PMT

Oxford Cambridge and RSA

AS Level Psychology
H167/01 Research methods

Monday 16 May 2016 – Afternoon

time allowed: 1 hour 30 minutes
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• a calculator

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First name

Last name

Centre Candidate
number number

inStRUctionS
• Use black ink.
• Complete the boxes above with your name, centre number and candidate number.
• Answer all the questions.
• Write your answer to each question in the space provided. If additional space is
required, use the lined page(s) at the end of this booklet. The question number(s) must
be clearly shown.
• Do not write in the barcodes.

inFoRMAtion
• The total mark for this paper is 75.
• The marks for each question are shown in brackets [ ].
• Quality of extended response will be assessed in questions marked with an asterisk (*).
• This document consists of 16 pages.

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Section A – Multiple choice

Answer all the questions. You should put the letter of the correct answer in the box provided.

1 Which experimental design was used in the Loftus and Palmer study investigating the effects of
leading questions on memory?

A independent measures
B laboratory experiment
c matched participants
D repeated measures

Your answer
[1]

2 Peer review of a piece of new psychological research should be conducted by:

A a specially appointed government minister

B another researcher working in a different field of psychology
c another researcher working in the same field of psychology
D the head of the psychology department in the university where the research was conducted

Your answer
[1]

3 A psychologist has designed a new psychometric test to measure extroversion. She gives 30
participants both her test and an established personality test, and compares their scores on the
two tests. What is she trying to establish by doing this?

A concurrent validity
B criterion validity
c ecological validity
D external validity

Your answer
[1]

4 Which of these is the name of a referencing system used to cite academic research?

A Cambridge
B Harvard
c Stanford
D Yale

Your answer
[1]
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5 What comes first in an academic reference?

A abstract
B name of journal
c surname of researcher
D title of investigation

Your answer
[1]

6 In which section of a practical report would you find the calculations performed for an inferential
statistical test?

A abstract
B appendices
c discussion
D results

Your answer
[1]

7 Which is a principle of scientific enquiry?

A implication
B induction
c information
D initiation

Your answer
[1]

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8 Look at the following scatter diagram.

A graph to show the relationship between

empathy scores and leadership scores
20

15
Leadership
10
score
5

0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Empathy score

Which is the best estimate of the correlation coefficient for the above data?

A –0.7
B –0.2
c +0.2
D +0.7

Your answer
[1]

9 What sampling technique did Milgram use to obtain the participants for his study of obedience?

A opportunity
B random
c self-selected
D snowball

Your answer
[1]

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10 A binomial sign test is correctly used to assess the significance of a set of results.

What level of data and type of design are necessary to carry out this test?

A nominal level data using a repeated measures design

B nominal level data using an independent measures design
c ordinal level data using a repeated measures design
D ordinal level data using an independent measures design

Your answer
[1]

11 Which of these is associated with the term ‘demand characteristics’?

A changes in participants’ behaviour as a consequence of knowing they are being studied

B compulsory things that the participants must do
c instructions given to the participants by the researcher
D personality traits of the participants

Your answer
[1]

12 Which of these is a closed question?

A How do horror movies make you feel?

B How often do you watch horror movies? ❑ 1–3 × per year ❑ 4–5 × per year ❑ 6 or more × per year
c What is the best horror movie you have seen?
D Why do you like horror movies?

Your answer
[1]

13 What is the name for the type of interview in which some of the questions to be asked are compiled
beforehand and others made up while the interview is being conducted?

A semi-constructed
B semi-detached
c semi-structured
D semi-unstructured

Your answer
[1]

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14 What is a quasi-experiment?

A the independent variable cannot be directly manipulated

B the independent variable is directly manipulated
c there is more than one independent variable
D there is no independent variable

Your answer
[1]

15 Which of these would produce interval level data?

A estimates of the number of sweets in a jar

B ratings of attractiveness of people with pupils of different sizes
c reaction time to respond to visual and auditory stimuli recorded using a stopwatch
D the number of people who hold the door open for the person behind them when entering a
shop

Your answer
[1]

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Section B – Research design and response

Answer all the questions.

Furry friends. Some research suggests that animals can help people feel less lonely.
To investigate this further a psychologist wants to conduct an experiment to study
the effect of caring for pets on elderly people living in one large residential home
called ‘The Oaklands’ which has a total of 125 men and women aged between 60
and 95.

16 Identify the target population in this research.

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17 (a) Describe how random sampling could be used to obtain participants for this study.

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(b) Evaluate the use of random sampling in this study.

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18 (a) Identify the independent variable in this study.

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(b) Identify the dependent variable in this study.

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19* Explain how you would use the experimental method to conduct this research. Justify your
decisions as part of your explanation.

In your answer, the required features that you must refer to are:

• the experimental design you would use

• how the dependent variable will be measured
• the control of at least one extraneous variable.

You should use your own experience of practical activities to inform your response.

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20 Write a null hypothesis for this study.

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21 Outline one advantage of conducting this research in a real-life setting.

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22 Identify two ethical considerations in this study and explain how you would address them.

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Section c – Data analysis and interpretation

Answer all the questions.

A psychologist conducted an observation study to investigate how people react when

walking towards each other along a corridor in a building where lots of different office staff
work. To do this, she asked for permission to set up hidden cameras for a day to record
people’s encounters along one of the main corridors connecting one part of the building to
another. The results from the study are shown in the table below.

table 1: Different behaviours observed as two people approach each other in a corridor

Avoids Says Makes

Smiles nods total
eye contact hello eye contact
80 48 40 24 8 200

23 This study is an example of a structured observation. What is a structured observation?

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24 What level of data is obtained in this study?

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25 What is the ratio of the number of times people avoided eye contact to the number of times people
said hello?

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26 What is the mode for the type of behaviour observed by people as they approach each other in the
corridor?

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27 Sketch a pie chart to show the data recorded in this study.

[4]

28 Outline two conclusions that can be made from the data collected in this study.

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29 In a follow-up study conducted a month later that recorded 310 behaviours in total, the researchers
noted that people avoided eye contact 125 times.

Write this as a percentage to two significant figures. Show your working.

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30 (a) Explain what is meant by a covert observation.

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(b) Evaluate the use of covert observation in this study.

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enD oF QUeStion PAPeR

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ADDitionAL AnSWeR SPAce

If additional space is required, you should use the following lined page(s). The question number(s)
must be clearly shown in the margin(s).

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Oxford Cambridge and RSA

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