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Paper 2 - Research Methods

Paper 2 research methods, as/a level revision notes (aqa).

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Research Methods Resources

Quantitative and qualitative data: the distinction between qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques.

Paper 2 - Psychology in Context | Research Methods | 30 Minutes

Variables In Psychological Research

Experimental methods in psychology, aims and hypotheses, directional and non-directional​, sampling methods, experimental designs, ethics; including the role of the british psychological society’s code of ethics, correlational analysis: positive, negative and zero correlations, naturalistic observation, questionnaire construction; including the use of open and closed questions, design of interviews, case studies, pilot study, reliability, features of science, objectivity and the empirical method, psychological report writing, primary and secondary data, including meta-analysis, descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency (mean, median and mode), presentation and display of quantitative data: graphs, tables, scatter grams and bar charts, measures of dispersion (range and standard deviation), calculating percentages, quantitative data analysis - normal and skewed distributions, sign test – inferential statistics, statistical (inferential) testing​, qualitative data analysis, the role of peer review in the scientific process​.

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Example Answers for Research Methods: A Level Psychology, Paper 2, June 2018 (AQA)

Last updated 19 Jun 2018

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Section C – Research Methods: Q12 [1 Mark]

Section C – Research Methods: Q13 [3 Marks]

Pilot studies are small-scale prototypes of a study that are carried out in advance of the full research to find out if there are any problems with the methodology. This helps to ensure that time, effort and money are not wasted on a flawed methodology.

One possible reason why the psychologist decided to conduct a pilot study for this investigation could be to ensure that their measuring instrument generated the data required, in this case, that the questions relating to dreams in the interview produced valid responses from participants.

Section C – Research Methods: Q14 [2 Marks]

Qualitative data is non-numerical, language-based data expressed in words which are collected through semi/unstructured interviews and open-ended questions in a questionnaire.

One strength of collecting qualitative data in this study is the rich detail obtained by the researcher. Since participants can develop their responses about their dreams freely, this provides meaningful insights into dreaming which enhances the external validity as findings are more likely to represent an accurate real-world view.

Section C – Research Methods: Q15 [3 Marks]

Investigator effects are where a researcher, consciously or unconsciously, acts in a way to support their research prediction. This can be a particular problem when observing events that can be interpreted in more than one way.

Investigator effects can be minimised by not allowing either the participants or the researcher to know the aim of the dream research. This is achieved by using a double-blind experimental technique. In this instance, only the person who originally designed the experiment knows the true aim about whether dream themes differed between males and females. The person carrying out the interview and the interviewee would be blind to the aim of the experiment; this would reduce the opportunity for either party to manipulate responses to support the research aim.

Section C – Research Methods: Q16 [4 Marks]

The other researcher would read through the dream interview data, highlighting important points of reference and annotate the margins with comments. Using these comments, the researcher would categorise the data, e.g. evidence of social interaction. This process will be repeated for each interview transcript.

Once completed, the categories which emerged through the process of analysing the content are reviewed. With the well-defined (operationalised) categories, the researcher then returns to the original interview data and tallies the occurrence of each ‘behaviour’ accordingly. The qualitative data has now undergone analysis to produce quantitative data which can undergo further analysis such as statistical testing.

Section C – Research Methods: Q17 [4 Marks]

Inter-rater reliability refers to the extent to which two or more researchers are rating or recording behaviour in a consistent way. This is a particularly useful way of ensuring reliability in situations where there is a risk of subjectivity, such as a content analysis of dreams, to make sure that the categories are being used in the correct manner.

Another independent psychologist would observe the same data set from the original interviews, and then their categories and tallies would be correlated to see whether they are suitably similar. If reliability is found to be poor, the categories used in the first content analysis will need to be refined and then re-categorised in order to achieve consistency.

Section C – Research Methods: Q18 [2 Marks]

  • 375 / 100 = 37.5 
  •  37.5 x 60 = 225

Section C – Research Methods: Q19 [4 Marks]

research methods psychology paper 2

Section C – Research Methods: Q20 [6 Marks]

Dear Participant, you are volunteering to take part in a psychological research study about the effects of watching films before going to bed. In this study, you will watch a horror film or a romantic comedy film every night for one week each before going to bed. When you wake up each morning, you will receive a text message from the researcher asking you a question, to which there will be a yes/no response. The study will last for two weeks however you have the right to withdraw your participation from the research study at any time without explanation. You also have the right to ask that any data you have supplied to be withdrawn. You may ask any questions about the procedures before the study begins. The data we collect from you will be treated confidentially. Please sign below to consent that you agree to participate in this study.

Section C – Research Methods: Q21 [3 Marks]

Participants who watch a horror movie before bed are more likely to report ‘yes’ that they have had a nightmare when asked the following morning via text message, compared to participants who watched a romantic comedy film before bed.

Section C – Research Methods: Q22 [2 Marks]

A repeated measures design was used in this case so that the same participants took part in each condition (horror/romantic comedy). This way, there is less chance of individual differences, such as personality style or film preferences, affecting whether the participants reported a nightmare or not, and any differences found are thought to be the result of the IV affecting that person.

Section C – Research Methods: Q23 [2 Marks]

As the same participants took part in both conditions of the experiment, order effects can occur. To address this issue, the researcher can use counterbalancing which offsets any order effects as half the participants take part in ‘Condition A’ followed by ‘Condition B’ while the other half complete the ‘Condition B’ followed by ‘Condition A’. Any order effects experienced by those who started in Condition A should be offset by those who started in Condition B. 

Section C – Research Methods: Q24 [3 Marks]

In order to split the sample randomly, every participant who volunteered for this study has an equal chance of being selected for Group 1 or Group 2.  This would involve the psychologist identifying everyone in the sample and writing their names on a piece of paper before placing them all in a hat. Then the psychologist would select the number of pieces of paper from the hat according to the number of participants required for each group, in this case 25. The remaining 25 in the hat would form the second group.

Section C – Research Methods: Q25 [4 Marks]

With a mean score of 2.18 nightmares in 7 days being reported for horror films, compared to 0.30 on average for romantic comedy films, this suggests that watching horror films before bed is more likely to induce a nightmare as significantly more nightmares were reported by participants, on average, in this condition. However, with a standard deviation of 1.48 for the horror film condition, it suggests that there is a large spread of results around the mean. This means that some participants reported far more nightmares and some far fewer nightmares than other participants, meaning the range in data was large.

On the other hand, with a standard deviation of 0.61 for the romantic comedy condition, this suggests that the number of nightmares reported from all participants in this group were more similar to one another as the spread around the mean is less.

Section C – Research Methods: Q26 [2 Marks]

Significant at p<0.05 means that there is a 5% chance that findings of this experiment are the result of chance and a 95% confidence level that any difference seen in the results is because of the manipulation of the independent variable. In this case, the researchers can be 95% confident that the number of nightmares reported (DV) was affected by the type of film watched (horror or romantic comedy), before going to bed.

Section C – Research Methods: Q27 [3 Marks]

In experimental research, a control group is often used in order to improve validity. This allows psychologists to see whether the independent variable influences the dependent variable. For example, the researchers could modify their research by having an experimental group who watch the horror and romantic comedy movies and report the number of nightmares in the morning and a control group who do not watch any movies at all before bed but still report the incidence of their nightmares over the same two-week period. In this case, using a control group would allow a comparison to see whether the films were truly causing a higher incidence of nightmares, thus giving greater confidence in the validity of the research.

  • Repeated Measures
  • Randomisation
  • Quantitative Data
  • Standard Deviation

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Research Methods In Psychology

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, Ph.D., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years experience of working in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

Research methods in psychology are systematic procedures used to observe, describe, predict, and explain behavior and mental processes. They include experiments, surveys, case studies, and naturalistic observations, ensuring data collection is objective and reliable to understand and explain psychological phenomena.

research methods3

Hypotheses are statements about the prediction of the results, that can be verified or disproved by some investigation.

There are four types of hypotheses :
  • Null Hypotheses (H0 ) – these predict that no difference will be found in the results between the conditions. Typically these are written ‘There will be no difference…’
  • Alternative Hypotheses (Ha or H1) – these predict that there will be a significant difference in the results between the two conditions. This is also known as the experimental hypothesis.
  • One-tailed (directional) hypotheses – these state the specific direction the researcher expects the results to move in, e.g. higher, lower, more, less. In a correlation study, the predicted direction of the correlation can be either positive or negative.
  • Two-tailed (non-directional) hypotheses – these state that a difference will be found between the conditions of the independent variable but does not state the direction of a difference or relationship. Typically these are always written ‘There will be a difference ….’

All research has an alternative hypothesis (either a one-tailed or two-tailed) and a corresponding null hypothesis.

Once the research is conducted and results are found, psychologists must accept one hypothesis and reject the other. 

So, if a difference is found, the Psychologist would accept the alternative hypothesis and reject the null.  The opposite applies if no difference is found.

Sampling techniques

Sampling is the process of selecting a representative group from the population under study.

Sample Target Population

A sample is the participants you select from a target population (the group you are interested in) to make generalizations about.

Representative means the extent to which a sample mirrors a researcher’s target population and reflects its characteristics.

Generalisability means the extent to which their findings can be applied to the larger population of which their sample was a part.

  • Volunteer sample : where participants pick themselves through newspaper adverts, noticeboards or online.
  • Opportunity sampling : also known as convenience sampling , uses people who are available at the time the study is carried out and willing to take part. It is based on convenience.
  • Random sampling : when every person in the target population has an equal chance of being selected. An example of random sampling would be picking names out of a hat.
  • Systematic sampling : when a system is used to select participants. Picking every Nth person from all possible participants. N = the number of people in the research population / the number of people needed for the sample.
  • Stratified sampling : when you identify the subgroups and select participants in proportion to their occurrences.
  • Snowball sampling : when researchers find a few participants, and then ask them to find participants themselves and so on.
  • Quota sampling : when researchers will be told to ensure the sample fits certain quotas, for example they might be told to find 90 participants, with 30 of them being unemployed.

Experiments always have an independent and dependent variable .

  • The independent variable is the one the experimenter manipulates (the thing that changes between the conditions the participants are placed into). It is assumed to have a direct effect on the dependent variable.
  • The dependent variable is the thing being measured, or the results of the experiment.

variables

Operationalization of variables means making them measurable/quantifiable. We must use operationalization to ensure that variables are in a form that can be easily tested.

For instance, we can’t really measure ‘happiness’, but we can measure how many times a person smiles within a two-hour period. 

By operationalizing variables, we make it easy for someone else to replicate our research. Remember, this is important because we can check if our findings are reliable.

Extraneous variables are all variables which are not independent variable but could affect the results of the experiment.

It can be a natural characteristic of the participant, such as intelligence levels, gender, or age for example, or it could be a situational feature of the environment such as lighting or noise.

Demand characteristics are a type of extraneous variable that occurs if the participants work out the aims of the research study, they may begin to behave in a certain way.

For example, in Milgram’s research , critics argued that participants worked out that the shocks were not real and they administered them as they thought this was what was required of them. 

Extraneous variables must be controlled so that they do not affect (confound) the results.

Randomly allocating participants to their conditions or using a matched pairs experimental design can help to reduce participant variables. 

Situational variables are controlled by using standardized procedures, ensuring every participant in a given condition is treated in the same way

Experimental Design

Experimental design refers to how participants are allocated to each condition of the independent variable, such as a control or experimental group.
  • Independent design ( between-groups design ): each participant is selected for only one group. With the independent design, the most common way of deciding which participants go into which group is by means of randomization. 
  • Matched participants design : each participant is selected for only one group, but the participants in the two groups are matched for some relevant factor or factors (e.g. ability; sex; age).
  • Repeated measures design ( within groups) : each participant appears in both groups, so that there are exactly the same participants in each group.
  • The main problem with the repeated measures design is that there may well be order effects. Their experiences during the experiment may change the participants in various ways.
  • They may perform better when they appear in the second group because they have gained useful information about the experiment or about the task. On the other hand, they may perform less well on the second occasion because of tiredness or boredom.
  • Counterbalancing is the best way of preventing order effects from disrupting the findings of an experiment, and involves ensuring that each condition is equally likely to be used first and second by the participants.

If we wish to compare two groups with respect to a given independent variable, it is essential to make sure that the two groups do not differ in any other important way. 

Experimental Methods

All experimental methods involve an iv (independent variable) and dv (dependent variable)..

  • Field experiments are conducted in the everyday (natural) environment of the participants. The experimenter still manipulates the IV, but in a real-life setting. It may be possible to control extraneous variables, though such control is more difficult than in a lab experiment.
  • Natural experiments are when a naturally occurring IV is investigated that isn’t deliberately manipulated, it exists anyway. Participants are not randomly allocated, and the natural event may only occur rarely.

Case studies are in-depth investigations of a person, group, event, or community. It uses information from a range of sources, such as from the person concerned and also from their family and friends.

Many techniques may be used such as interviews, psychological tests, observations and experiments. Case studies are generally longitudinal: in other words, they follow the individual or group over an extended period of time. 

Case studies are widely used in psychology and among the best-known ones carried out were by Sigmund Freud . He conducted very detailed investigations into the private lives of his patients in an attempt to both understand and help them overcome their illnesses.

Case studies provide rich qualitative data and have high levels of ecological validity. However, it is difficult to generalize from individual cases as each one has unique characteristics.

Correlational Studies

Correlation means association; it is a measure of the extent to which two variables are related. One of the variables can be regarded as the predictor variable with the other one as the outcome variable.

Correlational studies typically involve obtaining two different measures from a group of participants, and then assessing the degree of association between the measures. 

The predictor variable can be seen as occurring before the outcome variable in some sense. It is called the predictor variable, because it forms the basis for predicting the value of the outcome variable.

Relationships between variables can be displayed on a graph or as a numerical score called a correlation coefficient.

types of correlation. Scatter plot. Positive negative and no correlation

  • If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with an increase in the other, then this is known as a positive correlation .
  • If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with a decrease in the other, then this is known as a negative correlation .
  • A zero correlation occurs when there is no relationship between variables.

After looking at the scattergraph, if we want to be sure that a significant relationship does exist between the two variables, a statistical test of correlation can be conducted, such as Spearman’s rho.

The test will give us a score, called a correlation coefficient . This is a value between 0 and 1, and the closer to 1 the score is, the stronger the relationship between the variables. This value can be both positive e.g. 0.63, or negative -0.63.

Types of correlation. Strong, weak, and perfect positive correlation, strong, weak, and perfect negative correlation, no correlation. Graphs or charts ...

A correlation between variables, however, does not automatically mean that the change in one variable is the cause of the change in the values of the other variable. A correlation only shows if there is a relationship between variables.

Correlation does not always prove causation, as a third variable may be involved. 

causation correlation

Interview Methods

Interviews are commonly divided into two types: structured and unstructured.

A fixed, predetermined set of questions is put to every participant in the same order and in the same way. 

Responses are recorded on a questionnaire, and the researcher presets the order and wording of questions, and sometimes the range of alternative answers.

The interviewer stays within their role and maintains social distance from the interviewee.

There are no set questions, and the participant can raise whatever topics he/she feels are relevant and ask them in their own way. Questions are posed about participants’ answers to the subject

Unstructured interviews are most useful in qualitative research to analyze attitudes and values.

Though they rarely provide a valid basis for generalization, their main advantage is that they enable the researcher to probe social actors’ subjective point of view. 

Questionnaire Method

Questionnaires can be thought of as a kind of written interview. They can be carried out face to face, by telephone, or post.

The choice of questions is important because of the need to avoid bias or ambiguity in the questions, ‘leading’ the respondent or causing offense.

  • Open questions are designed to encourage a full, meaningful answer using the subject’s own knowledge and feelings. They provide insights into feelings, opinions, and understanding. Example: “How do you feel about that situation?”
  • Closed questions can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no” or specific information, limiting the depth of response. They are useful for gathering specific facts or confirming details. Example: “Do you feel anxious in crowds?”

Its other practical advantages are that it is cheaper than face-to-face interviews and can be used to contact many respondents scattered over a wide area relatively quickly.

Observations

There are different types of observation methods :
  • Covert observation is where the researcher doesn’t tell the participants they are being observed until after the study is complete. There could be ethical problems or deception and consent with this particular observation method.
  • Overt observation is where a researcher tells the participants they are being observed and what they are being observed for.
  • Controlled : behavior is observed under controlled laboratory conditions (e.g., Bandura’s Bobo doll study).
  • Natural : Here, spontaneous behavior is recorded in a natural setting.
  • Participant : Here, the observer has direct contact with the group of people they are observing. The researcher becomes a member of the group they are researching.  
  • Non-participant (aka “fly on the wall): The researcher does not have direct contact with the people being observed. The observation of participants’ behavior is from a distance

Pilot Study

A pilot  study is a small scale preliminary study conducted in order to evaluate the feasibility of the key s teps in a future, full-scale project.

A pilot study is an initial run-through of the procedures to be used in an investigation; it involves selecting a few people and trying out the study on them. It is possible to save time, and in some cases, money, by identifying any flaws in the procedures designed by the researcher.

A pilot study can help the researcher spot any ambiguities (i.e. unusual things) or confusion in the information given to participants or problems with the task devised.

Sometimes the task is too hard, and the researcher may get a floor effect, because none of the participants can score at all or can complete the task – all performances are low.

The opposite effect is a ceiling effect, when the task is so easy that all achieve virtually full marks or top performances and are “hitting the ceiling”.

Research Design

In cross-sectional research , a researcher compares multiple segments of the population at the same time

Sometimes, we want to see how people change over time, as in studies of human development and lifespan. Longitudinal research is a research design in which data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time.

In cohort studies , the participants must share a common factor or characteristic such as age, demographic, or occupation. A cohort study is a type of longitudinal study in which researchers monitor and observe a chosen population over an extended period.

Triangulation means using more than one research method to improve the study’s validity.

Reliability

Reliability is a measure of consistency, if a particular measurement is repeated and the same result is obtained then it is described as being reliable.

  • Test-retest reliability :  assessing the same person on two different occasions which shows the extent to which the test produces the same answers.
  • Inter-observer reliability : the extent to which there is an agreement between two or more observers.

Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis is a systematic review that involves identifying an aim and then searching for research studies that have addressed similar aims/hypotheses.

This is done by looking through various databases, and then decisions are made about what studies are to be included/excluded.

Strengths: Increases the conclusions’ validity as they’re based on a wider range.

Weaknesses: Research designs in studies can vary, so they are not truly comparable.

Peer Review

A researcher submits an article to a journal. The choice of the journal may be determined by the journal’s audience or prestige.

The journal selects two or more appropriate experts (psychologists working in a similar field) to peer review the article without payment. The peer reviewers assess: the methods and designs used, originality of the findings, the validity of the original research findings and its content, structure and language.

Feedback from the reviewer determines whether the article is accepted. The article may be: Accepted as it is, accepted with revisions, sent back to the author to revise and re-submit or rejected without the possibility of submission.

The editor makes the final decision whether to accept or reject the research report based on the reviewers comments/ recommendations.

Peer review is important because it prevent faulty data from entering the public domain, it provides a way of checking the validity of findings and the quality of the methodology and is used to assess the research rating of university departments.

Peer reviews may be an ideal, whereas in practice there are lots of problems. For example, it slows publication down and may prevent unusual, new work being published. Some reviewers might use it as an opportunity to prevent competing researchers from publishing work.

Some people doubt whether peer review can really prevent the publication of fraudulent research.

The advent of the internet means that a lot of research and academic comment is being published without official peer reviews than before, though systems are evolving on the internet where everyone really has a chance to offer their opinions and police the quality of research.

Types of Data

  • Quantitative data is numerical data e.g. reaction time or number of mistakes. It represents how much or how long, how many there are of something. A tally of behavioral categories and closed questions in a questionnaire collect quantitative data.
  • Qualitative data is virtually any type of information that can be observed and recorded that is not numerical in nature and can be in the form of written or verbal communication. Open questions in questionnaires and accounts from observational studies collect qualitative data.
  • Primary data is first-hand data collected for the purpose of the investigation.
  • Secondary data is information that has been collected by someone other than the person who is conducting the research e.g. taken from journals, books or articles.

Validity means how well a piece of research actually measures what it sets out to, or how well it reflects the reality it claims to represent.

Validity is whether the observed effect is genuine and represents what is actually out there in the world.

  • Concurrent validity is the extent to which a psychological measure relates to an existing similar measure and obtains close results. For example, a new intelligence test compared to an established test.
  • Face validity : does the test measure what it’s supposed to measure ‘on the face of it’. This is done by ‘eyeballing’ the measuring or by passing it to an expert to check.
  • Ecological validit y is the extent to which findings from a research study can be generalized to other settings / real life.
  • Temporal validity is the extent to which findings from a research study can be generalized to other historical times.

Features of Science

  • Paradigm – A set of shared assumptions and agreed methods within a scientific discipline.
  • Paradigm shift – The result of the scientific revolution: a significant change in the dominant unifying theory within a scientific discipline.
  • Objectivity – When all sources of personal bias are minimised so not to distort or influence the research process.
  • Empirical method – Scientific approaches that are based on the gathering of evidence through direct observation and experience.
  • Replicability – The extent to which scientific procedures and findings can be repeated by other researchers.
  • Falsifiability – The principle that a theory cannot be considered scientific unless it admits the possibility of being proved untrue.

Statistical Testing

A significant result is one where there is a low probability that chance factors were responsible for any observed difference, correlation, or association in the variables tested.

If our test is significant, we can reject our null hypothesis and accept our alternative hypothesis.

If our test is not significant, we can accept our null hypothesis and reject our alternative hypothesis. A null hypothesis is a statement of no effect.

In Psychology, we use p < 0.05 (as it strikes a balance between making a type I and II error) but p < 0.01 is used in tests that could cause harm like introducing a new drug.

A type I error is when the null hypothesis is rejected when it should have been accepted (happens when a lenient significance level is used, an error of optimism).

A type II error is when the null hypothesis is accepted when it should have been rejected (happens when a stringent significance level is used, an error of pessimism).

Ethical Issues

  • Informed consent is when participants are able to make an informed judgment about whether to take part. It causes them to guess the aims of the study and change their behavior.
  • To deal with it, we can gain presumptive consent or ask them to formally indicate their agreement to participate but it may invalidate the purpose of the study and it is not guaranteed that the participants would understand.
  • Deception should only be used when it is approved by an ethics committee, as it involves deliberately misleading or withholding information. Participants should be fully debriefed after the study but debriefing can’t turn the clock back.
  • All participants should be informed at the beginning that they have the right to withdraw if they ever feel distressed or uncomfortable.
  • It causes bias as the ones that stayed are obedient and some may not withdraw as they may have been given incentives or feel like they’re spoiling the study. Researchers can offer the right to withdraw data after participation.
  • Participants should all have protection from harm . The researcher should avoid risks greater than those experienced in everyday life and they should stop the study if any harm is suspected. However, the harm may not be apparent at the time of the study.
  • Confidentiality concerns the communication of personal information. The researchers should not record any names but use numbers or false names though it may not be possible as it is sometimes possible to work out who the researchers were.

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PsychLogic

PAST PAPERS: RESEARCH METHODS: AQA A-LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY RESOURCES

Psychology aqa  a-level (7182)  unit 2: 7182/2.

Full model answers for all of these questions are  available here

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The best way to revise Psychology A-level

THE SYLLABUS

METHODS, TECHNIQUES & DESIGN

  • Primary and secondary data, and meta-analysis. Quantitative and qualitative data
  • Aims, operationalising variables, IV’s and DV’s
  • Hypotheses - directional and non-directional
  • Experimental design - independent groups, repeated measures, matched pairs
  • Validity – internal and external; extraneous and confounding variables; types of validity and improving validity
  • Control – random allocation, randomisation, standardisation
  • Demand characteristics and investigator effects
  • Reliability; types of reliability and improving reliability
  • Pilot studies
  • Correlation analysis – covariables and hypotheses, positive/negative correlations
  • Observational techniques – use of behavioural categories
  • Self-report techniques – design of questionnaires and interviews
  • Case studies
  • Content analysis & thematic analysis

PARTICIPANTS; ETHICS; FEATURES OF SCIENCE & SCIENTIFIC METHOD; THE ECONOMY

  • Selecting participants and sampling techniques
  • The British Psychological Society (BPS) code of ethics and ways of dealing with ethical issues
  • Forms and instructions
  • Peer review
  • Features of science: objectivity, empirical method, replicability and falsifiability, paradigms and paradigm shifts
  • Reporting psychological investigations
  • The implications of psychological research for the economy

DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS

  • Analysis and interpretation of quantitative data. Measures of central tendency - median, mean, mode. Calculating %’s. Measures of dispersion – range and standard deviation (SD)
  • Presentation and interpretation of quantitative data – graphs, histograms, bar charts, scattergrams and tables
  • Analysis and interpretation of correlational data; positive and negative correlations and the interpretation of correlation coefficients
  • Distributions: normal and skewed

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS

  • Introduction
  • Factors affecting choice of statistics test: Spearman’s rho, Pearson’s r, Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney, related t-test, unrelated t-test, Chi-Squared test
  • Levels of measurement – nominal, ordinal, interval
  • Procedures for statistics tests
  • Probability and significance: use of statistical tables and critical values in interpretation of significance; Type I and Type II errors
  • Introduction to statistical testing: the sign test

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SPECIMEN PAPER 1 ( Psychology A-level revision)

Read the item and then answer the questions that follow.

A psychologist wanted to see if verbal fluency is affected by whether people think they are presenting information to a small group of people or to a large group of people.

The psychologist needed a stratified sample of 20 people. She obtained the sample from a company employing 60 men and 40 women.

The participants were told that they would be placed in a booth where they would read out an article about the life of a famous author to an audience. Participants were also told that the audience would not be present, but would only be able to hear them and would not be able to interact with them.

There were two conditions in the study, Condition A and Condition B.

Condition A: 10 participants were told the audience consisted of 5 listeners.

Condition B: the other 10 participants were told the audience consisted of 100 listeners.

Each participant completed the study individually. The psychologist recorded each presentation and then counted the number of verbal errors made by each participant.

(a) Identify the dependent variable in this study. (2 marks)

(b) Write a suitable hypothesis for this study. (3 marks)

(c)  Identify one extraneous variable that the psychologist should have controlled in the study and explain why it should have been controlled. (3 marks)

(d) Explain one advantage of using a stratified sample of participants in this study. (2 marks)

(e) Explain how the psychologist would have obtained the male participants for her stratified sample. Show your calculations. (3 marks)

(f) The psychologist wanted to randomly allocate the 20 people in her stratified sample to the two conditions. She needed an equal number of males in each condition and an equal number of females in each condition. Explain how she would have done this. (4 marks)

Mean number of verbal errors and standard deviations for both conditions

AQA PSYCHOLOGY A LEVEL RESEARCH METHODS 14

(g)  What conclusions might the psychologist draw from the data in the table? Refer to the means and standard deviations in your answer. (6 marks)

(h) Read the item and then answer the question that follows.

The psychologist had initially intended to use the range as a measure of dispersion in this study but found that one person in Condition A had made an exceptionally low number of verbal errors.

Explain how using the standard deviation rather than the range in this situation, would improve the study. [3 marks]

(i) Name an appropriate statistical test that could be used to analyse the number of verbal errors in Table 1. Explain why the test you have chosen would be a suitable test in this case. [4 marks]

(j) The psychologist found the results were significant at p<0.05. What is meant by ‘the results were significant at p<0.05’? [2 marks]

(k) Briefly explain one method the psychologist could use to check the validity of the data she collected in this study. [2 marks]

(l)  Briefly explain one reason why it is important for research to undergo a peer review process. [2 marks]

(m) Read the item and then answer the question that follows.

The psychologist focused on fluency in spoken communication in her study. Other research has investigated sex differences in non-verbal behaviours such as body language and gestures

Design an observation study to investigate sex differences in non-verbal behaviour of males and females when they are giving a presentation to an audience.

In your answer you should provide details of:

  • The task for the participants
  • The behavioural categories to be used and how the data will be recorded
  • How reliability of the data collection might be established
  • Ethical issues to be considered.

(Total 12 marks)

SPECIMEN PAPER 2 ( A-level Psychology revision)

Researchers were interested in the spatial awareness skills of motorists. They decided to investigate a possible relationship between different aspects of spatial awareness. Motorists who had between ten and twelve years of driving experience and held a clean driving licence with no penalty points were asked to complete two sets of tasks.

Set 1: To follow a series of instructions and using a map, to identify various locations correctly. This provided a map reading score for each motorist with a maximum score of 20.

Set 2: To complete a series of practical driving tasks accurately. This involved tasks such as driving between cones, driving within lines and parking inside designated spaces. Each motorist was observed completing the Set 2 tasks by a single trained observer who rated each performance by giving the driver a rating out of 10.

The following results were obtained.

Table 1: The map reading scores and driver ratings of motorists

AQA PSYCHOLOGY A LEVEL RESEARCH METHODS

(a) Should the hypothesis be directional? Explain your answer. (2 marks)

(b) Write a suitable hypothesis for this investigation. (3 marks)

(c) Identify a suitable graphical display for the data in Table 1 and briefly explain why this display would be appropriate. (2 marks)

(d) Using the data in Table 1, comment on the relationship between the map reading scores and the driver rating scores of the participants. [3 marks]

AQA PSYCHOLOGY A LEVEL RESEARCH METHODS 1

(e) Briefly outline one problem of using a single trained observer to rate the participants’ driving skills in the practical task. Briefly discuss how this data collection method could be modified to improve the reliability of the data collected. (6 marks)

(f) The researchers decided to analyse the data using a Spearman’s rho test. Explain why this is a suitable choice of test for this investigation. (3 marks)

(g) After analysis of the data the researchers obtained a calculated value of r s = 0.808. Using the information in Table 2 above, what conclusion can the researchers draw about the relationship between the map reading and driving skills of the motorists? Explain your answer. [4 marks]

(h) Distinguish between a Type I error and a Type II error. (4 marks)

When the researchers looked at the data collected more closely they noticed possible gender differences in the results.

AQA PSYCHOLOGY A LEVEL RESEARCH METHODS 2

(i) What do the mean and standard deviation values suggest about the male and female performances in the investigation? (4 marks)

In a replication of the part of the study in which map reading skills were investigated, 20 men and 20 women completed the original map reading task and the researchers obtained the following data:

AQA PSYCHOLOGY A LEVEL RESEARCH METHODS 3

(j) The mean map reading score for both groups together was 12.23. What percentage of the male group scored above the mean score and what percentage of the female group scored above the mean score? Show your calculations. (4 marks)

(k) Using your answers to both 2 previous questions, comment on the performances of the male and the female participants in this study. (2 marks)

(l) Briefly explain one reason why it is important for research to be replicated. (2 marks)

(m) Imagine you have been asked to design a study to investigate possible gender differences in card sorting behaviours. You decide you will ask participants to sort a shuffled pack of playing cards into their suits of hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades. You decide you will time the participants as they do this using a stop watch.

Discuss the following aspects of this investigation:

  • with reference to the card sorting task, explain how you would ensure that this is made the same task for all participants
  • one methodological issue you should take into account when obtaining suitable participants for this study and explain how you would deal with this issue
  • how you would ensure that the experience of your participants is ethical.

 >>>>>>>

SPECIMEN PAPER 3 ( AQA A-level Psychology revision)

Following previous research indicating the social benefits of green space in urban areas, two psychology students decided to observe social behaviour in public spaces. They focused on two neighbouring towns, Greensville where most public spaces were planted with flowers and vegetables, and Brownton where most public spaces were paved with concrete.

The students compared the instances of considerate behaviours in the two towns.

Considerate behaviour categories included putting litter in the bin, having a dog on a lead and riding a bike with care.

The observations were carried out in four different areas of a similar size in each town on weekdays between the hours of 4.30pm and 6.00pm. The students worked together to ensure inter-observer reliability, recording each target behaviour whenever it occurred.

(a) Should the hypothesis for this research be directional or non-directional? Explain your answer. (2 marks)

(b) Before the observation could begin, the students needed to operationalise the behaviour category ‘riding a bike with care’.

Explain what is meant by operationalisation and suggest two ways in which ‘riding a bike with care’ could have been operationalised. (4 marks)

(c) The students thought that having a dog on a lead was a useful measure of considerate behaviour because it had face validity. Explain what is meant by face validity in this context. (3 marks)

(d) Identify and briefly outline two other types of validity in psychological research. (4 mark

(e) Identify the behaviour sampling method used by the students. Shade one box only.

  • Time sampling
  • Pair sampling
  • Event sampling
  • Target sampling

(f) Explain how inter-observer reliability could be ensured by working as a pair. (3 marks)

AQA PSYCHOLOGY A LEVEL RESEARCH METHODS 4

The students noted that overall more considerate behaviours occurred in Greensville than in Brownton.

(g) Calculate the ratio of considerate behaviours observed in Greensville to considerate behaviours observed in Brownton. Show your workings and present your answer in the simplest form. (3 marks)

(h) The students carried out a Chi-square test on their data.  Explain why the Chi-square test was an appropriate test to use in this case. (3 marks)

(i) In order to interpret the results of the Chi-square test the students first needed to work out the degrees of freedom. They used the following formula.

Degrees of freedom (df) = (r–1) x (c–1)

r = number of rows and c = number of columns

Calculate the degrees of freedom for the data in Table 1. Show your workings.

(j) The calculated value of Chi-square was 6.20. Referring to Table 2 below, state whether or not the result of the Chi-square test is significant at the 0.05 level of significance. Justify your answer. (3 marks)

To be significant at the level shown the calculated value of Chi Square must be equal to or greater than the critical/table value

(k) In the discussion section of their report of the investigation the students wanted to further discuss their results in relation to levels of significance.

Write a short paragraph the students could use to do this. (4 marks)

(l) As a follow-up to their observation the students decided to interview some of their peers about inconsiderate behaviours in their 6th Form Centre. The interviews were recorded.

Explain how the students could develop their interview findings by carrying out a content analysis and why content analysis would be appropriate in this case. (3 marks

(m) Suggest one inconsiderate behaviour that the students might focus on in their content analysis. (1 mark)

(n) Design an experiment to investigate the effect of indoor plants on mood in office workers. For your measure of mood, you should devise a measure that would give data suitable for testing at the ordinal level of measurement.

  • Design – include reference to the experimental design, variables and controls
  • Materials/Apparatus – describe any special materials required
  • Data analysis that could be used – include reference to descriptive and inferential analysis.

Justify your choices. (12 marks)

2017 ( AQA A-level Psychology revision guide)

A psychologist wanted to test whether listening to music improves running performance.

The psychologist conducted a study using 10 volunteers from a local gym. The psychologist used a repeated measures design. Half of the participants were assigned to condition A (without music) and half to condition B (with music).

All participants were asked to run 400 metres as fast as they could on a treadmill in the psychology department. All participants were given standardised instruction. All participants wore headphones in both conditions. The psychologist recorded their running time in seconds. The participants returned to the psychology department the following week and repeated the test in the other condition.

(a) Identify the type of experiment used in this study.

(b) Identify the operationalised dependent variable in the study. (2 marks)

The results of the study are given in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Mean number of second taken to complete the 400m run and the standard deviation for both conditions.

(c) Explain why a histogram would not be an appropriate way of displaying the means shown in Table 1. (2 marks)

(d) Name a more appropriate graph to display the means shown in Table 1. Suggest appropriate X (Horizontal) and Y (vertical) axis labels for your graph choice. (3 marks)

Name of graph

X axis label

Y axis label

(e) What do the mean and standard deviation values in Table 1 suggest about the participants’ performances with and without music? Justify your answer. (4 marks)

(f) Calculate the percentage decrease in the mean time it took participants to run 400 metres when listening to music. Show your workings. Give your answer to three significant figures. (4 marks)

The researcher used a directional hypothesis and analysed the data using a related t-test. The calculated value of t where degrees of freedom (df) = 9 was 1.4377. He decided to use the 5% level of significance.

Table 2. Table of critical values of t

Calculated value of t must be equal to or greater than the critical value in this table for significance to be shown.

(g) Give three reasons why the researcher used a related t-test in this study and, using Table 2, explain whether or not the results are significant (5 marks)

(h) What is meant by a Type II error? Explain why psychologists normally use the 5% level of significance in their research. (3 marks)

(i) Identify one extraneous variable that could have affected the results of this study. Suggest why it would have been important to control this extraneous variable and how it could have been controlled in this study. (3 marks)

(j) The report was submitted for peer review and a number of recommendations were advised.

Describe the process and purposes of peer review. (6 marks)

People’s perception of how they spent their time at the gym is often not very accurate. Some spent more time chatting than on the treadmill. A psychologist decides to observe the actual behaviour of an opportunity sample of gym users at a local gym.

(k) Explain why it is more appropriate for the psychologist to use an observation than a questionnaire in this case. (3 marks)

(l) Design an observational study to investigate how people spent their time at the gym.

In your answer you will be awarded credit for providing appropriate details of

  • Type of observation with justification
  • Operationalised behaviour categories
  • Use of time and/or event sampling with justification
  • How reliability of data collection could be assessed.

2018 ( A-level Psychology resources)

A psychologist was reading an article about typical dream themes in adults.

Figure 2 shows the main dream themes identified in the article.

Figure 2 Main dream themes

AQA PSYCHOLOGY A LEVEL RESEARCH METHODS 5

(a) Using Figure 2, estimate the percentage of dreams that were reported to be about being chased. Shade one box only. [1 mark]

A           4%

B           12%

C           27%

D           42%

The psychologist was interested in finding out whether dream themes differed between box males and females, particularly in terms of social interaction. She decided to conduct a pilot study. Twenty undergraduate students (8 male and 12 female) volunteered for the study. For a six-week period the students were interviewed at 9 am each morning when they arrived at university. Interviewers, who did not know the purpose of the study, carried out and recorded the dream interviews.

(a) What is meant by a pilot study? Explain one possible reason why the psychologist decided to conduct a pilot study for this investigation. [3 marks]

(b) The interviews produced qualitative data. What is meant by qualitative data? Give one strength of collecting qualitative data in this study. [2 marks]

(c) What are investigator effects? Suggest one way in which they could have been minimised during the dream interviews. [3 marks]

Another researcher, who did not know the purpose of the study, carried out a content analysis of the interview data.

(d) Explain how this content analysis could have been conducted. [4 marks]

The psychologist wanted to assess the reliability of the content analysis.

(e) Explain how the reliability of the content analysis could be assessed. [4 marks]

When comparing the data for males and females, the psychologist found that there was a difference in the proportion of friendly and aggressive social interactions. This is shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Percentage of friendly and aggressive social interactions in dreams reported by males and females

A total of 375 dreams reported by males included social interaction.

(f) Use the data in Table 2 to calculate how many of these dreams reported by males were classified as aggressive. Show your workings. [2 marks]

(g) Draw a suitable graphical display to represent the data in Table 2 box. Label your graph appropriately. [4 marks]

The psychologist decided to conduct an experiment to investigate the effect of watching box horror films before going to bed.

A volunteer sample of 50 university students consented to take part in the experiment.

The 50 students were randomly split into two groups. Group 1 watched a horror film before going to bed each night for the first week then a romantic comedy before going to bed each night for the second week. Group 2 watched the romantic comedy in the first week and the horror film in the second week.

When the students woke up each morning, each student received a text message that asked if they had had a nightmare during the night. They could respond ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

(h) Write a brief consent form that would have been suitable for use in this experiment. The consent form should:

  • include some detail of what participants might expect to happen
  • refer to ethical issues
  • be in an appropriate format/style

(i) The psychologist proposed a directional hypothesis.

Write a directional hypothesis for this experiment. [3 marks]

The psychologist used a repeated measures design in this experiment.

(j) Explain why it was important to use a repeated measures design in this case.  [2 marks]

The psychologist used counterbalancing in this experiment.

(k) Explain why it was appropriate to use counterbalancing in this experiment. [2 marks]

(l) Explain how the box psychologist could have randomly split the sample of 50 students into the two groups. [3 marks]

The psychologist collated the responses of all the participants over the two-week period and calculated the mean and standard deviation for each condition.

Table 3: Mean number of nightmares reported and the standard deviation for each condition

(m) What do the mean and standard deviation values in Table 3 suggest about the effect of the type of film watched on the occurrence of nightmares? Justify your answer. [4 marks]

The psychologist found that the difference in the number of nightmares reported in the two conditions was significant at p<0.05.

(n) Explain what is meant by ‘significant at p<0.05’ in the context of this experiment. [2 marks]

(o) The psychologist was concerned about the validity of the experiment.

Suggest one possible modification to the design of the experiment and explain how this might improve validity. [3 marks]

2019 ( AQA A-level Psychology resources)

(a) Which of the following does reliability refer to?

Shade one circle only. [1 mark]

A           The accuracy of the data

B           The consistency of the data

C           The levels of the data

D           The validity of the data

(b) Which of the following is not a role of peer review in the scientific process?

A           To determine whether to award research funding

B           To ensure only significant results are published

C           To make sure research has high validity and reliability

D           To retain the integrity of psychological research

(c) Give one reason why it is important for scientific reports to include a referencing section? [1 mark]

It was recently reported in a newspaper that time spent playing team sports increases happiness levels. A researcher was keen to find out whether this was due to participating in a team activity or due to participating in physical activity, as he could not find any published research on this.

The researcher used a matched-pairs design. He went into the student café and selected the first 20 students he met. Each student was assigned to one of two groups.

Participants in Group A were requested to carry out 3 hours of team sports per week. Participants in Group B were requested to carry out 3 hours of exercise independently in a gym each week. All participants were told not to take part in any other type of exercise for the 4-week duration of the study.

All participants completed a happiness questionnaire at the start and end of the study. The researcher then calculated the improvement in happiness score for each participant.

(d) Which of the following is correct?

A           Groups A and B are conditions of the dependent variable and happiness is the independent variable.

B           Groups A and B are conditions of the independent variable and happiness is the dependent variable.

C           Groups A and B are the controls and happiness is the experimental condition.

D           Groups A and B are the experimental conditions and happiness is the control.

(e) Would a directional or non-directional hypothesis be more suitable for the researcher to use? Explain your answer. 2 marks]

(f) Write a suitable hypothesis for this experiment. [3 marks]

(g) Identify the type of sampling method used in this experiment. Explain one limitation of using this sampling method in this study. [3 marks]

(h) Identify one variable on which participants should be matched in this matched-pairs design. Explain how the researcher could assign matched participants to either Group A or Group B. [4 marks]

(i) Explain one strength of using a matched-pairs design rather than a repeated-measures design. [2 marks]

The results of the study are given in Table 2 below.

               Table 2 Improvement in happiness scores

AQA PSYCHOLOGY A LEVEL RESEARCH METHODS 6

The researcher decided to use the Sign Test to see whether there was a significant difference in the improvement in the scores between the two groups at the 5% level of significance.

(j) Calculate the value of S in this study. Show your workings. [2 marks]

AQA PSYCHOLOGY A LEVEL RESEARCH METHODS 7

Significance is shown if the calculated value of S is equal to or less than the critical value.

(k) Explain whether or not there was a significant difference in the improvement in the scores between the two groups. Use your answer to Question 22 and Table 3. [2 marks]

The validity of the data was questioned when the researcher presented his results. The researcher explained that he chose to use the happiness questionnaire because it had high concurrent validity.

(l) Explain what it means for a test to have high concurrent validity. [2 marks]

The questionnaire had high concurrent validity.

Validity was still a concern because the researcher knew which participants were in each experimental group.

(m) Explain how this could have affected the validity of the study. [4 marks]

(n) Using your answer to Question m, suggest one way in which the researcher could modify the study to improve the internal validity of the study? Justify your answer. [4 marks]

A psychology teacher read the researcher’s study on sport and happiness. She considered whether setting group tasks could improve her students’ level of happiness. She decided to conduct an independent groups experiment with 30 students taking A-level Psychology using the same happiness questionnaire.

(o) Suggest an appropriate statistical test the psychology teacher could use to analyse the data. Justify your choice of test. [4 marks]

(p) Design an independent groups experiment that the psychology teacher could conduct.

  • the aim of the experiment
  • identification and manipulation of variables including details of the task
  • controls to minimise the effects of extraneous variables
  • data handling and analysis – use of descriptive statistics and/or data presentation.

Justify your design choices. [12 marks]

2020 ( A-level Psychology notes)

A study into the relationship between recreational screen time and academic achievement was conducted. Students were asked to self-report the number of hours spent watching TV, playing on their mobile phones or video games (daily recreational screen time) and their end-of-year test performances (academic performance).

The results of the study are shown in Figure 2.

AQA PSYCHOLOGY A LEVEL RESEARCH METHODS 8

(a) In which section(s) of a scientific report would you expect to find reference to the results/findings of the investigation?

A           The abstract and the results sections only

B           The abstract, the discussion and the results sections only

C           The results and the discussion sections only

D           The results section only

(b) Which of the following correlation co-efficients best describes the data represented in Figure 2?

A           –0.80

B           –0.25

C           +0.25

D           +0.80

(c) Identify the type of graph shown in Figure 2 and explain why this is an appropriate graph to use for the data collected. [3 marks]

(d) Explain why it would not be appropriate for the researchers to conclude that increased recreational screen time reduces academic performance. [2 marks]

A psychologist reads a review of a meta-analysis confirming the relationship between recreational screen time and academic performance.

(e) What is meant by the term meta-analysis? [2 marks]

The psychologist decided to design an experiment to test the effects of recreational screen time on children’s academic performance.

The psychologist randomly selected four schools from all the primary schools in her county to take part in the experiment involving Year 5 pupils. Three of the four schools agreed to take part. In total, there were 58 pupils whose parents consented for them to participate. The 58 pupils were then randomly allocated to Group A or Group B.

For the two-week period of the experiment, pupils in Group A had no recreational screen time. Pupils in Group B were allowed unrestricted recreational screen time. At the end of the experiment all pupils completed a 45-minute class test, to achieve a test score.

(f) Complete Table 1 by ticking the statement that best describes the population and the sample in the psychologist’s experiment.

Place one tick in each column. [2 marks]

AQA PSYCHOLOGY A LEVEL RESEARCH METHODS 9

(g) Briefly explain why a directional hypothesis would be most suitable for this experiment. [1 mark]

(h) Write an appropriate hypothesis for this experiment. [3 marks]

The results obtained from the experiment are summarised in Table 2.

Table 2  Descriptive statistics for the test performance scores for Group A and Group B

AQA PSYCHOLOGY A LEVEL RESEARCH METHODS 10

(i) Using the data in Table 2, explain how the distribution of scores in Group A differs from the distribution of scores in Group B. [4 marks]

(j) What do the mean and standard deviation values in Table 2 suggest about the effect of the recreational screen time on test performance? Justify your answer. [4 marks]

(k) The psychologist wanted to test the statistical significance of the data.

Identify the most appropriate choice of statistical test for analysing the data collected and explain three reasons for your choice in the context of this study. [7 marks]

One criticism of the study is that the pupils were not matched on their typical recreational screen time.

(l) Explain how the psychologist could have matched pupils on their typical recreational screen time across the experimental conditions. [4 marks]

(m) Identify one other variable for which the psychologist could have matched the pupils. Explain how this might have affected the test performance if it was not controlled. [2 marks]

The feedback from one of the schools was that recreational screen time affected pupils’ social interactions. The psychologist decided to investigate this further by using an observation of social interaction during playtime at the school.

(n) Design the observation to investigate pupils’ social interaction in the playground.

In your answer you will be awarded credit for providing appropriate details of:

  • type of observation, with justification
  • choice of time sampling or event sampling, with justification
  • dealing with one relevant ethical issue
  • assessing reliability of the data through inter-observer reliability.

2021 ( AQA A-level Psychology notes)

A researcher placed an advert in a university psychology department asking for third year students to participate in a sleep experiment.

Each student had a sleep tracker watch to wear at home for the two-week study. Each morning they were asked to open the sleep tracker app to view their sleep quality data on their mobile phones. The students were unaware that the sleep data they could see on their phones had been manipulated by the researcher. Over the two weeks of the study, each student saw that he or she had had poor sleep quality for seven random nights of the experiment and good sleep quality for the remaining nights.

Every morning, after viewing the sleep data, each student completed a questionnaire about the previous night’s sleep. One of the questions asked the students to rate how well rested they felt, on a scale from 1–10, after the previous night’s sleep. Apart from this, students were asked to continue their normal everyday activities.

(a) Which of the following best describes the experimental method used in this study?

Shade one box only. [1 mark]

A           Field experiment

B           Laboratory experiment

C           Natural experiment

D           Quasi-experiment

(b) Write a directional hypothesis the researcher might use for this study. [3 marks]

(c) Which of the following best describes the sampling method used in this study?

A           Opportunity sampling

B           Stratified sampling

C           Systematic sampling

D           Volunteer sampling

(d) Explain one strength and one limitation of using this sampling method in this study. [4 marks]

The researcher collected quantitative data about how well rested the students felt.

(e) Explain one strength of collecting quantitative data in this study. [2 marks]

One ethical issue in this study is deception, as the students were unaware that the sleep data they could see on their phones had been manipulated by the researcher.

(f) Explain one way in which the researcher might deal with the deception in this study. [2 marks]

Apart from the question about how well rested the students felt, the researcher’s questionnaire contained nine other questions. The responses to these questions were not analysed.

(g) Explain one reason why the researcher decided to include these additional questions on the questionnaire. [2 marks]

(h) Explain one limitation of assessing sleep quality using a rating scale of 1–10. [2 marks]

The researcher believed that the actual number of hours slept by the students could have affected the results of the study.

(i) Suggest one other extraneous variable that could have affected the results of this study. Explain why it would have been important to control this extraneous variable and how it could have been controlled in this study. [4 marks]

In a follow-up study, the researcher investigated whether there was a correlation between the number of hours slept and how well rested the students felt.

The researcher randomly selected 18 participants from first-year students at the university.

On the day of the study, each student participant was asked, ‘How many hours did you sleep last night?’ They then had to rate on a scale of 1 to 5 how well rested they felt.

The researcher hypothesised that there would be a positive correlation between the two co-variables.

(j) Outline one reason why it was appropriate to conduct a correlation rather than an experiment in this case. [2 marks]

(k) Describe how the researcher could have used random sampling to obtain the students for this study. [3 marks]

The researcher used Spearman’s rho statistical test to analyse the data from this study.

(l) Explain why Spearman’s rho was a suitable test for this study. Refer to the description of the study in your answer. [4 marks]

The researcher chose to use the 5% level of significance and the calculated correlation coefficient for the Spearman’s rho test was 0.395

AQA PSYCHOLOGY A LEVEL RESEARCH METHODS 11

(m) Identify the appropriate critical value from Table 1. Explain your choice. [4 marks]

(n) Explain whether the researcher’s hypothesis should be accepted. Refer to the critical value identified in Question 21 in your answer. [2 marks]

(o) Explain why the researcher decided to use the 5% level of significance rather than the 1% level in this study. [2 marks]

When the researcher compared the calculated and critical values of rho, he began to wonder if he might have made a Type II error.

(p) Explain what is meant by a Type II error in the context of this study. [2 marks]

(q) Discuss features of science. Refer to one or more examples of psychological research in your answer. [8 marks]

2022 ( A-level Psychology revision notes)

A controlled observation was designed to compare the social behaviours of pre-school children of working parents and pre-school children of stay-at-home parents. The sample consisted of 100 children aged three, who were observed separately. Half of the children had working parents and the other half had stay-at-home parents.

The observation took place in a room which looked like a nursery, with a variety of toys available. In the room, there were four children and one supervising adult. Their behaviour was not recorded.

Each child participant was brought into the room and settled by their parent. The parent then left to sit outside. Each child participant’s behaviour was observed covertly for five minutes while they played in the room.

The observation was conducted in a controlled environment and a standardised script was used when the children and their parents arrived.

(a) Explain why the researcher used a controlled observation and a standardised script in this study. [4 marks] 

(b) Identify one limitation of controlled observations. [1 mark]

The researcher used two trained observers to record the social behaviours of each child during the observation.

(c) Give two behavioural categories that the observers could have used in the observation to assess the pre-school children’s social behaviour. Explain why your chosen categories are appropriate. [4 marks]

(d) Describe how the observers could use time sampling to record the social behaviour of each child during the five-minute period. [4 marks]

(e) Explain one strength and one limitation of using time sampling for this observation. [4 marks]

(f) Explain how the reliability of the controlled observation could be assessed through inter-observer reliability. [4 marks]

The data from the observation was summarised by converting the number of agreed observations into a total social behaviour score for each child.

The researcher then conducted a statistical test to identify whether there was a significant difference between the social behaviour scores for the children of stay-at-home parents and those of working parents.

(g) Identify an appropriate statistical test that the researcher could use to analyse the social behaviour scores in this study. Explain three reasons for your choice in the context of this study. [7 marks]

(h) Explain one reason why collecting quantitative data could reduce the validity of this study. [2 marks]

The findings of this study might have implications for the economy.

(i) Explain one or more possible implications of this study for the economy. [3 marks]

This study was written up as a scientific report.

(j) Describe features of the abstract section in a scientific report. [3 marks]

A new TV programme has been developed to increase positive social behaviours in pre-school children.

There is a proposal to carry out an experiment to compare the effects of the new TV programme and an existing TV programme, on positive social behaviours in pre-school children.

A sample of 500 pre-school children and their parents is available for the experiment. The parents have given consent for their children to take part in this experiment.

The experiment will take place over an 8-week period. Data on the children’s social behaviours will be gathered from the parents using a self-report method.

(j) Design the experiment to investigate whether watching the new TV programme leads to an increase in positive social behaviours in the children, compared with watching the existing TV programme.

In your answer you will gain credit for providing appropriate details of the following:

  • the type of experimental design, with justification
  • a self-report method of data collection, with justification
  • how to control one extraneous variable, with justification as to why this would need to be controlled.

A-Level AQA Psychology Questions by Topic

Filter by paper, core content, 1. social influence, 3. attachment, 4 . psychopathology, 5 . approaches in psychology, 6. biopsychology, 7 . research methods, 8. issues and debates in psychology, 9. relationships, 11. cognition and development, 12. schizophrenia, 13. eating behaviour, 15. aggression, 16. forensic psychology, 17. addiction.

1-2 Short Paper - The Scientififc Skeptic - Lunar Phases and Human Behavior

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