- Published: September 13, 2022
- Updated: September 13, 2022
- University / College: Rutgers University–Newark
- Language: English
- Downloads: 47
The research problem in the article is, “ Do people behave indiscernibly different ways when they are deceitful compared with when they are telling the truth?” Thus, the research aims to find out if people behave differently while telling the truth or when they are lying. The research methodology used was the literature search procedures that were recommended by Cooper (1998). They conducted computer-based searches of psychological abstracts and examined the reference lists from several reviews.
Their finding was that when one was telling lies, they tend to press their lips compared to those ones who are telling the truth. Another finding was that when one is telling lies, he or she might tend to avoid eye contact with the one they are talking with.
The article can be criticized in the sense that based on their finding; they try to generalize people according to the small sample they used. This is not the same since people behave differently. Therefore, one’s behaviour cannot be used to generalize on the entire population.
According to the methodology used, I feel that was appropriate as per their research question. The researcher used several methodology to compare information from different sources just to make sure they collect a comprehensive information. I feel that the conclusion was overdrawn. This is because, they concluded that the majority of those lying will behave in a certain manner, which is not really the truth. The sample size they used was too small to come up with such a conclusion.
A better way this study could have been conducted is by interviewing. Through interviews, you may get a more reliable information from the real people who lie. They can tell you the truth about their behaviour while telling lies thus come up with findings that are more appropriate.
I feel their research was excellent, only that they limited their methodologies. However, they would have considered a more appropriate hypothesis as their null hypothesis, which was much simpler to and appropriate.
One discussion question was whether liars behave differently with truth tellers. It was found that those telling lies behaved differently compared to those telling the truth.
