Social Psychology: Association between Relationship and Friendship to psychology - Essay Example

TMA04 Project Proposal Form 2. Background 3. Method 4. Discussion Task Main Purpose This section deals with the proposed title of this project. The topic for this project is “Social Psychology: Association between Relationship and Friendship to psychology”. In this study, the main purpose of the research was to investigate the factors affecting interpersonal social relationship and interactions and how they define personality traits of an individual. It is based on a statement that social link between two parties or more in a relationship is derived from internal structures of individual orientation and self understanding of an individual. 2. Background Task 2: Addressing Study Questions The research also follows certain research questions to provide answers for them and to test the hypothesis of the study. The questions are: 1. Are there emotional attachments between people in friendships? 2. How does self esteem influence the nature of relationship between the associations between people? 3. Are there ways of improving relationships and friendships based on the psychological factors? The method chosen for data collection was to conduct an interview on two groups of participants in group discussions. It was a random selection of individuals, one from each of the two groups. Task 3: Relating the Project to DD307 This section deals with the relationship between this projects and the course materials in DD307. The topic of relationship and friendship is a subsection of the field of psychological studies. It has always formed part of social psychology among other social sciences as Sherif (1966) indicates in his social psychology study. The issues surrounding family set ups are never complete without discussions of Relationships and of emotional attachments that exist thereof. The information in the course books provides the qualitative data concerning the nature of friendships that form the relationships among people in the contemporary communities. It thus inspires the topic for this project by triggering lots of studies on family relationships and the emotional attachments that have defines the connections between people to one another. 4. Method According to Harter (1983), critical studies on the family setups have shown various styles of association and elements of socialization in relationships. This project explores researches that indicate possibility of changes that take place in relationships. It goes further to the discussions of the impact of various conditions influencing relationships. Most of the relationship studies simply divert to the elements of romance and affection. This study topic covers a wider view of friendship as an element of socialization that in essence leads to the development of every kind of relationship. The course book breaks the major topic of social psychology into various sub sections such as relationship between siblings, spousal relationships and parent to child relationship (Stainton-Rogers, 2003). This project is well designed to show the sequence of relationship development from socialization to friendship then to love relationship. Task 4: Theories The study presents certain theories that are employed in order to account for the findings of the research. A study by Frosh (2003) describes the sociological effects of Friendships. It is a combined discussion of psychology and psychosocial studies, with a view of human relations as well as emerging trends of socialization. Frosh shows Love as a bonding factor which promotes relationships for mature individuals in the process of socialization. The discussion by Burns (2006) shows the family unit as the central object of study in psychological and sociological developments. The author goes on to describe the role of emotional attributes as contributing factors to the interconnection between the body and the mind. He thus classifies sociological factors in relative form by referring to certain individuals as being highly social, during the examination of psychological functions of the body. Frosh in his critical discussion on psychological approaches appears to support the fact that some the stability of relationships depends on the nature of friendships the partners have and the amount of love that catalyzes the relationship. The second discussion is that of Goffman who discusses the issue of social psychology in a manner similar to Frosh. He relates psychological influences to the nature of interactions between people in mutual relationships (Goffman, 1983). The discussion is a review of American Sociological studies involving the order of interaction. According to Goffman (1983), the approach that Goffman presents, he is a discursive psychologist since he interprets qualitative methods from discussions on psychology. Goffman (1983) uses the description of personalities who have to cope with their emotional sufferings from their malfunctioning body parts in the understanding that they have to appreciate and live with their physical and social conditions. From the discussion by Horton-Salway (1998), it is clear that social psychology is a relevant study topic since it summarizes qualitative approaches to friendships, love and relationship. As an attempt to answer one of the study questions, one of the examples shows influence of emotional attachments on the mothers to daughter relationship. Burns (2006) describes the application of qualitative methods of psychological studies such as the examination of the discussions in research interactions. The sub topic reflects the use of Qualitative Research methods in Social and Psychological studies. The review also shows dialogues and critiques as parts of the continuous steps by which Social psychology perpetually undergoes rapid evolution. Most of the book chapters have shown advancements from previous reading which are obviously exceeded by the later approaches. Through this, the discussion in this resource indicates that they may have separate methods of analyzing social psychological attributes. This reading develops and diversifies to produce alternative methods, but puts more emphasis on the social psychological study of emotions, attitudes and personalities of individuals (Potter and Wetherell, 1987). In many chapters, the discussion presents stories of social psychology where moments of crisis changed the work of divergence of ideas into mainstream without distinction. The diversion of this discussion also manifests in the introduction of another theoretical concept referred to as ‘critical social psychology’. Task 5: Limitation of the study This research relates to the literature that is being described in various ways and of course it shows the limitations of the study. Principally, this research is about social psychology, and it aims at the exposition of the relationship between emotions and personality and the relationship between people. In this relationship, the project does not simply narrow down to romantic love, but uses qualitative approach of research to cover the vast topic of friendships (Edley, 2001). It thus discusses the relationship between siblings, between mothers and their children and between spouses or people in relationships expected to culminate into marital associations. The project study topic and discussion relates promptly to the literature discussions in the sense that all of the topics and references are about love and relationships. Secondly, the theory and the methods they apply are all similar, since they apply qualitative research methods. The qualitative researches evidently apply qualitative data such as emotions, attitudes, moods and reactions to sociological and psychological treatment (Edley, 2001). Social psychology takes the center stage of all the discussions no matter the variations of the directions and the emphasis that are given to a variety of subtopics. While some scholars such as Burns describe their study topics as a critical psychological approach, the others maintain the same discussion under topics such as ‘Personality’ and ‘Effects of love on marriage relationships’ (Burns, 2006). SECTION 2 5. Discussion Task 1: Theoretical Aspects In this section, we identify and discuss the theoretical aspect of social psychology that has been identified for use in the study among the three (discursive psychological, social psychoanalytic and phenomenological psychology). The course book shows the separation of critical psychological study into three fundamental perspectives; social psychoanalytic, phenomenological psychology and discursive psychological approach. Out of the three, this study focuses on the discursive psychological approach to conduct a qualitative data collection and analysis. The preference for the qualitative approach was influenced by the need to incorporate the active involvement of the participants (Billig et al., 1998). A discursive psychological approach enables the researcher to investigate the experiences of the participants by allowing them to produce their opinions and then to identify items of significance out of the participant’s own discussions. It is important because it uses real facts to illustrate the individual’s feelings and it is therefore easy to understand the friendship or the relationship which is being explored. The risk in this selection however, is that the researcher can use ambiguous and exceptional examples to make general conclusions for the study from the perspective of a single individual. This approach enables the researcher to describe and interpret the experience of the research participant. In this project for example, we wish to describe the individual experiences of young people who are get into cohabitation before they are married and compare to those who get married without cohabiting. Unlike phenomenological psychology, this approach allows the researcher to collect every detail from the participant’s experiences (Roseneil and Seymour, 1999). Task 2: Data Collection Methods In this study area, we identify the most appropriate method of data collection between the two (conducting interview on two separate participants and conducting a group discussion). Apart from that, we also apply ethical values while expressing the researcher’s attitude about the choice of this method. In the Data collection stage, this study will randomly select two separate participants and interview them individually using a set of qualitative interview questions. The interview method was preferred because it could provide room for active participation from the participants and enable the researcher to understand and interpret the significance of various experiences and events in the growth of the relationships in the participants’ situations (Roseneil and Seymour, 1999). The qualitative interview method enables the researcher to independently explore the individual experiences before comparing the experiences of the two separate interviewees (Edley, 2001). The differences and similarities between the different experiences of the participants enable the researcher to establish the direction of the relationship as well as the quality. The researcher will then be able to pursue the finer details of important events of every research participant to select the major points to focus on in the interview (Tuffin, 2004). The researcher will be able to attend to different elements in the two separate interview sessions depending on their priorities. In a discussion group however, this is not possible because the research participants will have the tendency to deviate from the focal point (Billig et al., 1998). Since the interviews are held separately, the interviewees are assured of confidentiality and can provide honest results as opposed to group discussion, where the participants tend to conceal sensitive information which they deem personal, yet may be very vital for this study. 5.1. Method of Analysis Task 3: Concepts of Social Psychology Brief explanation of the concepts of social psychology Interpretative repertoires Interpretative repertoires are some of the main analytic tools applied in critical discursive psychology to communicate data for assessment of various subjects of social psychology (Edley, 2001). It refers to the contradictory description that laboratory scientists give to the process of scientific discovery to construct scientific knowledge. In the topic of social psychology, it refers to the contradictory views of people concerning the social world. It is referred t as the basic unit or the analogy of conversation. Ideological dilemmas This term was suggested in social psychology since the commonsense knowledge had a lot of inconsistencies. Billig et al. (1998) describes it as the dilemma that is the characteristic of everyone’s communication in everyday life. Social psychologists recognized that expressed values and belief are not entirely the outward expression of internal attitudes. They instead recognize that cultural values are the practical ideologies that are expressed through normal life (‘lived ideologies’) (Tuffin, 2004). In the critical discursive psychology, we aim at identifying the views of commonsense explanations which people use. Their construction and application of the common knowledge and representations indicates the kind of dilemmas that may arise from the nature of their complexity and contradiction. Subject positions Subject Position refers to the concept of critical discursive psychology which is culturally available. They are the resources for communication of information to define people and their various identities (Roseneil and Seymour, 1999). Critical discursive psychology thus considers identities as the fluid that is produced through the communication, but not as the internal and fixed and unchanging subjects. Subject positions are inherently present in subject communication, but they are not fixed, since they can change from time to time in the historical context (Tuffin, 2004). Social identities are therefore defined using the already existing communication of the current subject positions about cultures. Task 4: Social aspect A section of discursive psychologists emphasize on the social aspect of the link that exist between their focus on the communication of data. For discursive social psychologists there is a link between the body and physical actions since they are practices are part of the physical. The meaning of symptoms and signs, practices and behavior is meticulously discursive. This means that there is nothing important without outside communication. To that effect, every understanding of bodies and physical practices must take place in an analysis of communication. In this scenario, we identify and emphasize on four aspects of communication. These include the social nature of the communication, historical nature, relation between communication and power and the way communication forms a part of the discourses and constitutes the body. In this section of the study, we present the understanding of the code of ethics concerning the consideration of social psychological issues. The code of ethics has to apply to every application of discursive psychological analysis as the most appropriate theoretical perspective. The code of ethics stipulates that the researcher must avoid violation of the ethical values of the research participants by keenly looking at the ethical code and strictly applying them. The researcher has to keep the anonymity of the names of participants from whom data are collected. He or she must store the data collected from the participants securely to avoid unauthorized access from external entities. At the end of the study, the researcher has to dispose the information. The researcher has to seek the consent of the participants before engaging them in the active participation and collecting information from them. The Researcher ought to record the interviews and store them separately on secure storage devices. At the same time, it will be important to record the serial numbers of the electronic equipment used in the recording, to assist in future audit trail in case of legal issues. The researcher will have to avoid any form of harassment while interacting with the participants and must ensure they are comfortable with the process. He or she should not force the participants to respond to their questions, but must give them the freedom to decide upon the responses to give or to conceal. The researcher will take care of his or her remarks to avoid insults or disturbance on the participant. The researcher must understand the objective of the study to avoid getting into private affairs of the participants that are irrelevant to the study. References Billig, M., Condor, S., Edwards, D., Gane, M., Middleton, D.J., and Radley, A.R. (1988). Ideological Dilemmas: A Social Psychology of Everyday Thinking. London: Sage. Burns, M. (2006). Bodies that speak: examining the dialogues in research interactions. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 3–18. Edley, N. (2001). Analyzing masculinity: interpretative repertoires, ideological dilemmas and subject positions. In Wetherell, M., Yates, S., and Taylor, S. (eds), Discourse as Data: A Guide for Analysis. London: Sage/Milton Keynes, The Open University. Frosh, S. (2003). Psychosocial studies and psychology: is a critical approach emerging? Human Relations, 56 (2), 1545–67. Goffman, E. (1983). The interaction order. American Sociological Review, 48, 1–7. Harter, S. (1983). Developmental perspectives on the self-system. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Horton-Salway, M. (1998). Mind and body in the discursive construction of ME: a struggle for authorship of an illness. PhD thesis, Loughborough University. Potter, J., and Wetherell, M. (1987). Discourse and Social Psychology: Beyond Attitudes and Behavior. London: Sage. Roseneil, S., and Seymour, J. (eds) (1999). Practising Identities. London: Macmillan. Sherif, M. (1966). In Common Predicament: Social Psychology of Intergroup Conflict and Cooperation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Stainton-Rogers, W. (2003). Social Psychology: Experimental and Critical Approaches. Buckingham: Open University Press. Tuffin, K. (2004). Introduction to Critical Social Psychology. London: Sage. DD307 Social Psychology: Critical Perspectives on Self and Others Ethical Approval Form This form needs to be completed by you and signed by your tutor before you carry out your project. Read the Project Booklet before completing this form. Please ensure that you send this form when you submit TMA 03. Approval from your tutor must be obtained before you collect any data. Please feel free to expand the boxes below. Name: Student PI no: Title of project: “Social Psychology: Association between Relationship and Friendship to psychology”. Participant recruitment: Please indicate who will take part and how your participant(s) will be recruited. (See the Project Booklet sections 3 and 5 concerning participants.) The study shall include male and female above the age of 18 years. The participation is not restricted to the participants who have engaged in relationships leading to marriages. This is because it also wants to investigate the statistics of relationships and why some participants have not gotten into any relationship. The study intends to study the relationship between the participants, whether they are married or cohabiting and their comments about the experiences they have. The study will randomly select two participants and interview them separately using already designed qualitative interviews. The first step of engaging them is to have them sign the participation consent form and to express their willingness to participate freely. The study will require counsellors as part of preparation to be able to handle emotional issues emerging from cases of challenges and disappointments in social relationships. The participants will also have to confirm with their partners whether they are approved of their participations so that the rights of their partners are not violated in the process. Ultimately, this study aims at collecting data without any interference with the family or relationship set up of the participants. They must show that they are comfortable with participation before they can participate in the interview. Outline summary (250 words max): State clearly and briefly what you propose to do and how you will do it. You should also include an anticipated timetable for the steps in your research project. (See the Project Booklet section 2.) The purpose of this study is to show the role of emotional attachments in the development of active social relationship between partners and members of families. It thus studies the relationship of people in marriages or friendships that lead to marriages, by showing the sequential steps that relationships go through before becoming marriages. Some of the expectations from the study are failures of relationships due to unrealistic objectives, attitudes and emotions. It will focus on the vital events and experiences which influence the process of restructuring the nature of the relationship. The research will only be involved in relationships between opposite sexes, but not same sex relationships in order to avoid controversial discussions related to the latter. The first step of the research is to prepare the objectives of the study which at this stage is complete. The preparation for data collection is the next step, which involves the preparation of structured questions to be used in the interview. Along with the questions, there will be the preparation of the consent forms for the participants of the research to sign. From this point on, the research will be focusing on data collection from the target group. After the collection, what will follow is the process of data analysis using the critical discursive approach. Each step will consume at least one week. From the analysis, the next step will be to interpret the data and provide the conclusions for the study through official publications. The presentations will also contain recommendations that the study leads to. The other important objective of the study is to store the raw and confidential information as secure as possible. Methods of data collection and analysis Tick one option from the choice of data collection methods and one option from the methods of data analysis. Data collection Data analysis Interview ? Discursive psychological ? Group discussion Phenomenological Social psychoanalytic Brief outline of ethical considerations Please read the abridged BPS ethical principles for conducting research with human participants in the Project Booklet – list of key issues provided below for information Participant safety Possible need for counseling Confidentiality and anonymity Consent, and safe storage of the data Debriefing participants Explaining the purpose of the research to the participants Storage of participant information and data Restricting access to the storage devices Disposal of participant information and data Keeping the information from external entities In no more than 200 words provide a discussion of ethical considerations that may impact on your study The code of ethics stipulates that the researcher must avoid violation of the ethical values of the research participants by keenly looking at the ethical code and strictly applying them. The researcher has to keep the anonymity of the names of participants from whom data are collected. He or she must store the data collected from the participants securely to avoid unauthorized access from external entities. At the end of the study, the researcher has to dispose the information. The researcher has to seek the consent of the participants before engaging them in the active participation and collecting information from them. The Researcher ought to record the interviews and store them separately on secure storage devices. At the same time, it will be important to record the serial numbers of the electronic equipment used in the recording, to assist in future audit trail in case of legal issues. The researcher will have to avoid any form of harassment while interacting with the participants and must ensure they are comfortable with the process. He or she should not force the participants to respond to their questions, but must give them the freedom to decide upon the responses to give or to conceal. The researcher will take care of his or her remarks to avoid insults or disturbance on the participant. The researcher must understand the objective of the study to avoid getting into private affairs of the participants that are irrelevant to the study. I have read the abridged BPS ethical principles for conducting research with human participants and confirm that to the best of my knowledge my work adheres to these principles. Student signature……………………………… Tutor use only: Proposal approved Resubmit Resubmit Low risk / Medium risk Unacceptable Tutor’s comments/suggested changes Tutor signature …………………………….. Read More