Cambridge AS Level Psychology (9990)

Chapter 1: Research Methodology Study Notes

Introduction
Research methodology forms the foundational architecture of Cambridge AS Level Psychology.
Mastery of these concepts is vital for high achievement in both Paper 1 and Paper 2. This
document contains comprehensive notes, evaluations, exam application guidelines, keywords, a
complete glossary, a conceptual map layout, and practicing materials.

1. Experiments
An experiment investigates a causal relationship (cause-and-effect) by systematically
manipulating an Independent Variable (IV) to observe and measure corresponding changes in
a Dependent Variable (DV) while stringently controlling extraneous factors.

Types of Experiments

●​ Laboratory Experiment: Conducted in an artificial, tightly controlled setting. The researcher

directly controls the environment, randomly allocates participants, and manipulates the IV.
●​ Field Experiment: Staged within the participants' natural environment. The researcher still
actively manipulates the IV, but has significantly less control over atmospheric or
environmental variables.
●​ Natural Experiment: An investigation where the researcher cannot directly manipulate the
IV due to practical or ethical constraints. Instead, the researcher takes advantage of a
naturally occurring change or pre-existing variable (e.g., age, gender, brain lesions).

Experimental Designs

●​ Independent Measures: Separate groups of individuals take part in distinct conditions or

levels of the IV.
●​ Repeated Measures: The exact same group of participants takes part in all conditions or
levels of the IV sequentially. Requires counterbalancing to minimize order effects.
●​ Matched Pairs: Participants are paired based on key traits (e.g., age, intelligence quotient).
One member is assigned to group A, and the other to group B.
Formulating Hypotheses

●​ Directional (One-Tailed): Predicts the precise direction of an effect or relationship (e.g.,

"Participants who drink 200ml of coffee will recall more words than those who drink 200ml of
water").
●​ Non-Directional (Two-Tailed): States that a significant difference or relationship will occur,
but leaves the final direction unspecified.
●​ Null Hypothesis: Explicitly predicts that the IV will have no significant effect on the DV, and
any observed change is down to pure chance.

Examiner Key Terms & Target Criteria:

●​ Causal / Cause-and-Effect Relationship: Always argue that manipulating the IV is

directly responsible for changes in the DV.
●​ Operationalisation: Quantify variables strictly (e.g., "milliseconds taken to respond to a
visual stimulus" instead of "reaction").
●​ Standardisation: Highlight how identical procedural guidelines assure internal reliability.

Type Strengths Weaknesses

Laboratory High standardization allows Lacks ecological validity and

exact replication. Strong mundane realism. High risk
control limits confounding of demand characteristics.
variables.

Field High ecological validity; Extraneous factors lower

participants act naturally. internal validity. Difficult to
Reduced demand accurately replicate.
characteristics.

Natural Enables study of highly No random allocation

unethical or physically possible. High risk of
impossible variables. Natural participant variables
behavior. confounding data.

Evaluation (Issues & Debates Focus)

●​ Reliability: Laboratory settings boast exceptional internal reliability via standardized tasks.
 Field and natural settings introduce unpredictable anomalies that lower consistency.
●​ Validity: Lab experiments minimize threats to internal validity but collapse on ecological
validity. Field methods trade internal precision for real-world application.
●​ Ethics: Labs make informed consent transparent but rely on minor deceptions to preserve
blind conditions. Field settings risk invading personal privacy without prior warning or direct
right to withdraw.

Application to Novel Situations:

When tasked with planning an experiment from a prompt:

1.​ Define both levels of your IV explicitly and state the exact units of measurement for your
DV.
2.​ Identify your experimental design and outline immediate controls (e.g., keeping room
temperature, visual lighting, or test time identical for all cohorts).

2. Self-Reports
Self-reports allow individuals to declare their personal thoughts, emotional metrics, values, or
mental states through structured formats.

Questionnaires & Interviews

●​ Closed Questions: Present fixed, discrete responses (e.g., Likert Scales, multiple choice).
Yields objective quantitative data.
●​ Open Questions: Permit descriptive text in the participant's own phrasing. Provides deep
qualitative clarity.
●​ Structured Interview: Rigidly utilizes identical question sets across all respondents in a
static sequence.
●​ Unstructured Interview: Features free-flowing dialogue dynamically guided by the user's
ongoing answers.
●​ Semi-Structured Interview: Pairs a baseline matrix of core inquiries with the dynamic
freedom to ask custom follow-up questions.

Examiner Key Terms & Target Criteria:

●​ Social Desirability Bias: The tendency of participants to distort responses to fit popular
cultural norms.
●​ Response Acquiescence: The habit of checking matching scales out of fatigue rather
than critical evaluation.
 Method Strengths Weaknesses

Questionnaires Highly cost-effective across Low response rates. Rigid

vast populations. Anonymity parameters can mask
increases personal nuanced viewpoints.
disclosure.

Interviews Allows immediate clarification High risk of interviewer bias

of ambiguous remarks. via unconscious facial or
Captures organic emotional vocal cues. Time-intensive.
contexts.

Evaluation (Issues & Debates Focus)

●​ Reliability: Written surveys offer uniform reliability due to static question phrasing.
Unstructured dialogs collapse clinical reliability.
●​ Validity: Vulnerable to subjective distortions and demand characteristics. Using anonymous
drop boxes helps protect internal validity.
●​ Ethics: Informs consent cleanly, but researchers must guard data confidentiality and refrain
from probing distressing themes.

Application to Novel Situations:

When designing a self-report instrument from scratch:

1.​ Provide at least two fully written examples of closed questions (e.g., a 1-to-5 scale) and
one open-ended query.
2.​ Specify the delivery medium (e.g., electronic forms, face-to-face) and explain data
sanitization methods.

3. Case Studies
An exhaustive, multi-dimensional analysis centered exclusively on a single unit (such as an
individual, a family, or an extraordinary sub-group) over an extended timeframe.

Core Implementation Methods

●​ Idiographic Design: Prioritizes tracking distinct, unique case parameters over mapping
generalized group distributions.
●​ Triangulation: Deploys combined analytical tracks (e.g., logs, medical tracking, behavioral
tests, interview histories) to consolidate and corroborate observations.
●​ Longitudinal Framework: Monitors developmental trajectories across long months or years.

Examiner Key Terms & Target Criteria:

●​ Generalisability: The ability to transfer insights to the public. Case studies possess low
generalisability due to tiny, unusual sample sizes.
●​ Researcher Over-Attachment: Loss of clinical objectivity due to prolonged professional
exposure.
Evaluation (Issues & Debates Focus)

●​ Reliability: Inherently low. The distinct situations (e.g., rare neural damage or unique
phobias) cannot be replicated.
●​ Validity: High descriptive validity due to multi-source triangulation. Weak external validity.
●​ Ethics: Pseudonyms are mandatory. The rare profile details can still compromise identity
privacy.

Application to Novel Situations:

When applying a case study template to a unique scenario:

1.​ Map out at least three independent testing tracks (e.g., memory charts, close family
interviews, diary entry analysis).
2.​ Detail the exact scheduling interval across the multi-month timeframe.

4. Observations
Observations involve systematically monitoring, categorizing, and logging behavior without
actively manipulating environmental variables.

Structural Settings

●​ Naturalistic vs. Controlled: Naturalistic tracks real-world habitats; controlled frames

structure specific settings.
●​ Overt vs. Covert: Overt notifies the observed cohort; covert utilizes hidden tracking frames
or mirrors.
●​ Participant vs. Non-Participant: Participant observation embeds the investigator into the
social group; non-participant isolates the observer.
●​ Structured vs. Unstructured: Structured uses a categorical tally frame; unstructured logs
 descriptions textually.

Examiner Key Terms & Target Criteria:

●​ Inter-rater Reliability: The mathematical consensus between independent logs.

Calculated as: (Agreements / Total Tallies) × 100. Must hit ≥ 80%.
●​ Behavioral Coding Categories: Distinct, mutually exclusive operational target blocks.
Evaluation (Issues & Debates Focus)

●​ Reliability: Structured grids allow solid internal replication. Unstructured logs fall prey to
observer subjectivity.
●​ Validity: Covert models remove demand characteristics. Overt scenarios trigger artificial
reactions (Hawthorne effect).
●​ Ethics: Covert tracking is restricted to public forums where individuals reasonably expect
open exposure.

Application to Novel Situations:

When designing an observation matrix for an exam prompt:

1.​ Explicitly state three operationalized behavioral categories (e.g., "verbal greeting",
"physical nod", "hand gesture").
2.​ Declare whether you will use Time Sampling (logging blocks every 5 minutes) or Event
Sampling (tallying every occurrence).

5. Correlations
A non-experimental method analyzing the mathematical **strength and linear direction**
between two pre-existing co-variables.

Directional Vectors

●​ Positive Correlation: Direct proportional tracking; as variable A rises, variable B scales

upward simultaneously.
●​ Negative Correlation: Inverse tracking; as variable A increases, variable B scales
downward systematically.
●​ Zero Correlation: Scatterplots display no linear association.

Examiner Key Terms & Target Criteria:

 ●​ Co-variables: Never use IV or DV labels. Use "co-variables" exclusively.
●​ Causality Absolute Void: Correlations show statistical relationships but cannot confirm
cause-and-effect.
●​ Third Variable Confounding: An external factor driving both measured metrics
simultaneously.
Evaluation (Issues & Debates Focus)

●​ Reliability: High if standardized automated scales are used to collect numerical co-variable
indices.
●​ Validity: Limited internal validity due to the absence of experimental manipulation. High
descriptive value.
●​ Ethics: Low risk since no active variables are manipulated. Strict data safety protocols
remain required.

Application to Novel Situations:

When structuring a correlational design:

1.​ Operationalise both Co-variables clearly using numerical scales.
2.​ Specify data visualization on a scatterplot and state the statistical coefficient tracking
model.

6. Methodological Architecture Map

Use this structural template to plan your Paper 2 methodology responses:
[RESEARCH METHODOLOGY]​
|--> 1. EXPERIMENTS --> [IV / DV Manipulations] ---> [Causal
Tracking]​
|--> 2. SELF-REPORTS --> [Surveys / Interviews] ---> [Subjective
Views]​
|--> 3. CASE STUDIES --> [Triangulated In-depth] ---> [Unique
Contexts]​
|--> 4. OBSERVATIONS --> [Behavioral Tallies ] ---> [Natural
Patterns]​
|--> 5. CORRELATIONS --> [Co-variable Vectors ] ---> [Linear
Tendencies]​

7. Comprehensive Syllabus Glossary

●​ Independent Variable (IV): The variable that is systematically altered by the investigator to
observe its downstream effects.
●​ Dependent Variable (DV): The objective outcome variable measured by the investigator.
●​ Operationalisation: Defining variables in precise, measurable terms.
●​ Demand Characteristics: Unconscious cues that signal the study's aim to the participant,
altering their natural behavior.
●​ Triangulation: Combining multiple methods or data sources to cross-verify findings.
●​ Counterbalancing: A technique used to systematically rotate the order of conditions in
repeated measures designs to control for order effects.
●​ Inter-rater Reliability: The percentage of agreement between independent observers.
Target threshold is ≥ 80%.
●​ Co-variables: The two simultaneously measured variables in a correlational analysis.
●​ Ecological Validity: The degree to which research findings can be generalized to real-world
settings.
●​ Mundane Realism: The extent to which an experimental task mirrors everyday real-life
actions.

8. Exam Application Corner

Question 1 (Paper 2 Design Task - 4 Marks):
A researcher wants to run a lab experiment evaluating whether consuming sugar affects
short-term digit recall capacity.
(a) State the operationalised independent variable (IV) and dependent variable (DV). [2]

(b) Propose an effective method to operationalise the DV. [2]

Model Answer & Mark Scheme:

(a) IV: Consuming a 50g sugar solution versus consuming a 0g sugar water control. [1 Mark]
DV: Short-term digit recall scores. [1 Mark]

(b) The DV can be operationalised by measuring the total number of digits accurately
recalled in their original order from a random 15-digit sequence presented on a screen for 10
seconds. [2 Marks]

Question 2 (Paper 2 Essay Task - 6 Marks):

Evaluate the case study method in psychological research, referring to at least one core
strength and one core weakness. [6]

Model Answer & Mark Scheme:

Strength: Case studies provide rich qualitative detail through triangulation [1]. This allows for
a deeper understanding of complex human behaviors [1]. For example, Saavedra and
Silverman (2002) tracked the internal emotional states of a child with a button phobia over
extended therapy sessions, capturing clinical insights that standard surveys would miss [1].

Weakness: However, case studies suffer from low generalisability [1]. Because the sample is
restricted to a unique individual or a small group, findings may not accurately represent the
wider public [1]. For instance, the unique triggers and coping mechanisms of the child in the
button phobia study cannot be assumed to apply to all individuals with specific phobias [1].