USE OF QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Abstract

For almost two centuries, psychology has been trying to find (and for the last one and a half hundred years, to scientifically substantiate) adequate methods of researching its subject. Special activity on the part of researchers, who mostly had a natural education, was noticeable in the early stages of the formation of psychological science. Since the chosen field of knowledge was unknown to them, the conceptual solution underlying the methods was brought from the exact sciences: diagnostic tools should provide absolutely accurate measurements of the characteristics of psychological phenomena. Over time, it turned out that the mental essence of a person is too complex to provide such dimensions. Awareness of this fact not only caused skepticism among many critics of psychology as a science, but also created a crisis in it. It can be absolutely categorically stated that this criticism continues to this day. Moreover, the opponents' arguments very often boil down to solving the dilemma: to use or not to use mathematical procedures in the study of psychological variables. Despite the fact that the debate between scientists continues, the right decision is sometimes raised by the very logic of life or, more correctly, those striking changes that are caused by scientific progress. Thus, the capabilities of modern computer technology, a wide variety of software, wide access to information sources posted on many Internet resource sites, allow conducting research using various quantitative and qualitative data processing procedures, which are based on the principle of information content analysis. Nevertheless, today (unfortunately) psychologists do not use them too actively, while scientists in the field of sociology, political science, history, philology, etc., have long found their permanent use. The article proposed by us highlights some aspects of the use of these methods, and therefore will be useful for those who seek to deepen their knowledge and gain the necessary scientific and methodological experience.