Psychology Unit 1 - Research Methods

Write one suitable question that could be used in the interviews to produce qualitative data. (2)

"Tell me what it was like in the institution"

Identify two ethical issues that the psychologist would need to consider in this research. Explain how the psychologist could deal with one of these issues. (5)

- Right to withdraw - Protection from harm When discussing potentially sensitive subjects of the participants' childhood they may feel stressed. To protect the participants from potential harm, the researcher should remind them that they have a right to withdraw if at any point their level of stress is higher than anticipated. Debriefing should happen after the investigation to discuss the participants' experiences of the research.

How does a field experiment differ from a natural experiment? (2)

A field study has control over extraneous variable while a natural experiment does not. That means that there is less likelihood of events outside of the experimenter's control affecting the results of the experiment in a field study.

Suggest one limitation of using this sampling technique. (2)

A limitation of a volunteer sample is that it is biased because some people are more likely to volunteer than others.

What is meant by a hypothesis? (2)

A precise, testable statement about the expected outcome of an investigation. It is usually based on some previous observations.

Why is an experimental hypothesis not used in a correlational study? (1)

Because correlational studies do not predict a cause and effect relationship, just an association.

Apart from ethical issues, explain one or more limitations of using case studies. (4)

Because of its idiographic and unique nature it is difficult to generalise the results beyond the individual or group being studied. Therefore there is low population validity. Also, researchers may get to know the individual well, which may lead to loss of objectivity and high researcher bias, which questions the case's scientific credibility.

A psychologist assessed the aggressive behaviour of 100 five-year-old children who were starting school. The children had attended day care for at least 20 hours a week. Fifty of the children had attended day nurseries. The other fifty children had been looked after by childminders. The children who attended the day nurseries were more aggressive than the children who had been looked after by childminders. Explain why this is an example of a natural experiment. (2)

Because the researcher is not manipulating variations in the independent variable (the care situation of the child) and there is no random allocation of participants to conditions - they were already in different care groups.

A psychologist wanted to investigate the effects of age of adoption on aggressive behaviour. He compared children who had been adopted before the age of two with children who had been adopted after the age of two. The children were observed in their school playground when they were six years old. Suggest two operationalised behavioural categories the psychologist could use in his observation of aggressive behaviour. Explain how the psychologist could have carried out this observation. (4)

Behavioural Category 1 - Punching Behavioural Category 2 - Swearing The researcher could watch each child's behaviour in the playground and tick the box when each behaviour is shown. The children would not know they were being observed.

State an appropriate directional hypothesis for this study. (2)

Children who start day care at a younger age will be assessed as more aggressive than children who start day care at an older age.

Psychologists sometimes use case studies to study children. One example was of a boy who was discovered at the age of six. He had been kept in a darkened room and had had almost no social contact with people. How could a psychologist maintain confidentiality when reporting a case study? (2)

Confidentiality could be maintained by making sure the individual is not identifiable when reporting the case study. This could be done by using a different name or initials and not publishing photographs of the individual.

A researcher used content analysis to investigate how the behaviour of young children changed when they started day care. He identified a group of nine-month-old children who were about to start day care. He asked the mother of each child to keep a diary recording her child's behaviour every day for two weeks before and for two weeks after the child started day care. Explain how the researcher could have used content analysis to analyse what the mothers had written in their diaries. (4)

Create some categories of behaviours such as aggression and crying. Read through the diaries and count these behaviours that occur in a tally chart. Compare the categorised behaviours that occur before and after day care.

What are demand characteristics? (2)

Cues in the environment that help the participant work out what the research hypothesis is. This can lead to social desirability effects.

A psychologist carried out a research study to investigate the effects of institutional care. To do this, she constructed a questionnaire to use with 100 adults who had spent some time in an institution when they were children. She also carried out interviews with ten of the adults. For this study, explain one advantage of collecting information using a questionnaire. (3)

Data from the 100 adults could be collected relatively quickly because the researcher would not need to be present when the questionnaires were completed, whereas an interview is a lot more time consuming.

Explain one or more possible limitations of this investigation. (4)

Demand characteristics is a possible issue, as the mothers might work out what the research hypothesis is and slightly alter the truth in the diaries due to social desirability. A limitation of using content analysis is that is may be difficult deciding on appropriate categories, and those chosen may not reflect what the researcher is trying to investigate, thereby limiting the validity of the research.

Explain two reasons why it was more appropriate to use an independent groups design than a repeated measures design. (4)

Each participant only takes part in one condition of the experiment, therefore the dependent variable will not be influenced by order effects such as practice, which would have made the participants likely to remember more words in the second stage due to repetition. Demand characteristics are less likely because participants will be unaware of the other condition.

A researcher carried out an experiment to investigate misleading information. Participants were shown a photograph in which a man and a woman were talking. The photograph was then taken away and the participants were asked questions about it. Participants were randomly allocated to condition one or condition two. Participants in condition one were asked: Question A "How old was the youth in the photograph?" Participants in condition two were asked: Question B "How old was the man in the photograph?" Name an appropriate experimental design which could be used in this experiment. Explain why a repeated measures design would be unsuitable to use in this experiment. (4)

Experimental Design: Independent Groups design A repeated measures design would be unsuitable to use in this experiment because participants would take part in both conditions. This would be inappropriate because their answer to one question would affect their answer to the other question. This would make it easy to work out the aim of the experiment and so could lead to demand characteristics.

Identify the independent variable and the dependent variable in this experiment. (2)

IV: The type of interview DV: Number of items recalled

Explain what is meant by an independent groups design. (1)

In an independent groups design a different group of participants is used in each condition.

Dave, a middle-aged male researcher, approached an adult in a busy street. He asked the adult for directions to the train station. He repeated this with 29 other adults. Each of the 30 adults was then approached by a second researcher, called Sam, who showed each of them 10 photographs of different middle-aged men, including a photograph of Dave. Sam asked the 30 adults to choose the photograph of the person who had asked them for directions to the train station. Sam estimated the age of each of the 30 adults and recorded whether each one had correctly chosen the photograph of Dave. Suggest one reason why the researchers decided to use a field experiment rather than a laboratory experiment. (2)

In real life settings research has high ecological validity because the findings can be generalised to other similar situations. It is therefore more likely to be relevant to eyewitness testimony in court cases.

A researcher investigated whether memory for words presented with pictures was better than memory for words presented without pictures. The researcher used an independent groups design. In Condition 1, participants were given a limited time to learn a list of 20 words. They were then asked to recall the 20 words in any order. In Condition 2, participants were given the same time to learn the same 20 words, but this time each word was presented with a picture. For example, the word 'apple' was presented alongside a picture of an apple. They were then asked to recall the 20 words in any order. A pilot study is a small-scale investigation carried out before the main study. Explain why it would be appropriate for this researcher to use a pilot study. In your answer you must refer to details of the experiment given above. (4)

In this experiment a pilot study could be used to: • check how long the participant should be given to look at the stimulus material • check the participants understand the instructions and what they are required to do • check whether 20 is an appropriate number of words to use • ask a few participants about their experience of taking part Changes can then be made to the procedure if necessary, to avoid wasting time and money.

Explain why it would be appropriate to use a pilot study as part of this experiment. (4)

In this experiment it could be used to check how long the participant should be given to look at the picture so that the timing could be changed if it was too long or too short. It could check the participants understand the questions asked and what they are required to do. It could also be used to ask a few participants about their experience of taking part. Changes can be made to the procedure if necessary, to avoid wasting time and money.

(Refer to Jan 2011 paper) Psychologists carried out a laboratory experiment to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive interviews. All participants watched the same film of a robbery. They were randomly allocated to Group One or Group Two. Participants were then asked to recall the robbery. The investigators used a cognitive interview to access recall of participants in Group One and a standard interview to access recall of participants in Group Two. The results of this experiment are summarised in Figure 1 below. What experimental design was used in this experiment? (1)

Independent groups.

The psychologist also recorded the number of correct items recalled and the number of incorrect items recalled in each type of interview. The following results were obtained: Mean number of correct items recalled - Cognitive: 45 Standard: 32 Mean number of incorrect items recalled - Cognitive: 8 Standard: 8 From these results, what might the psychologist conclude about the effectiveness of cognitive interviews? (2)

It was effective because there were more correct items recalled and the number of incorrect items stayed the same

Explain why the median would sometimes be a better measure of central tendency. (1)

It would eradicate the effects of extreme scores.

The psychologist wanted to investigate how aggressive the children were when they were at home. He interviewed a sample of their parents to investigate this. Explain why using interviews might be better than using questionnaires in this situation. (4)

More detailed, qualitative information can be obtained, allowing the researcher to clarify the meaning and significance of the information being provided. In a questionnaire, however, you are more likely to obtain different interpretations of questions. Also, it might be easier in an interview to see if participants were answering honestly because their reactions could be observed. This is important in this research because the sensitive topic of home life could cause the parents to alter the truth due to social desirability.

(Refer to June 2013 paper) Table 1: The range and median number of words correctly recalled for participants shown words without pictures and for participants shown words with pictures. What do the scores in Table 1 show? (2)

More words were correctly recalled with pictures than without pictures. The dispersion of scores is larger with pictures than without pictures.

Explain two ethical issues which the psychologist should have considered when carrying out this research. (4)

Observational research: Observational studies must protect the privacy and psychological well-being of those observed. Where consent for observation has not been obtained, participants must not be observed in situations where they would not normally expect others to observe their behaviour. Withdrawal from investigation: Participants have the right to withdraw at any time. They should be informed of this prior to commencement of the study.

Identify one possible extraneous variable in this experiment. Explain how this extraneous variable could have affected the results of this experiment. (4)

One possible extraneous variable is the length of time the researcher spends with each participant. This might have affected the results of this study because old people are more likely to have time to stop and chat than younger participants. They therefore spend longer giving directions and would therefore find it easier to identify the researcher. This limits the validity of the research because the amount of correct identifications may be due to the length of time each participant had, rather than what the researcher was aiming to investigate (age).

A researcher investigated the effect of age of starting day care on levels of aggression. Four-year-old children attending a day nursery were used. Each child was assessed by the researcher and given an aggression score. A high score indicated a high level of aggression. A low score indicated a low level of aggression. The maximum score was 50. Table 1: Mean aggression scores for four-year-old children who had started day care before the age of two or after the age of two. Started day care before the age of two: 25 Started day care after the age of two: 23 Identify the operationalised independent variable and the operationalised dependent variable in this study. (4)

Operationalised IV: Age at which the children started day care Operationalised DV: Measure of aggression

Name the sampling technique used in this experiment. Evaluate the choice of this sampling technique in this experiment. (4)

Opportunity sampling. A limitation of this sampling technique is that there is a high chance that the sample will be biased, leading to low population validity. Also, there is a lack of a target population. This means that the sample is not representative of any population so there are problems in generalising the findings. However, selecting participants for availability is an appropriate way to select a sample when no names are available.

(Refer to June 2011 paper) A psychologist carried out an experiment using an independent groups design. The psychologist wished to investigate the effectiveness of a strategy for memory improvement. In one condition, participants were taught a memory improvement strategy. In the other condition, participants were not taught this memory improvement strategy. All participants were asked to memorise 10 pictures of familiar objects. For example, the first was a doll, the second was an apple. All participants were then given 50 pictures each, and asked to select the original 10. The psychologist did a pilot study before carrying out the experiment. The results of the experiment are shown in Table 1 on page 5. Write a directional hypothesis for this experiment. (2)

Participants who use a memory improvement strategy will correctly identify more pictures than participants who do not use a memory improvement strategy.

In this study, the psychologist collected some qualitative data. Explain what is meant by qualitative data. (2)

Qualitative is non-numerical and uses words to give a full description of what people think or feel. In interviews and questionnaires with open questions qualitative data is produced.

Suggest one way in which the psychologist could have measured the children's aggressive behaviour. (2)

Questionnaires could be given to parents or teachers, asking questions such as "How many aggressive acts were performed during half an hour of play-time?" and "Rate these aggressive acts, 1 being very mild, verbal aggression and 5 being physical abuse such as kicking and punching."

Psychologists often need to select participants to take part in research. The descriptions below are all types of sampling method. A: The psychologist puts an advert in a newspaper, asking for participants. B: The psychologist uses lists of students in a university and selects every tenth student to take part. C: The psychologist asks some of his psychology students to take part in the research. D: The psychologist gives a number to all students in a university, then selects participants in an unbiased way. In the table below, write which description, A, B, C, or D, matches each sampling method. (Random Sample, Opportunity Sample, Volunteer Sample) (3)

Random Sample - D Opportunity Sample - C Volunteer Sample - A

Name one measure of dispersion that the researcher could have used to describe the data. (1)

Standard Deviation

Explain one strength and one limitation of using an independent groups design. (4)

Strength: Each participant only takes part in one condition of the experiment, therefore the dependent variable will not be influenced by order effects such as practice, boredom or fatigue. Weakness: There may be differences between the groups as there are different participants in each condition. Lack of control of participant variables may influence the results, making them less valid.

In this experiment, participants were asked to look at a photograph rather than watch a live conversation. Explain one strength and one limitation of carrying out the experiment in this way. (4)

Strength: One strength of using photographs in the investigation would be high control of variables, for example the same pictures can be shown for the same amount of time. Limitation: One limitation is lack of validity. The findings cannot be generalised to real life situations where other factors such as changing facial expressions and gestures could be relevant.

Explain one ethical issue the psychologist would have needed to consider when carrying out this research. How could the psychologist have dealt with this issue? (4)

The children have the right to withdraw at any time, and should be informed of this prior to commencement of the study. The researcher could deal with this by possibly also telling the children's parents that they can withdraw so that if the parent is aware that their child is very uncomfortable, they can make the decision to remove them from the research. In this case, the researcher must destroy any data collected from those who have elected to withdraw.

(Refer to June 2011 paper) What do the standard deviations in Table 1 tell us about the performance of the two groups?

The data shows the dispersion of scores is larger in the condition with the memory improvement strategy.

The psychologist carried out a content analysis on the qualitative data from some interviews. Outline the processes involved in content analysis of these interviews. (4)

The experimenter would first look at all the data to see if there were any common themes. He would then start to split the data up into categories. He would then start to add up the number of sightings in each of the categories. In this way he would be able to turn qualitative data into quantitative data. They would then be able to run a statistical test on the data to see which categories was most common and therefore more likely to be the truth.

Explain what the results suggest about the effectiveness of the cognitive interview. (2)

The graph shows the cognitive interview is effective. There were more correct statements made after the cognitive interview than after the standard interview. There was no difference in the number of incorrect statements made.

What is meant by the term investigator effects? Explain possible investigator effects in this study. (4)

The influence of the researcher whereby their expectations of what the research outcome should be could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. This also includes the way the presence of the researcher may influence the participants. In this study the psychologist may expect the cognitive interview to be more effective than the standard interview. This may be unconsciously communicated to the participants though mannerisms such as smiling or frowning, causing the participants to alter their answers accordingly.

What do the mean scores in Table 1 suggest about the effect of age at which children started day care on children's aggression? (2)

The mean aggression score was slightly higher for children who started day care before the age of 2.

Explain why the psychologist did a pilot study. (3)

The psychologist did a pilot study to check aspects of the research such as whether participants understand standardised instructions, whether timings are adequate etc. In this case he could have checked if 10 pictures were too many or too little to memorise. It allows the researcher to try out the study with a few participants so that adjustments can be made before the main study, therefore saving time and money.

Explain one advantage of using an independent groups design for this experiment. (2)

There are no order effects such as practice or fatigue, because participants take part in one condition.

Explain one limitation of the design that was used in this experiment. (2)

There may be differences between the groups as there are different participants in each condition. Lack of control of participant variables may influence the results, making them less valid.

Discuss whether or not the psychologist showed an awareness of the British Psychological Society (BPS) Code of Ethics when recruiting participants for this experiment. (3)

There was no deception. Participants knew they would be watching a film of a violent crime and that they would be interviewed about the content by a male police officer before they volunteered. This gave them the opportunity to give informed consent.

State a non-directional hypothesis for this experiment. (2)

There will be a difference in the number of words correctly recalled when words are presented with pictures and without pictures.

Psychologists use a range of techniques to gather information in case studies. Outline one technique which the psychologist could use in this case study. (2)

They might interview people, such as family members, to find out the circumstances of his early life.

A psychologist used an independent groups design to investigate whether or not a cognitive interview was more effective than a standard interview, in recalling information. For this experiment, participants were recruited from an advertisement placed in a local paper. The advertisement informed the participants that they would be watching a film of a violent crime and that they would be interviewed about the content by a male police officer. The psychologist compared the mean number of items recalled in the cognitive interview with the mean number recalled in the standard interview. Name the sampling technique used in this experiment. (1)

Volunteer

What is meant by reliability? (1)

Where two or more measurements of the same psychological event are consistent with eachother.