Health and illness are influenced by a wide variety of factors.
While contagious and
hereditary illness are common, many behavioral and psychological factors can impact
overall physical well-being and various medical conditions.
The field of health psychology is focused on promoting health as well as the prevention and
treatment of disease and illness. Health psychologists also focus on understanding how
people react to, cope with, and recover from illness. Some health psychologists work to
improve the health care system and the government's approach to health care policy.
Division 38 of the American Psychological Association is devoted to health psychology.
According to the division, their focus is on a better understanding of health and illness,
studying the psychological factors that impact health, and contributing to the health care
system and health policy
Types Of Research Methods
A case study is an in-depth study of one person, group, or event. In a case study, nearly
every aspect of the subject's life and history is analyzed to seek patterns and causes of
behavior. Case studies can be used in a variety of fields including psychology, medicine,
education, anthropology, political science, and social work.
The hope is that learning gained from studying one case can be generalized to many others.
Unfortunately, case studies tend to be highly subjective and it is sometimes difficult to
generalize results to a larger population.
While case studies focus on a single individual or group, they follow a format that is similar to
other types of psychology writing. If you are writing a case study, it is important to follow the
rules of APA format
A case study can have both strengths and weaknesses. Researchers must consider these
pros and cons before deciding if this type of study is appropriate for their needs.
One of the greatest advantages of a case study is that it allows researchers to investigate
things that are often difficult to impossible to replicate in a lab. Some other benefits of a case
study
Allows researchers to collect a great deal of information
Give researchers the chance to collect information on rare or unusual cases
Allows researchers to develop hypotheses that can be explored in experimental research
On the negative side, a case study:
Cannot necessarily be generalized to the larger population
Cannot demonstrate cause and effect
May not be scientifically rigorous
Can lead to bias
Researchers may choose to perform a case study if they are interested in exploring a unique
or recently discovered phenomenon. The insights gained from such research can then help
the researchers develop additional ideas and study questions that might then be explored in
future studies.
Anecdotal evidence is evidence collected in an informal manner and relying heavily on
personal experience1. There is a big difference between anecdotal evidence and scientific
evidence. Scientific evidence is based on findings from systematic observations,
measurement and experimentation and any person can independently verify or confirm it
using the scientific method.
Anecdotal evidence proves based on personal experience and isolated examples whether
this or that development or story is true or false. Since personal experience is the key basis
for anecdotal evidence, unlike scientific evidence, it cannot be verified independently.
When people strongly believe that their opinions are true, they refer only to that information
which further confirms their beliefs. It is called “predisposition” in the process of information
searching.
We come across anecdotal evidence in our everyday life and any person we meet can be its
source: a family member, neighbor, local shop cashier, hairdresser, taxi driver, etc.
The purpose of this research was to study the impact of disinformation and conspiracy
theories on public perceptions and to analyze which anecdotal evidence is spread in the
society regarding the West. The survey also aimed to study public attitudes towards some
foreign policy issues.
