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"Anyone considering, or already studying psychology will have to learn about and understand research methods and statistics. The fact that research methods and statistics is nearly always compulsory should immediately alert you to its importance. In order to critcally evaluate the findings of key studies you need to be aware of how the data supporting those findings came about; and you can't seriously hope to conduct your own research with confidence unless you have a clear idea how to design, execute and analyse your investigation. When I first started supervising research dissertations and psychology projects I came across a large number of students who refused to consider doing anything other than indepth interviews, whether such an approach was appropriate for their particular invesigation or not. The most common reason for this was the incorrect assumption that qualitative research methods (text based) are much easier to understand and carry out proficiently than Quantitative (number based) research methods. "

As behavioral genetics enters a second century, the field's oldest research method remains both relevant and controversial. "Twins have a special claim upon our attention; it is, that their history affords means of distinguishing between the effects of tendencies received at birth, and those that were imposed by the special circumstances of their after lives." -- Sir Francis Galton, 19th century behavioral genetics pioneer, Inquiries into Human Faculty and its Development,1875 More than a century after Galton's observation, twin studies remain a favorite tool of behavioral geneticists. Researchers have used twin studies to try to disentangle the environmental and genetic backgrounds of a cornucopia of traits, from aggression to intelligence to schizophrenia to alcohol dependence. But despite the popularity of twin studies, some psychologists have long questioned assumptions that underlie them--like the supposition that fraternal and identical twins share equal environments or that people choose mates with traits unlike their own. The equal environments assumption, for example, has been debated for at least 40 years. Many researchers have found evidence that the assumption is valid, but others remain skeptical (see Further Reading below). Overall, twin studies assumptions remain controversial, says psychologist James Jaccard, PhD, a psychologist who studies statistical methods at the University at Albany of the State University of New York. In response, though, researchers are working to expand and develop twin study designs and statistical methods. And while the assumptions question remains a stumbling block for some researchers, many agree twin studies will continue to be an important tool--along with emerging genome and molecular research methods (see article page 42)--in shedding light on human behavioral genetics."