire are perhaps the most effective and efficient methods of psychological research. Despite the fact that they have been used for over a hundred years in psychological practice, these methods do not give up their positions, and their popularity is only growing.
What other methods of psychology are included in this group? The method of conversation, analysis of the products of activity and the method of modeling.
3. Processing the results. This group is a unity of quantitative and qualitative analysis.
4. Interpretation methods. They serve to interpret, decrypt and explain the results obtained as a result of the study.
It is worth emphasizing that different methods of psychology are good for different types of psychology. Say, the methods of psychology of labor will be based on the following structure (according to Kotelova):
1. The method of observation.
2. The survey method.
3. Analysis of production documentation as an auxiliary for the first and second methods.
4. Interpretation, verification and decryption as a final stage
This structure is given here in a simplified version, since in the full version it looks very voluminous. But in this case, the methods of psychology and their principles are very clear in such a structure. As for not research, but practical issues, this includes methods such as developmental trainings, role-playing games and others that contribute to the improvement of labor skills.