Research Methods has always been one of my favorite parts of psychology; whether you want to be a researcher or not, knowing how research works can be the difference between really understanding your field, or believing every headline that shows up in your newsfeed. I'd like to take a moment to discuss some research issues that, in my opinion, drive one of the biggest challenges in autism research today. Unfortunately, to make my point, I'll need to review some basic research concepts, so if you're already familiar then feel free to scroll on down (I recommend jumping back in around the bold "Let me give an example"). A Review of Research Methods 101 Empirical Research is research that is based on data; a researcher collects information, making efforts to maximize both precision and accuracy in their measurement, and then looks for relationships in the information they’ve collected. Generally, a researcher goes in with two or more variables (constructs that can
Does my autistic friend really want to see me? (Or, how to explain to your neurotypical friends when you want to make plans but are too burnt out)
A few days ago, someone approached me with concern: "I have this friend of a friend who I think is absolutely amazing, and I'd really like to get to know him myself. We've hung out and had conversations, and I always feel like it went well, but whenever we talk about doing something together, he says he's interested but then ignores any efforts I make to schedule the activity. He's autistic and I don't want to distance him based on a misread of his intentions, but I also don't want to annoy him if he's not interested. How do I know whether he's disinterested, or just not communicating in a way that I'm understanding?" It occurred to me that this is probably a question others have had about me -- likely on multiple occasions -- so I want to share my response with all of you. First, a general disclaimer: autistics aren't all alike, we don't all feel the same way and communicate the same way. I try to keep my posts as general and repr