PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT

YEAR 1 & YEAR 2

RESEARCH METHODS

NAME………………………………….............................................

FORM………………………………..

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 AS SPECIFICATION CONTENT:

• Variables: manipulation and control of variables, including independent, dependent, extraneous,

confounding; operationalisation of variables.

• Control: Demand characteristics and investigator effects, randomisation and standardisation.

• Experimental method. Types of experiment, laboratory and field experiments; natural and quasi
experiments.

• Experimental designs: repeated measures, independent groups, matched pairs.

Random allocation and counterbalancing,

• Aims: stating aims, the difference between aims and hypotheses.

Hypotheses: directional and non-directional.

• Sampling: the difference between population and sample; sampling techniques including: random,
systematic, stratified, opportunity and volunteer; implications of sampling techniques, including bias
and generalisation.

• Ethics, including the role of the British Psychological Society’s code of ethics; ethical issues in the
design and conduct of psychological studies; dealing with ethical issues in research.

• Observational techniques. Types of observation: naturalistic and controlled observation; covert and
overt observation; participant and non-participant observation. Observational design: behavioural
categories; event sampling; time sampling.

• Self-report techniques. Questionnaires; interviews, structured and unstructured. Questionnaire

construction, including use of open and closed questions; design of interviews.

• Correlations. Analysis of the relationship between co-variables. The difference between correlations
and experiments. Positive, negative and zero correlations.

• Quantitative and qualitative data; the distinction between qualitative and quantitative data collection
techniques. Primary and secondary data, including meta-analysis.

• Descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency – mean, median, mode; calculation of mean,
median and mode; measures of dispersion; range and standard deviation; calculation of range.

• Mathematical content – calculation of percentages; Converting a percentage to a decimal, converting a

decimal to a fraction, using ratios, mathematical symbols, probability, significant figures.

• Introduction to statistical testing – The sign test. When to use the sign test; calculation of the sign test.

• Presentation and display of quantitative data: graphs, tables, scattergrams, bar charts, histograms.
Distributions: normal and skewed distributions; characteristics of normal and skewed distributions.

• Pilot studies and the aims of piloting.

The role of peer review in the scientific process.
The implications of psychological research for the economy.

TICK OFF EACH SECTION WHEN YOU ARE HAPPY THAT YOU UNDERSTAND IT.

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 Computers hinder children’s learning!
Experimental method

A teacher in a small country secondary school noticed that some students used a
computer for homework quite a lot. She had a feeling that they tended to get better
results too. She wondered whether use of computers did improve school achievement.
She chose to interview a small number of students (30); she said she was interested in
what they did after school and whether they would like to join in the study. She tried to
ensure that she had a few naughty ones as well as the more co-operative ones so that the
sample was fair. Amongst the questions she asked was one about whether they had a
computer and how long they spent on it each day. She also asked whether they used it for
homework or not.
Finally, she looked up last year’s exam grades for each pupil and made some statistical
comparisons.

Much to her surprise she found that the longer that they spent on computers, the worse
their grades were! At first she was disappointed – her idea had been proved wrong. Then
she started to think about the repercussions. So research into computers and learning
was flawed! All these schools that spent thousands of pounds on state of the art computer
suites were wasting their money! ‘Back to Basics’ – her new theory would be very popular
in some areas and sure to be published. She could hardly wait to surprise the Head with
what she had been doing in her spare time.

There are a number of problems with this piece of research – try to identify key
problems with this project and suggest how they could be dealt with.

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 VARIABLES

What are variables?

A variable is any factor that can change or vary - simply the precise, technical term that psychologists use for
something. Every experiment involves an independent variable and a dependent variable.

• Independent variable: the variable that is manipulated or changed by the experimenter.

• Dependent variable: the dependant variable is what changes as a result of manipulating the IV, it is what
we measure.
• A hypothesis should show how the IV will affect the DV.

OPERATIONALISATION OF VARIABLES – A clear definition of what these variables are and exactly how
we are going to measure them

Example: We are concerned with the effect of ‘media violence’ on ‘aggression’.

We need to be very clear and operationalise what we mean by ‘media violence’ and ‘aggression’.

To operationalise “media violence” in the experiment we could say ‘exposure to a 15-minute film showing
scenes of physical assault’.
To operationalise “aggression” in the experiment we could say ‘the levels of electrical shocks administered to a
second ‘participant’ in another room’.

The key point here is that we have made it absolutely clear what we mean by the terms as they were studied
and measured in our experiment otherwise replication will be impossible.

OPERATIONALISATION
How would we operationalise the following?
1) Aim: to see whether work makes people happy.
a. IV = work
b. DV = being happy

How could you operationalise the IV and DV?

IV –

DV –

2) Aim: to see if age affects memory –

a. IV – age
b. DV - memory

IV –

DV -

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 IV & DV’s
For the following identify the IV and the DV and operationalise them:

1. Drug A affects memory.

IV –

DV -

2. Men drive faster than women.

IV –

DV -

3. Memory strategies will lead to better recall

IV –

DV -

4. Time of day affects alertness.

IV –

DV –

5. People learn fewer words in silent conditions than in noisy ones.

IV –

DV -

EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES - a variable other than the IV that might affect the DV if it is not controlled.
Extraneous variables are only a problem if they’re not controlled - they may adversely affect or confound the
results (they become Confounding Variables). If this happens we can’t be sure whether any change in the DV
is solely due to the manipulation of the IV or due to the presence of these other ‘changing variables’.

When designing an experiment, researchers should consider three main areas where extraneous variables may
arise: -
• Participant variables - Participants’ age, intelligence, and personality etc. should be controlled.
• Situational variables - The experimental setting and surrounding environment must be controlled. This
may even include the temperature or noise effects.
• Experimenter variables - The personality, appearance and conduct of the researcher. Any change in
these across conditions might affect the results. For example, would a female experimenter record
lower levels of obedience than a male experimenter?

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EXAMPLE: Investigating the effect of background music (condition A) or silence (condition B) on homework
performance using two classes, they’d have to control a number of possible extraneous variables (things we
could be aware of). These might include age, homework difficulty and so on. If these were all controlled, then
the results would probably be worthwhile.
However, if the researchers discovered that those in condition A were considerably more intelligent than
those in condition B (previously unaware of), then intelligence would be acting as a confounding variable. This
may only become evident after the research. The researcher could no longer be sure whether any differences
in homework performance were due to the presence of the music or due to intelligence levels. Results would
be confounded and worthless.

CONFOUNDING VARIABLES - Variables that have already had an effect on the DV. They were not controlled
as the researcher was not aware of them before the experiment. A confounding variable could be an
extraneous variable that has not been controlled.
If we fail to identify & control for an extraneous variable, and we only notice afterwards that it has affected
our results, then it becomes known as a confounding variable.
The IV must be the only variable that effects the DV so we can infer the cause and effect.

Question practice
Q1. A psychologist obtained a volunteer sample of 10 students aged 17 years from a
different sixth form centre. Participants were asked to complete two puzzle tasks as
quickly as possible. Task A was to find 10 differences in a ‘spot the difference’ puzzle
while working in silence. Task B was to find 10 differences in another ‘spot the difference’
puzzle while listening to music through headphones.

a) Identify the independent variable (2)

b) Identify the dependent variable (2)

c) Identify one possible extraneous variable that the psychologist should have
controlled in this follow-up study. Explain how this variable might have affected
the results of the study if it was not controlled. (3)

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Q2. A psychologist wanted to see if creativity is affected by the presence of other people.
To test this he arranged for 30 people to participate in a study that involved generating
ideas for raising funds for a local youth club. Participants were randomly allocated to one
of two conditions.

Condition A: there were 15 participants in this condition. Each participant was placed
separately in a room and was given 40 minutes to think of as many ideas as possible for
raising funds for a local youth club. The participant was told to write down his or her ideas
and these were collected in by the psychologist at the end of the 40 minutes.

Condition B: there were 15 participants in this condition. The participants were randomly
allocated to 5 groups of equal size. Each group was given 40 minutes to think of as many
ideas as possible for raising funds for a local youth club. Each group was told to write
down their ideas and these were collected by the psychologist at the end of the 40
minutes.

The psychologist counted the number of ideas generated by the participants in both
conditions and calculated the total number of ideas for each condition.

a) Identify the independent variable (2)

b) Identify the dependent variable (2)

c) Suggest one way in which the psychologist might have improved this study by
controlling for the effects of extraneous variables. Justify your answer. (2)

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 CONTROLS
Specification: demand characteristics and investigator effects, randomisation and standardisation

DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS
Any cue from the researcher or the research situation that may be interpreted
by participants as revealing the purpose of the investigation. This may lead to
a participant changing their behaviour within the research situation.

Participants are likely to try and guess the aim of the investigation by looking
for clues (demand characteristics) to help them guess the experimenter’s
intentions. They can then either over-perform to please the experimenter, or
under-perform to sabotage the results. Either way they may not be behaving in
a ‘usual’ way.
Therefore, demand characteristics could be an extraneous variable that may
affect the DV.

INVESTIGATOR EFFECTS
Any effect of the investigator`s behaviour (conscious or unconscious) on the research outcome (the DV). This
may include everything from the design of the study to the selection of, and interaction with, participants
during the research process.
For example – We are expecting that eating chocolate makes you happier. Participants to fill in a mood
questionnaire after; either having chocolate (Condition A) or not having chocolate (Condition B – control
condition). We will record how happy the individuals feel in a questionnaire.
As we are expecting people to be happier in the chocolate condition we may be unconsciously inclined to
smile more with these participants than with the other condition of no chocolate. This means the feeling of
happiness may be due to smiling rather than the chocolate. This therefore becomes an extraneous variable.
It might also refer to any actions of the researcher that were related to the study’s design, such as the
selection of the participants, the materials, the instructions, etc.

TYPES OF CONTROL:
RANDOMISATION - The use of chance in order to control for the effects of bias when designing materials and
deciding the order of conditions.
By randomising we are leaving the experiment up to chance as much as possible. This decrease the influence
of the investigator which means it controls for investigator effects too. Material for each condition in an
experiment is presented in a random order For example, a memory experiment may involve participants
recalling words from a list. The order of the list should be randomly generated so that the position of each
word is not decided by the experimenter.
In an experiment where participants are involved in a number of different conditions, the order of these
conditions should be randomly determined.

STANDARDISATION - Using exactly the same formalised procedures and instructions for all participants in a
research study.
As far as is possible within an investigation, all participants should be subject to the same environment,
information and experience. To ensure this all procedures are standardised, in other words there is a list of
exactly what will be done in the study. This includes standardised instructions that are read to each
participant. Such standardisation also means that procedures do not act as extraneous variables.

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 EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
Specification: types of experiment, laboratory and field experiments; natural and quasi experiments.

Types of Experiments
LABORATORY
Controlled environment setting (not necessarily a laboratory) which is unnatural for the participants.
Lab experiments manipulate the IV, because all aspects of the situation are constant except one - the one we are
investigating (IV) this means the Lab experiment is very scientific.

Strengths Limitations
• High control over extraneous variables it • Lab experiments may lack generalisability. The lab
ensures that any effect on the dependent environment = artificial and not like everyday life so
variable (DV) is likely to be the result of participants may behave in unusual ways so their
manipulation of the independent variable (IV). behaviour cannot always be generalised beyond the
So we can be more certain about demonstrating research setting (low external validity).
cause and effect (high internal validity). • Ppt’s are usually aware they are being tested in a lab
• Replication is more possible than in other types experiment (though they may not know why) and this
of experiment because of the high level of may also give rise to ‘unnatural ‘behaviour (demand
control. As it is a standardised procedure we can characteristics)
reproduce the experiment in order to see if the • Tasks participants are asked to carry out in a lab
results we accurate or just a one-off. experiment may not represent real-life experience e.g.
recalling unconnected lists of words as part of a
memory experiment (low mundane realism).
FIELD
These take place in a more natural setting, i.e. in ‘the field’. This does not mean in an actual field but rather a more
natural environment such as shopping centre, on the street etc. They still manipulate an IV like a Lab experiment.
Example: Piliavin – person collapsed on train – waited to see how long it would take people to help. IV –
appearance of person – ‘Drunk’ or with ‘walking stick’ = field because in natural environment

Strengths Limitations
• Higher mundane realism (helping someone or • In a natural setting therefore less chance to control
not) than lab experiments because the extraneous variables. This means cause and effect in
environment is more natural. Field experiments field studies may be difficult to establish and precise
may produce behaviour that is more valid and replication is often not possible as the natural setting
authentic. may change.
• Participants may be unaware they are being • There are also important ethical issues. If participants
studied so more likely to act in a normal way and are unaware they are being studied they cannot
not be effected by demand characteristics. This consent to being studied, which means the research
means field experiments have high external might be an invasion of privacy.
validity.
QUASI
A quasi-experiment could take place in both a controlled or natural setting - does not directly manipulate an IV. It
is a pre-existing IV, therefore participants cannot be randomly allocated to conditions, they either have the
condition or not e.g. male / female

Strength Limitation
• Quasi-experiments are often carried out under • Quasi-experiments cannot randomly allocate
controlled conditions and therefore share the participants to conditions (as the participant either has
strengths of a lab experiment the condition or not) and therefore there may be
confounding variables.

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NATURAL
A natural experiment could also take place in both a controlled or natural setting. It is not the setting that makes a
natural experiment it is the variable. The variable has to be ‘natural’ which means it would have changed even if
the experimenter was not interested so not manipulated – e.g. stress on doctors after an earthquake

Strengths Limitations
• Natural experiments provide opportunities for • A naturally occurring event may only happen very
research that may not otherwise be undertaken rarely, reducing the opportunities for research. This
for practical or ethical reasons. also may limit the scope for generalising findings to
Example - Rutter’s studies of institutionalised other similar situations as there may not be any similar
Romanian orphans takes advantage of a natural situations.
situation that could not be studied using a lab • Another issue is that participants may not to be
experiment. randomly allocated to experimental conditions (this
• Natural experiments often have high external only applies when there is an independent groups
validity because they involve the study of real- design). This means the researcher might be less sure
life issues and problems as they happen, such as whether the IV affected the DV. For example, in the
the effects of a natural disaster on stress levels. study of Romanian orphans the IV was whether
children were adopted early or late. However, there
were lots of other differences between these groups,
such as those who were adopted late may also have
been the less attractive children who no one wanted to
adopt.

SIMILARITIES:

Quasi Experiments – Both can take part in a controlled environment.

Laboratory Natural Experiments – Both can take part in a controlled environment
and Field Experiments – Both manipulate the IV. They both could also randomly allocate participants to
each condition

Quasi Experiments – Both can take part in natural environment

Field and
Natural Experiments – Both can take part in natural environment

Quasi and Natural Experiments – Both do not manipulate an IV but take advantage of a situation.

DIFFERENCES:

Laboratory and A Lab is conducted in a controlled environment whereas a Field is conducted in a natural
Field Expts environment
Laboratory and A Lab manipulates an IV, whereas a Quasi takes advantage of pre-existing variable.
Quasi Expts
Laboratory and A Lab manipulates an IV, whereas a Natural takes advantage of a naturally occurring event
Natural Expts

Field and Quasi A Field manipulates an IV, whereas a Quasi takes advantage of pre-existing variable
Expts
Field and A Field manipulates an IV, whereas a Natural takes advantage of a naturally occurring event.
Natural Expts

Quasi and A Quasi takes advantage of a pre-existing variable, whereas a Natural takes advantage of a
Natural Expts naturally occurring event.

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 Question practice
1. Dave, a middle-aged male researcher, approached an adult in a busy street. He asked
the adult for directions to the train station. He repeated this with 29 other adults. Each of
the 30 adults was then approached by a second researcher, called Sam, who
showed each of them 10 photographs of different middle-aged men, including a
photograph of Dave. Sam asked the 30 adults to choose the photograph of the
person who had asked them for directions to the train station.

Sam estimated the age of each of the 30 adults and recorded whether each one had
correctly chosen the photograph of Dave.

a) Identify the type of experiment _________________________________________________

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

Extraneous variable _________________________________________________________________

How this extraneous variable could have affected the results of this experiment

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

2. A psychologist wanted to test whether listening to music improves running performance. The
psychologist conducted a study using 10 volunteers from a local gym. 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 instructions. All participants wore
headphones in both conditions. The psychologist recorded their running times in
seconds. The participants returned to the psychology department the following week
and repeated the test in the other condition.

Identify the type of experiment _________________________________________________

Identify the DV ______________________________________________

3. A researcher investigated whether people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are more
aware of their own heartbeat than people who do not have OCD. This involved 10 people with OCD
and 10 people without OCD. The researcher asked each participant to estimate how fast his or her
heart was beating (in beats per minute) and this was compared to his or her actual heartbeat.

Identify the type of experiment _________________________________________________

Identify the IV ______________________________________________

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 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
Specification: Repeated measures, independent groups, matched pairs Random allocation and
counterbalancing

Experimental design means how participants are used in an experiment – do the same participants take part in
both conditions, do different participants take part in only one condition each?
REPEATED MEASURES DESIGN INDEPENDENT GROUPS DESIGN MATCHED PAIRS DESIGN
Each participant takes part in Each participant only takes part in Like an independent groups each participant
both conditions of the one condition. Therefore there are only takes part in one condition. Therefore
experiment. two separate (independent) groups. there are two separate groups. However the
two separate groups are carefully matched on
Example - We want to test how Example - We want to test how
criteria that may be useful for the
chocolate effects memory. chocolate effects memory.
investigation.
Each participant has no Each participant is allocated to only
Example - We want to test how chocolate
chocolate and does a memory one condition either no chocolate
effects memory.
test (condition A) and the same (Condition A) or chocolate (Condition
participants then eat chocolate B) Each participant is matched with a partner who
and do the memory test have similar IQ, as this might be a good
(Condition B) The data from both groups would then indicator of their ability to recall information.
be compared to see if there was a The two participants who scored the highest
The data from both conditions difference. would then be split and put in condition A and
would then be compared to see the other in condition B and so on = Randomly
if there was a difference. allocated

The data from both groups would then be

compared to see if there was a difference.
STRENGTHS: STRENGTHS: STRENGTHS:
The same people in each group, Order effects are not a problem as This is an attempt to control for participant
so no need to control for participants only take part in one variables (individual differences)
individual differences like age condition.
etc. Because of this you don’t Like independent groups participants only take
have to use as many participants. Participants are also less likely to guess part in a single condition so order effects and
the aims due to only being exposed to demand characteristics are less of a problem.
one condition, so less chance of
demand characteristics.
LIMITATIONS: LIMITATIONS: LIMITATIONS:
Order effects - people may get Individual differences could affect the Although there is some attempt to reduce
better due to practice or worse results. Any difference found could be participant variables in this design, participants
due to fatigue or boredom. This due to individual differences rather can never be matched exactly. Even when
could then confound the results. than the IV. identical twins are used as matched pairs, there
will still be important differences between
Solution is to counterbalance Solution is to use random allocation them that may affect the DV.
ABBA (see next section)
Matching may be time-consuming as matching
As participants experience all Independent group designs are also participants on certain criteria can be difficult.
conditions of the experiment, less economical than repeated It can also be expensive, particularly if a pre-
they are more likely to guess the measures as each participant test is required, so this is less economical than
aim of the study and therefore contributes a single result only. other designs.
may affect the results due to Therefore Twice as many participants
demand characteristics. would be needed to produce the
equivalent data of a repeated
measures design.

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 Which experimental design?

YOUR TASK- choose which experimental design would be best for the following research studies. In
some cases, you have no choice; in others, you should decide which would be most appropriate.

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 CONTROLS FOR DESIGNS - RANDOM ALLOCATION AND COUNTERBALANCING

RANDOM ALLOCATION – to control for participant variables in an independent groups design.

• Each participant has the same chance of being in one condition or the other.
• Random allocation attempts to evenly distribute participant characteristics across the conditions of the
experiment by using random techniques.

Example - Pieces of paper with A or B written on them are placed in a ‘hat’. The researcher selects them one at
a time to assign participants to the corresponding groups.

COUNTERBALANCING – to control for the order effects in a repeated measures design.

• Half the participants experience the conditions in one order, and the other half of
participants are in the opposite order.

Example - 20 participants do both tasks. However the group is split in two:

10 participants do condition A then condition B
10 participants do condition B then condition A
The results are then collected and compared to see if there is a difference between
condition A and condition B.

Question practice
A psychologist wanted to see if even a brief period of aversion therapy would help smokers
reduce their level of smoking. A group of 12 volunteers who smoked regularly recorded the
number of cigarettes smoked over a one week period.
The psychologist then exposed them to aversion therapy for one week.
The participants were then allowed to smoke freely recording the number of cigarettes smoked
during the week following therapy.

1. Identify the experimental design and explain one advantage of using this design in this study (3)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

A psychologist showed participants 100 different cards, one at a time. Each card had two
unrelated words printed on it, e.g. DOG, HAT.

Participants in one group were instructed to form a mental image to link the words.
Participants in the other group were instructed simply to memorise the words.
After all the word pairs had been presented, each participant was shown a card with
the first word of each pair printed on it. Participants were asked to recall the second word.

2. Identify the experimental design and explain one advantage of using this design in this study (3)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

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 AIMS & HYPOTHESIS
Specification: stating aims, the difference between aims and hypotheses - Hypotheses: directional and
non-directional

AIM: A general statement about the investigation.

A research question is decided and then the researcher has to think about the AIM.
 The research question:
◦ Does music have an effect on revision?
 The aim may be a general aim:
◦ To see if listening to music whilst revising effects exam results.
 Or a more specific aim:
◦ To see if listening to One Direction whilst revising increases exam results rather than revising
in silence.

Once we have an aim, we need to generate a hypothesis.

HYPOTHESIS: A Hypothesis is a precise testable statement predicting the outcomes of the study.
It can be known as the:
EXPERIMENTAL HYPOTHESIS – Any hypothesis related to an experiment.
ALTERNATIVE/RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS – A hypothesis related to everything else that isn’t an experiment.
It must state an outcome of the research.
 There will be a difference in exam results between participants who listen to One Direction whilst
revising, compared to those who listen to nothing whilst revising.
NULL HYPOTHESIS: Predicts that any differences between the sets of results in an experiment are due to
chance alone. As psychologists, we must accept that we can never rule out the possibility that any results may
be simply due to chance. Should analysis of data indicate that results are not statistically significant a
researcher must reject the experimental hypothesis and accept the null hypothesis.

 There will be no significant difference when revising whilst listening to One Direction or revising in
silence. Any difference in exam results will be due to chance.

DIRECTIONAL (ONE-TAILED) – The research heads in a specific way.

 For example, Girls will do better in the exam than boys

NON DIRECTIONAL (TWO-TAILED) – We don’t know what the results of our investigation will show –
perhaps there is no previous research to guide us.
 For example, there will be a difference between girls and boys results in the exam.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN AIM AND A HYPOTHESIS - An aim is a general statement of what the
researchers is going to investigate whereas a Hypothesis is a precise testable statement. This means a
hypothesis is measureable (operationalised) whereas an aim is not.

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 IMPORTANT!!!
Use the following structure to write your hypotheses:
HOW TO STRUCTURE HYPOTHESES – Use the word significant

 ONE-TAILED HYPOTHESIS:
Participants who (IV) Condition A will Recall/Score significantly more/higher (DV) than
participants who (IV) Condition B

 TWO-TAILED HYPOTHESIS:
There will be a significant difference in the Recall/Score (DV) between participants who (IV) Condition
A and participants who (IVO) Condition B

 NULL HYPOTHESIS:
There will be no significant difference between participants who (IV) Condition A and participants who
(IV) Condition B. Any difference in recall/score (DV) will be due to chance.

 CORRELATIONAL HYPOTHESIS:
There will be a significant (positive/negative) relationship between … and …

AIMS & HYPOTHESES

Read the following statements. Put an A by those that are aims and an H by those that are
hypotheses.
1. To investigate the relationship between food additives and hyperactive behaviour.

2. To find out whether playing Grand Theft Auto makes boys aggressive.

3. Boys who spend at least 2 hours a week playing Grand Theft Auto will score significantly higher
on the “aggressive attitude” rating scale than boys who have never played Grand Theft Auto.

4. An investigation into alcohol consumption and reaction time.

5. To investigate whether a greater number of words will be recalled if they are presented in an
organised way (e.g. alphabetically) than if they are listed randomly.

DON’T LOSE DIRECTION!

A hypothesis can be directional (one tailed) or non-directional
(two tailed). This refers to whether the hypothesis states the
direction in which the results of the study will go.

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 DIRECTIONAL HYPOTHESES
Circle whether the study will need a directional or non-directional (one tailed or two tailed)
hypothesis?

1. Pupils studying AS Level Psychology are much happier than those studying AS Biology.
DIRECTIONAL/NON DIRECTIONAL – ONE TAILED/TWO TAILED

2. There will be a significant difference between the number of times male and female drivers
fail to stop at a red light.
DIRECTIONAL/NON DIRECTIONAL – ONE TAILED/TWO TAILED

3. People who eat only brown bread score more highly on IQ tests than people who eat only
white bread.
DIRECTIONAL/NON DIRECTIONAL – ONE TAILED/TWO TAILED

4. Ps will have a slower reaction time on a computer ‘beat-em-up’ game after consuming one
unit of alcohol.
DIRECTIONAL/NON DIRECTIONAL – ONE TAILED/TWO

5. Students who wear designer labels and students who do not wear designer labels will show
significantly different ratings on Allport’s attitude scale.
DIRECTIONAL/NON DIRECTIONAL – ONE TAILED/TWO TAILED

6. Year 10 students are more likely to conform to a teachers’ incorrect response in a test than
Year 11 students.
DIRECTIONAL/NON DIRECTIONAL – ONE TAILED/TWO TAILED

7. Smokers will cough more times when asked to sit in silence, than non-smokers.
DIRECTIONAL/NON DIRECTIONAL – ONE TAILED/TWO TAILED

Question practice

1. Students often claim that listening to music helps them to concentrate. A psychologist
was not aware of any previous research in this area. She decided to investigate this
claim. Forty students from a nearby sixth form centre volunteered to take part in her study.
They each answered the following question :‘Do you think that you concentrate on your
work ‘better’, ‘worse’ or ‘the same’ if you listen to music while working?’

Should the hypothesis for this study be directional? Explain your answer (2)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

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 2. 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
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.

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.

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

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

18
 3 A psychologist wanted to see whether or not there is a difference in the expectations
that men and women have of their own numeracy skills. She obtained a sample of 15 men
and 15 women from a factory. She conducted her study in two parts.

In the first part of the study, the psychologist said to each participant: “I want you to
estimate how many marks you think you will get on a maths test that is suitable for 14-
year-old children. If the test has a maximum score of 50, what mark do you think you will
get?”

The psychologist recorded the estimate given by each participant and calculated the
median estimates for the men and for the women.

The results of the study are given in Table 1.

Table 1: Median estimated maths test scores for men and women

Median estimated maths test score

Men 31

Women 19

(a) Identify the type of experiment (1) ___________________________________

(b) Identify the dependent variable in this study.(1) __________________________

________________________________________________________________

(c) Write a suitable hypothesis for this study. (2)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

(d) Identify and explain the experimental design used in this study.(2)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
19
 SAMPLING
Specification: the difference between population and sample; sampling techniques including:
random, systematic, stratified, opportunity and volunteer; implications of sampling techniques,
including bias and generalisation

For any research that we want to do, we will have a target population – A
group of people who are the focus of the researcher`s interest, from which a
smaller sample is drawn. E.g. Children, the elderly, men, women

Psychologists try not to use a biased sample -that is a sample that is not
representative. Representative means including members of each type
of person in the target population, usually in the correct proportion.

Identify the target population in the following:

1) Research into the effectiveness of the use of cognitive therapy for

people who have a fear of spiders

2) An investigation into play in one-year-old infants.

3) A study into whether cat owners believe the whiskers advert.

4) A study of Tory voters to NHS reforms

5) An experiment to investigate the effects of separation in infant monkeys

Sampling techniques (how we pick our sample of participants from the target population)
None of which are ideal for getting a representative sample of the target population. However, some
techniques are more representative than others.

1. OPPORTUNITY SAMPLE

Selecting a sample from whoever is willing and available at the time of selection. The researcher simply
takes the chance to ask whoever is around at the time of their study, for example in the street (as in the
case of market research).

Strengths • It tends to be more ethical because the researcher can judge if the participant is likely to be upset
by the study or is too busy to take part.
• The researcher has more control over who is asked, so finding participants should be quick and
efficient and costs less money. For example, the researcher may use friends, family or colleagues.
• One of the easiest ways of getting a sample of participants.
Limitations • There is more chance of bias than with other methods, one source of bias is that the researcher
may have more control over who is chosen and choose certain people, leading to a biased sample.
• Those that are picked are available and willing to take part in the study. This will rule out any body
that is not willing take part or are unavailable at the time. Thus the sample may be self-selected.

20
2. RANDOM SAMPLE (This is not randomisation or random allocation)

Here every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected.
1) A complete list of all members of the target population is obtained. A sample is
then selected from the full list in random way:
a) Large target population = full list could be put into a computer and random
generator could select your sample.
b) Smaller target population = full list of individual names could be put into a
hat and pulled out until you have fulfilled your sample.
Strengths • There is no bias in the way that the participants are selected, everyone has an
equal chance of being selected. Therefore the sample is likely to be representative
of the target population.

Weaknesses • Random sampling can be very time consuming and is often impossible to carry
out, particularly when you have a large target population, of say all students. For
example, if you do not have the names of all the people in your target population
you would struggle to conduct a random sample.
• Other issues people may not be available on the day, or they simply do not wish to
take part in the study so there could be bias.

3. STRATIFIED SAMPLE

Reflects the proportion of the people in the target population. This is done
1) Classifying the population into categories (strata)
2) Participants are obtained from each group in proportion to their occurrence in the
target population
3) This is done by random selection – e.g. random number generator
Example - Let’s say in Bolton School, 40% of students study Psychology, 15% Study
Biology, 10% study History, 30% study Chemistry and 5% study Geography. In a stratified
sample of 20 how many people would we need from each subject to be a representative
sample?
Psych –
Biology –
History –
Chemistry –
Geography –
Each of these participants would be randomly selected from the larger group of students
in that subject.
Strengths • Stratified sampling is an efficient way of ensuring that there is representation from
each group. Random sampling would probably still provide some participants from
each group, but the researcher cannot be sure of this and may therefore need a
larger sample.
• Stratified sampling limits the numbers needed to obtain representation from each
group.
Weaknesses • However, stratified sampling can be very time consuming as the categories have to
be identified and calculated.
• As with random sampling, if you do not have details of all the people in your target
population you would struggle to conduct a stratified sample.

21
4. SYSTEMATIC SAMPLE

Uses a predetermined system to select participant’s e.g. Every nth member of the target
population for example a school register, electoral role.

Strengths • It avoids bias as, once the researcher has decided what number they are going to use for
selection, they have no control over who is selected.
• The law of probability says that the researcher will normally get a representative
sample. For example, what is the chance that every fifth person is a male if the list of
people is 50% male and 50% female?
• Fairly simple procedure

• There is a chance, although unlikely, of a ‘freak’ sample which would not be

Weakness representative.
• It is not as objective as random sampling, because the researcher may decide on how
people are listed before selection and on what number to use for the ‘system’

5. VOLUNTEER SAMPLE/SELF SELECTION

Participants selecting themselves to be part of the sample; hence, it is also referred to as

self-selection.
To select a volunteer sample a researcher may place an advert in a newspaper or common
room notice board. Alternatively, willing participants may simply raise their hand when the
researcher asks.

Strengths • Collecting a volunteer sample is easy. It requires minimal input from the researcher
(‘they come to you’) and so is less time-consuming than other forms of sampling.

• Volunteer bias is a problem. Asking for volunteers may attract a certain ‘profile’ of
Weakness person, that is, one who is helpful, keen and curious (which might then affect how far
findings can be generalised).

BIAS – In the context of sampling, when certain groups may be over or under-represented within the sample
selected. For instance, there may be too many younger people or too many people of one ethnic origin in a
sample. This limits the extent to which generalisations can be made to the target population.

GENERALISATION – The extent to which findings and conclusions from a particular investigation can be
broadly applied to the population. This is made possible if the sample of participants is representative of the
population.

22
 SAMPLES
Identify the sampling method in each of the following studies:

1. A researcher wished to study memory in children between 5 and 11. He contacted the headmaster of his
local primary school and arranged to test the children in the school.

2. A university department undertook a study of mobile phone use in adolescents, using a questionnaire. The
questionnaire was given to a group of students in a local comprehensive school, selected by placing all the
students’ names in a container and drawing out 50 names.

3. A class of psychology students were investigating the Bovril consumption habits in Yr 12s…
I want All Academic Subjects represented proportionate to their popularity.

Sampling Methods

An occupational psychologist wishes to find out how the employees in a firm feel about new
proposals for important reorganisation with the fi rm. This firm consists of five departments:

◾ The shop-floor workers 60% of the workforce

◾ The supervisors 10% of the workforce
◾ The office staff 20% of the workforce
◾ The buyers 6% of the workforce
◾ The management 4% of the workforce

The total number of employees is approximately 1,000. The psychologist decides to use a sample of
50.

a. How would she select a random sample from the workforce? (2)

______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

b. How would she select a stratified sample? Be precise! (4)

______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
23
 c. For this investigation, which method of sampling would be better and why? (2)

______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

d. Why are volunteer samples unlikely to be representative? (2)

______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

The head teacher of a comprehensive school of 2500 pupils spread over five year groups (no sixth
form) wishes to find out what students think of proposed uniform changes. The school is too large
to obtain the opinion of all the students so he decides to use a sample size of 125.

e) What percentage of the target population is the sample? Show your working. (3)

______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

f) How would he draw a systematic sample of the target population? (2)

______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

g) How would he obtain a random sample of the students? (2)

______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

24
 ETHICS
THE BPS (BRITISH PSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY) - a code of ethical guidelines
that govern the activities of all research psychologists.

That ensure all participants are treated with respect during research.
Guidelines are implemented by ethics committees in research institutions
who often use a cost-benefit approach to determine whether particular
research proposals are ethically acceptable.

COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
An ethics committee decides the costs and benefits of research proposals and whether the research should
run. Benefits might include the value of the research whereas possible costs may be the damaging effect on
individual participants or to the reputation of psychology as a whole.

ETHICAL GUIDELINES:
1. CONFIDENTIALITY – the right of privacy - enshrined in law under the Data Protection Act, to have any
personal data protected.
HOW TO DEAL WITH CONFIDENTIALITY IN RESEARCH:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

2. DECEPTION – Deliberately misleading or withholding information from participants at any stage of the
investigation should not be allowed. However, there are occasions when deception can be ok if it does not
cause the participant undue distress in order to avoid demand characteristics.
HOW TO DEAL WITH DECEPTION IN RESEARCH:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

3. INFORMED CONSENT – make participants aware of the aims and methods of the research. Pts can then
make informed judgement whether or not to take part.
Why might this be a problem?
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Informed consent must be gained in order for a participant to take part in any research. If the participant is
under the age of 16 the consent must come from a parent or guardian in the form of a signed letter.

HOW TO DEAL WITH INFORMED CONSENT IN RESEARCH:

In research consent can be gained in the way of a signed letter of agreement (From participant if above 16 or
guardian if not) that contains all relevant details that might affect their decision to take part.

As consent is needed but it may affect the study there are three alternative ways of gaining consent:

a) PRESUMPTIVE CONSENT – rather than getting consent from the participants themselves, a similar
group of people are asked if the study is acceptable. If this group agree, then consent of the original
participants is ‘presumed’.
b) PRIOR GENERAL CONSENT – participants give their permission to take part in a number of different
studies – including one that will involve deception. By consenting, participants are effectively
consenting to be deceived at some point.
c) RETROSPECTIVE CONSENT – participants are asked for their consent (during debriefing) having already
taken part in the study. They may not have been aware of their participation or they may have been
subject to deception.
25
4. THE RIGHT TO WITHDRAW – Every participant has the right to withdraw at any point during the
research.

HOW TO DEAL WITH THE RIGHT TO WITHDRAW IN RESEARCH:

______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________

5. PROTECTION FROM HARM – Participants should not be placed at any more risk than they would be in
their daily lives, they should be protected from physical and psychological harm. An example of
psychological harm could be embarrassment stress or anxiety causing situations.

HOW TO DEAL PROTECTION FROM HARM IN RESEARCH:

If any harm (generally psychological in the form of anxiety/stress) is caused this can be addressed in the
debrief. Participants may have natural concerns related to their performance within the investigation, and
so should be reassured that their behaviour was typical or normal. In extreme cases, if participants have
been subject to stress or embarrassment, they may require counselling, which the researcher should
provide.

BRIEF
In a brief the participants are told some or all of the conditions of the experiment and what they will be doing
in order to gain informed consent.

CONSENT FORM (this may need to be varied if using a study on children to address their parents rather than
the participant directly)

Dear participant,

• Thank you for agreeing to take part in the study on __________________.

• This is a study on (IV and DV) and you are agreeing to (explain IV and how you will measure the DV)
The results will be kept anonymous and only used for the purpose of this research.
• You have the right to withdraw at any stage of the study if you do not wish to continue and if you do
so, your data will be destroyed and not used in the research investigation.
• If you are happy to continue participating in this study, please sign and date below and return it to the
experimenter.

Sign …………………. Date …………………………

(Remember APES: Aim, Procedure, Ethics, Signature)

26
DEBRIEF – AFTER doing an experiment the Participants should be told why the experiment was
conducted.

Things to include in the debrief:

• The full aim of the study and the conditions; remind the participant which condition they took part in.
• They should be reassured that their behaviour was typical or normal.
• The participant has the right to withdraw their RESULTS (Results only – they cannot withdraw
themselves from the experiment if it has already been conducted).
• Explain to participants that their data will be confidential – you will not include their name but use
numbers instead.
• In extreme cases, if participants have been subject to stress or embarrassment, ask them if they may
require counselling.
• Thank them for taking part.
• Ask them if they have any questions.

Exam Question

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

27
_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

2. A psychologist studying obedience conducted the following experiment.

A confederate (stooge) approached people in the street and instructed them to pick up a
piece of litter and put it in a nearby bin. None of the people approached had dropped the
litter. There were two groups in the experiment.

Group A The confederate (stooge) was dressed in everyday clothing.

Group B The confederate (stooge) was dressed in a uniform.

The psychologist recorded how many people in each group obeyed the instruction of the
confederate (stooge).

(a) Identify the experimental design that was used in this study. Briefly
explain one advantage of using this experimental design in this study. (3)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

28
 (C) Briefly outline one ethical issue that might have arisen in this experiment and how this could
be dealt with (3)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

29
 OBSERVATIONAL TECHNIQUES
Observations are a type of non-experimental method (they are not experiments!)
There are many types of observations:
• Controlled vs Naturalistic
• Unstructured vs Structured
• Participant vs Non-participant
• Overt vs Covert.

NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION - behaviour is studied in a natural situation where everything has been left as it
is normally, as it would usually occur (e.g. observing boys and girls playing on a playground, watching animals
in their ‘normal’ or natural environment).

CONTROLLED OBSERVATION (Controlled environment e.g. Lab) - some variables are controlled and
manipulated by the observer reducing the “naturalness” of the situation. However, it does control extraneous
variables behaviour being studied. Example - Bandura’s experiment where children were exposed to an adult
model playing with certain toys and were later observed playing with the same toys to see if they imitated the
adult

UNSTRUCTURED OBSERVATIONS - When the observer records everything that happens. Generally done on
small scale observations with only a few participants. In this case the observer may use a diary method to
record events, feelings, or moods or perhaps a video recording. Video is useful as behaviour may be analysed
in more detail later.

STRUCTURED OBSERVATION – Often there is too much to observe. Therefore, we may have to operationalise
behaviour in order to make it easy to identify and measureable. This can be done by deciding on behavioural
categories and deciding how we will measure the observations.
Behavioural Categories - Developing a behavioural checklist. Example when studying affection, we can
break this down into observational aspects such as holding hands, kissing, smiling etc. This needs to be
specific in order for two observers to recognise the same thing. The categories also must not overlap. This
can make data collection more objective but the categories must be obvious.
Measuring Observations - Involves the use of tables of pre-determined categories of behaviour and
systematic sampling. There are 3 ways of sampling behaviour in structured observational studies:
• Time sampling: Observations may be made at regular time intervals and coded. For example, every 30
seconds. This is effective in reducing the number of observations, however, the times when behaviour
is being observed may not be representative of the whole observation.
• Event sampling: Keeping a tally chart of each time a specific behaviour occurs. This is used when the
behaviour is infrequent and could be missed if time sampling was used. However, if the specified
event is too complex, the observer may miss important details if using event sampling.

PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION - In participant observation the observer acts as part of the group being
watched. Example - Zimbardo’s prison study where Zimbardo himself acted as warden of the prison.
NON –PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION – An observation where the experimenter does not become part of the
group being observed. This is used as some participant observations would not be possible, for example, a
middle aged female researcher observing year 10 boy’s classroom behaviour could not ‘blend in’.

COVERT
This is when the participants are unaware they are being observed. They are observed in secret from across
the street/room. Public behaviour that is happening anyway can be observed without the consent of a
participants.
OVERT
This is when participants know their behaviour is being observed and have given their informed consent
beforehand.

30
Bias - In many cases, psychologists simply observe the actual behaviour of people in various kinds of
situations. In everyday life, we tend to make subjective observations. This means we let our own personal
feelings and experiences affect what we see. Psychologists try to make observations in a more disciplined
manner. They try to describe behaviour objectively and exactly.

In order to do this, it is necessary:

• For all observers involved in the same research operation to have a clear idea of exactly what they are
observing (this improves inter-observer or inter-rater reliability)
• To use a system for categorising and recording information
• To use more than one observer

Inter-Observer Reliability - the extent to which there is agreement between two or more observers involved
in observations of behaviour.

1) Two researchers will observe behaviour at the same time but independently.
2) The findings are compared.
3) A correlation analysis is performed on the data and using a Spearman’s test a correlation co-efficient
of 0.08 (80% agreement) should be achieve for the study to be classified as reliable.

Reliability - in psychology this means consistency and replicability. Any measuring tool, e.g. a ruler, personality
test or observations made by two observers of the same person should give replicable trustworthy results - If a
“tool” is measuring the same thing it should produce the same result every time = reliable

Overall Evaluation of Observations

Strengths Limitations

• Observations are the most sensible way to • Well-organised observations are difficult & time-
study social & group behaviours. It would consuming. It is usually not possible to observe large
be difficult to study group behaviours by groups of people.
looking at individuals.
• In observations where there is a single observer, there is a
• Observation studies tend to produce a chance of observer bias.
more holistic view of a person’s behaviour
than the narrowly defined behaviour • If people knew they were being observed observer effect
tested in experimental studies. may occur. This is when people respond to the demands of
the situation & behave differently.

• Unless the observation involves some kind of experimental

manipulation they don’t enable us to draw conclusions
about the causes of behaviour. Therefore, it is not possible
to establish cause and effect.

• Consent should be gained for anyone involved in a

psychological study, however, this may be difficult to gain
when conducting an observation.

31
Summary evaluation tables of observations

NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION CONTROLLED OBSERVATION

Strengths: Tend to have high external validity as Strengths: Due to controlled conditions there are less
findings can often be generalised to everyday life. As extraneous variables which may affect the results.
the behaviour is studied in a natural environment. Also there is a higher chance for replication to check
the reliability of your study.
Limitations: Lack of control over the research makes Limitations: Tend to have low external validity as
replication of the investigation difficult. There may findings cannot be generalised to everyday life. As the
also be many uncontrolled extraneous variables behaviour is studied in a controlled/unrealistic
which may affect the results. environment.

COVERT OBSERVATION OVERT OBSERVATION

Strengths: As they don’t know they are being Strengths: There are no ethical considerations as
observed there are less demand characteristics. This participants know they are being watched.
increases the validity of the data gathered.

Limitations: There are ethical considerations as a Limitations: As they know they are being observed
person in public may not want to be watched. For there are demand characteristics. This decreases the
instance, ‘shopping’ is a public activity, but the validity of the data gathered.
amount of money spent should be private.

PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION NON-PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION

Strengths: The researcher experiences the situation Strengths: The researcher remains separate from the
as the participants do which gives them more insight group they are observing so they won’t lose
into the behaviour and therefore increases the objectivity.
validity of the findings.

Limitations: The researcher may identify too strongly Limitations: The researcher does not experience the
with the participants and lose objectivity. Meaning situation as the participants do which gives them less
the line between researcher and participant becomes insight into the behaviour and therefore decreases
blurred. the validity of the findings.

STRUCTURED OBSERVATION UNSTRUCTURED OBSERVATION

Strengths: Produces data that is likely to be Strengths: The data will be qualitative data which will
quantitative (numerical) which means that analysing be rich in depth, leading to a greater understanding
and comparing the behaviour observed is easier. and the possibility of discovering things that were not
There is also less chance of observer bias as the expected
behaviour categories are more objective.

Limitations: The observation may not gain as rich or Limitations: Produces data that is likely to be
in depth detail (qualitative data) qualitative (non-numerical) which means that
analysing and comparing the behaviour observed is
more difficult.
There is also more chance of observer bias as the
researcher has to interpret the data.

32
 TASK: A NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION

Two psychologists conducted a naturalistic observation of children in a local school

playground. They wished to measure the time spent in various types of play
activities, such as rough and tumble play, ball games and skipping. The
psychologists used a team of trained observers who worked in pairs when
observing the children. Before the start of the main observation, the psychologists
drew up a list of relevant categories and then trained the observers in the use of
the classification system they had devised. The children were then observed at
each play time over the course of a week.

Some examples of behavioural categories are given above (rough and tumble play, ball
games, and skipping). Suggest two other categories that could be included (2)

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Explain two ethical problems associated with naturalistic observational studies that the
psychologist would need to consider when arranging the study (4)

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Why would it be necessary to have at least two observers watching the same group of
children (1)

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

Explain what is meant by inter-rater reliability (2)

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

33
Explain how the observers might have been trained in the use of the behavioural categorisation
system (2)

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Suggest two reasons why it would not be suitable to use an experimental technique in a
laboratory to study play in school children (4)

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

One problem with naturalistic observations is that observers need to be careful not to influence
the behaviour of the participants. How could this be arranged in this case? (2)

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

Naturalistic observations have high external validity. What does this mean and why is this true
of such observational studies. (3)

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Outline one disadvantage of naturalistic observations (2)

__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________

34
 SELF REPORT TECHNIQUES
Self-report techniques. Questionnaires; interviews, structured and unstructured.
Questionnaire construction, including use of open and closed questions; design of interviews.

QUESTIONNAIRE - a pre-set list of written questions that assess thoughts and/or feelings.
• Useful for gathering information from large numbers of people.
• To produce accurate results, a questionnaire must be worded with extreme care.
• The construction of a reliable questionnaire is a difficult task because even the slightest change in the way
the questions are worded can distort the results.

There are a number of different possible styles of questions in a questionnaire but these can be broadly
divided into open questions and closed questions.

OPEN QUESTIONS
An open question does not have a fixed range of answers and respondents are free to answer in any way they
wish. Open questions tend to produce qualitative data that is rich in depth and detail but may be difficult to
analyse. Open questions tend to starts with Why? How? Etc.

CLOSED QUESTIONS
A closed question offers a fixed number of responses. Alternatively, we might get
them to rate their answer on a scale of 1 to 10. Closed questions produce numerical
data by limiting the answers respondents can give.
Quantitative data like this is usually easy to analyse but it may lack the depth and
detail associated with open questions.

QUESTIONNAIRES
In the table below write the type of question from the list below by the question.

Question Question type

Which of the following factors make you
stressed at work? (tick all that apply)
Noise at work □ Too much to do □
Lack of control □ Workmates □

How many hours a week do you work

□0
□ less than 15
□ between 16 and 34
□ 35 or more
What do you enjoy most about your job?

Do you think it is better to enjoy your work

or gain a good salary? Why?

Work is stressful.
1. Strongly agree
2. Agree
3. Not sure
4. Disagree
5. Strongly disagree
35
 EVALUATION OF QUESTIONNAIRES
QUESTIONNAIRES OVERALL OPEN QUESTIONS CLOSED QUESTIONS
STRENGTHS Questionnaires are cost-effective. They can More flexibility in the Very easy to analyse
gather large amounts of data quickly because way the participant as responses can be
they can be distributed to large numbers of can answer the reduced to numbers.
people. questions, whilst
retaining the structure The data lends itself
A questionnaire can be completed without necessary to to statistical analysis
the researcher being present, as in the case of standardise the and comparisons
a postal questionnaire, which also reduces responses across between groups of
the effort involved. participants. people can be made
using graphs and
charts.
LIMITATIONS The responses may not be truthful. They may Much harder to Does not allow
want to present themselves as more positive. analyse participant participants to
For example, if asked ‘How often do you lose responses in order to expand on answers
your phone’ most people would draw conclusions that which means that
underestimate the frequency. This is a form are relevant to whole closed questions can
of demand characteristic called social group e.g. some lack detail/depth.
desirability bias. participants may have
unique views that
Questionnaires often produce a response cannot easily be
bias, where respondents reply in a similar categorised.
way - always ticking ‘yes’ on a questionnaire.
This may be because respondents complete
the questionnaire too quickly.

36
 A Very Dodgy Eating Questionnaire

Sandy wants to know whether people understand and follow the calorie guidance figures that
the government produce and also whether, despite knowing the guidance figures, the still
overeat. The following questionnaire has a few issues! Go through the introduction and
questions highlighting and annotating where the problems lie – consider both ethical issues and
issues related to questionnaire design.

Hi
My name is Sandy and as part of my Psychology A-Level work I am doing a study about people’s
eating behaviour. I really hope you will fill this in for me because otherwise I might fail the course!
Please don’t just bin this I have spent ages printing it out. Answer every question please can then
just give it in at the school office or to your form tutor or even me if you see me.

1. Name………………………………………………………
2. Please state how old you are
0-16 18-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56+
3. Most people say that they overeat – do you think you eat too much? Circle one
Yes No
4. When are you most likely to eat too much?
In the morning at lunch at tea time
5. How often do you eat too much?
Everyday Most days Most weeks
6. How many calories should a woman eat?...............................................

7. How many calories should a man eat?....................................................

8. What is your favourite food………………………………………………………………….

9. Do you know people who eat too much and are overweight? Yes No
Please name an example………………………………………………………………………

10. Do you know people who eat too little and are underweight Yes No
Please name an example……………………………………………………………………..

37
INTERVIEWS - face-to-face conversations (sometimes can be conducted over the phone).
There are two types:
Unstructured Interview - informal chats with no set questions. There is a general aim that a certain topic will
be discussed, and interaction tends to be free-flowing. The interviewee is encouraged to expand and elaborate
their answers as prompted by the interviewer.
Structured Interview – formal interview with pre-determined questions that are asked in a fixed order.
Basically this is like a questionnaire but conducted face-to-face (or over the phone).
How to Design an Interview:
Once you have selected which type of interview you will run, the following is needed:
• An interviewer and a single participant (although group interviews are possible).
• Develop an Interview schedule. This is the list of questions that the interviewer intends to cover. The
questions should be standardised for each participant to reduce interviewer bias (the interviewer can
affect the participant’s responses by the way they ask, or respond to the questions).
• Interviewers could take notes throughout the interview or record the interview and analyse the results
later.
• The interview should be conducted in a quiet room, away from other people, as this will increase the
likelihood that the interviewee will open up. It is also good practice to begin the interview with some
neutral questions to make the participants feel relaxed, and as a way of establishing rapport.
• Of course, interviewees should be reminded on several occasions that their answers will be treated in
the strictest confidence. This is especially important if the interview includes topics that may be
personal or sensitive.

EVALUATION OF INTERVIEWS
INTERVIEWS OVERALL STRUCTURED INTERVIEW UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEW
STRENGTHS: An experienced interviewer Structured interviews, like The interviewer can follow up
could establish a good questionnaires, are points as they arise and is
rapport with the participant straightforward to replicate much more likely to gain
so that any responses given due to their standardised more insight into the area.
may be more truthful than format.
those given in Allows for more targeted This also allows a more
questionnaires. questioning and enables at sensitive approach to topics
least some questions to than some other methods
produce quantitative data. (experiments etc.)
LIMITATIONS: Interviews are very time- Interviewers and participants Analysing data is more
consuming compared to cannot deviate from the difficult. The researcher may
questionnaires as each topic or elaborate their have to sift through irrelevant
participant needs to be seen points, and this may be a information.
on their own. The data then source of frustration for
needs to be transformed some.
into quantitative format in
order to be analysed.

38
Question practice
A group of researchers were interested in finding out detailed information about children’s experiences of
bullying and social networking. They decided to carry out individual interviews with eight volunteers. The issue
of consent was dealt with before the interviews took place.
Explain how the researchers could carry out the interviews. Justify your decisions.
In your answer, you should include details of the following:
● the type of interview
● a sample question
● details of the procedure to be followed
● ethical considerations, other than consent. (5 marks)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

39
 CORRELATIONS
Specification: Correlations. Analysis of the relationship between co-variables. Positive, negative and
zero correlations. The difference between correlations and experiments.

CORRELATION – analysis of association between 2 co-variables (things that are being measured).

• Plotted on a scattergram. One co-variable forms the x-axis and the other the y-axis. Each point or dot on
the graph is the x and y position of each co-variable. A line of best fit is then drawn through the points to
show the trend of the data.

Positive Correlation
If both factors increase together, this is a positive correlation. When the correlation coefficient (number to
represent the relationship) is calculated it is between 0 and +1, the nearer the value is to +1, the stronger the
positive relationship.

Negative Correlation
If one variable increases as the other decreases this is a negative correlation. When the correlation coefficient
is calculated it is between 0 and－1, the nearer the value is to －1, the stronger the negative relationship.

No Correlation
If no line of best fit can be drawn, there is no correlation. In real life human situations, or psychology
experiments you will not find perfect correlation between variables. A correlation may be weak or strong but
not perfect.

40
How to analyse and interpret correlations

There are statistical tests that give a numerical value for correlations. The numerical value is between -1 and
+1 and is known as a Correlation Coefficient. This is a number that represents the strength of a relationship.

A value of +1 is a perfect positive correlation. This means that as one factor increases the other factor
increases too.
Example – Time spent on treadmill and calories burnt.

A value of –1 is a perfect negative correlation. This means as one factor increase the other decreases
Example – Number of people in a room and personal space.

The closer the number is to +1 or -1 the stronger the relationship the closer the number is to 0 the weaker the
relationship.

Even if we found a strong positive correlation between two factors it does not mean that one factor caused
the other.
EXAMPLE – There is a positive correlation between Ice cream sales and people drowning. The more ice creams
sold the more that people drown. Should we ban Ice cream due to the dangerous ‘effects’ of drowning?

If you are given the following r – values (correlation coefficient) state what correlation is being shown.

r = 0.90

r = -0.92

r = 0.25

r = -0.70

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CORRELATION AND EXPERIMENTS

Experiment Correlation
Shows cause and effect Does not show cause and effect
Extraneous variables are controlled No control of extraneous variables
Manipulates an IV Doesn’t manipulate an IV
Shows a difference between two variables Shows a relationship between two factors

41
Writing correlational hypotheses

• When conducting a study using a correlational analysis we need to produce a correlational hypothesis.
• This states the expected relationship between the co-variables – DO NOT INCLUDE THE WORD
DIFFERENCE
• This hypothesis can still be directional or non-directional:

There will be a significant positive correlation (/relationship) between age and beauty = DIRECTIONAL hypothesis

As people get older they will be rated as more beautiful = DIRECTIONAL hypothesis (positive correlation)

As people get older they will be rated as less beautiful = DIRECTIONAL hypothesis (negative correlation)

There will be a significant relationship (/correlation) between age & beauty = NON-directional hypothesis

There will no relationship between age & beauty = zero correlation = NULL hypothesis

EVALUATION OF CORRELATIONAL DESIGNS

STRENGTHS: LIMITATION:

• There is no manipulation of variables which • Correlational designs only indicate a

means measures are often taken from relationship. They tell us how two variables
existing situations. This means that no are related but not why. To be scientific, a
controls are making the method quick and research method should show cause and
economical to carry out. effect.

• The two measures are taken and the scores • A third unknown variable could cause the
tested to see if there is a relationship, this is relationship we see between the two factors
quite straight forward compared with some we have chosen. EXAMPLE – Hot weather
experiments, observations and surveys. Also increases Ice-cream sales but also increases
secondary data collected by other people the likelihood of people swimming so in turn
(government etc.) can be used which means could cause more drownings.
correlations are less time-consuming.
• Largely because of the issues above,
• Correlations can show relationships that correlations can occasionally be misused or
might have not been expected and so can be misinterpreted. Particularly in the media,
used to point towards new areas for relationships between variables are
research. sometimes presented as causal ‘facts’ when in
reality they may not be.

42
 Question practice

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 the diagram
below.

The relationship between daily recreational screen time and academic performance

1. Which of the following correlation co-efficients best describes the data represented in
the graph above? Shade one circle only.

A –0.80

B –0.25

C +0.25

D +0.80

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

____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

3, Write a directional hypothesis for this study (3)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

43
_____________________________________________________________________________
.

QUANTITATIVE & QUALITATIVE DATA

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

QUANTITATIVE & QUALITATIVE

Type of data Strengths Limitations

Qualitative = descriptive It is rich in detail and can gain However, it is difficult to
data which is expressed in information on the meaning of analyse and reduce to numbers
words rather than numbers. behaviour. This means it has higher so patterns and comparisons
This is usually gained via a external validity than quantitative as it are hard to identify. This means
transcript during an is more meaningful than numbers. the conclusions made from
interview or unstructured qualitative data is more open to
observations. researcher subjective
interpretation (bias).

Quantitative = numerical Numerical data is easier to analyse so Numerical data lacks detail
data such as scores from patterns and comparisons are easier to and it can lose the meaning
participants, ratings in identify. This means the conclusions of behaviour. This means it
closed questionnaires etc. made from quantitative data is more has lower external validity as
objective and there is less chance of
it is less meaningful than
researcher bias/subjectivity.
qualitative data.

A researcher may use both types of data - Collecting quantitative data as part of an experiment may often
interview participants as a way of gaining more qualitative insight into their experience of the investigation.
Similarly, there are a number of ways in which qualitative information can be converted to numerical data.

PRIMARY & SECONDARY DATA

Specification: primary and secondary data, including meta-analysis.

PRIMARY DATA
• Original data that has been collected (first-hand) by the researcher specifically focused on the aim of the
research.
• It is data that arrives first-hand from the participants themselves.
• Any information gathered by conducting an experiment, questionnaire, interview or observation would be
classed as primary data.

STRENGTHS: Primary data is authentic data obtained directly from the participants themselves focused on the
aim of a particular investigation. Questionnaires and interviews, for instance, can be designed in such a way
that they specifically target the information that the researcher requires.

LIMITATIONS: To produce primary data, however, requires time and effort on the part of the researcher. E.g.
Conducting an experiment requires considerable planning, preparation and resources, and this is a limitation
when compared with secondary data, which may be accessed within a matter of minutes.

44
SECONDARY DATA
• Data that has been collected by third party (by someone other than the person who is conducting the
research) and is not focused on the aim of the present research.
• Often secondary data has already been subject to statistical testing and therefore the significance is
known.
• Secondary data includes data that may be located in journal articles, books or websites.
• Statistical information held by the government (e.g. Census), population records or employee absence
records within an organisation are all examples of secondary data.

STRENGTHS: In contrast to primary data above, secondary data may be inexpensive and easily accessed
requiring minimal effort. When examining secondary data the researcher may find that the desired
information already exists and so there is no need to conduct primary data collection.

LIMITATIONS: The flip side is that there may be substantial variation in the quality and accuracy of secondary
data. Information might at first appear to be valuable and promising but, on further investigation, may be out-
dated or incomplete. The content of the data may not quite match the investigation so may be better if the
researcher did it themselves.

META-ANALYSIS
• This is a form of secondary data and is ‘Research about research’.
• Data is based on a process of combining results from a number of studies on a particular topic to provide
an overall view.
• This may involve a qualitative review of conclusions and/or a quantitative analysis of the results producing
an effect size.

STRENGTHS:
Meta-analysis allows us to view data with much more confidence and results can be generalised across much
larger populations.

LIMITATIONS:
However, meta-analysis may be prone to publication bias, sometimes referred to as the file drawer problem.
The research may not select all relevant studies, choosing to leave out those studies with negative or non-
significant results. Therefore, the data from the meta-analysis will be biased because it only represents some
of the relevant data and incorrect conclusions are drawn.

Question practice

A psychologist was at a concert where someone threw a bottle onto the stage and seriously injured
one of the band members. The psychologist decided to use this incident to investigate the accuracy of
eye witness testimony. She asked 10 people who saw the bottle being thrown, if they would allow her
to interview them about this. A week later she interviewed each witness separately in a quiet room
and asked them the same closed questions about what they had seen. She recorded their answers. It
took her two and a half hours in total to interview the 10 witnesses.

1. Identify one type of data the psychologist collected in this study. Explain your answer.(2)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

45
 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS – CENTRAL TENDENCY
Specification: descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency – mean, median, mode; calculation of
mean, median and mode

MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY - a summary of the results – calculates an AVERAGE score from a set of
raw data.

The following are measures of central tendency:

• MEAN is the "average". You add up all the numbers and then divide by the number of numbers.
• MEDIAN is the "middle" value in the list of numbers. To find the median, your numbers have to be
listed in numerical order then pick the middle number in the list.
• MODE is the value that occurs most often. If no number is repeated, then there is no mode for the list.

HOW TO CALCULATE THE MEAN, MEDIAN AND MODE

MEAN - calculated average score when the whole data set is taken into account.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1+2+3+4+5+6+7 = 28. There are 7 scores in total, so 28 should be divided by 7 = 4.

+ The mean is the most sensitive of the measures of central tendency as it includes all of the scores/values in
the data set within the calculation. This means it is more representative of the data as a whole.

- However, the mean is easily distorted by extreme values. If we replace 7 with 243 in the data above with the
then the mean becomes 37.7 which does not really seem to represent the data overall.

MEDIAN - The middle score in a set of ranked data (in order from lowest to highest).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

In this data set, the middle score is 4, as it is halfway between the highest and lowest score. If there is an even
number of scores, the median is split between two middle scores. In this case the average of these middle
scores can be calculated.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

4+5=9÷2 = 4.5

+ The strength of the median, unlike the mean, is that extreme scores (outliers) do not affect it. It is also easy
to calculate (once you have arranged the numbers in order).
- It does not include all the scores in its calculation so is less sensitive and powerful than the mean.

46
MODE - Refers to the most frequent score, the one that occurs the most times.

1 2 3 4 4 5 6

In this data set, the most common or frequent number is 4, and this is the mode.

If there is more than one most frequent score, both should be presented. This is known as BI-MODAL. If
there are more than two frequently-occurring scores, the mode is probably not a useful measure to use.

1 2 2 3 4 4 5

Bi-modal scores 2 and 4.

For data in categories it is the only method to use. For example, if you asked your class to list their favourite
dessert, the only way to identify the most ‘typical’ or average value would be to select the modal group.

+ It is a useful measure of central tendency where there are very high or low scores that are not typical of the
majority of scores (outliers).

- However, it may not give a useful picture of the data as it does not take into account all scores.

The following data is from an experiment on reaction times, and represents the number of
times a button was pressed within half a second of being shown an object on the screen:
5, 3, 6, 7, 7, 4, 8, 5, 4, 4, 5, 3, 4, 8, 17

Calculate the:

a) Mean: (1 mark)

b) Median: (1 mark)

c) Mode: (1 mark)

(D)Range (1 mark)

47
 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS - DISPERSION
Specification: measures of dispersion; range and standard deviation; calculation of range;

Measures of ‘dispersion’ look at the spread of scores. There are two measures of dispersion, range &
standard deviation.

RANGE - the difference between the largest and smallest scores - calculated by taking away the
smallest score from the largest.

The range calculates how dispersed the scores are, which tells us whether the scores are all similar
and bunched together, or different and spread out.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

The difference between the highest and lowest scores is 7-1 = 6.

This data tells us that the scores were very spread out (some very high and some very low).

1 1 2 2 2 3 3

The difference between the highest and lowest scores is 3-1 = 2.

This data tells us that the scores were more close together and bunched.

+ The advantage of the range is that it is easy to calculate.

- It only takes into account the two most extreme values, and this may be unrepresentative of the
data set as a whole.

STANDARD DEVIATION – takes into account the difference between each value and the mean value
for the set.

A more precise measure of dispersion because all values are taken into account – the larger the SD
the more widely spread the scores – the smaller the SD the more consistent (similar) the scores are.

+ It is a very sensitive and specific measure of dispersion as it includes all the data.
- However, for this reason, like the mean, it can be distorted by a single extreme value.

48
 Question practice

A 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.

The results obtained from the experiment are summarised in the table below.
Descriptive statistics for the test performance scores for Group A and Group B

Group A (no screen Group B (unrestricted screen

time) time)

Mean 73.6 66.3

Median 74.0 58.0

Mode 74.0 44.0

Standard deviation 13.2 25.1

1. What do the mean and standard deviation values in the table suggest about the effect
of the recreational screen time on test performance? Justify your answer. (4)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

2. What type of experimental design was used in this study? Justify your answer (2)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

3. Explain how the researcher may have used random allocation to assign the participants to
the groups (3)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
49
 MATHEMATICAL CONTENT
Specification: mathematical content – calculations of percentages, converting a percentage to a
decimal, converting a decimal to a fraction, using ratios, mathematical symbols, probability,
significant figures.

CALCULATION OF PERCENTAGES
Example –
Jim scored 13 out of 20 in a memory test. What was the percentage of the words he recalled?

CALCULATING PERCENTAGE DECREASE/INCREASE between Condition A = 123 and Condition B = 117

Percentage decrease would be calculated as follows:
123 – 117 = 6
6 ÷ 123 = 0.048780
0.048780 x 100 = 4.878
Answer = 4.88

CONVERTING A PERCENTAGE TO A DECIMAL

Decimal – percentage = (0.65) move the decimal point two places to the right (above 65.) then add the
percentage sign (65%).
Percentage - decimal, you remove the % sign (65.) and then move the decimal point two places to the left
(0.65).

Example –
Fred recalled 80% of the words from the memory test. What is this written as a decimal?
Answer:

CONVERTING A DECIMAL TO A FRACTION

Work out the number of decimal places in your number - 0.81 = two decimal places / 0.275 = three decimal
places.
If there are two decimal places then you divide by 100, if there are three decimal places you divide by 1,000.
The number of decimal places equals the number of zeros.

When dividing you remove the 0 and decimal before the number – see below:

For example, with 0.81 you would write:

81/100 - this is now a fraction.

For 0.275 you would write:

275/1000 – this is now a fraction.

To reduce the fraction: -

Working with two even numbers, keep dividing them by 2 until one of them becomes odd or you can't simplify
further.

Working with an even and odd number, try dividing them by 3. If you're working with numbers that end in a 0
or 5, divide them by 5.

USING RATIOS - demonstrate the quantity of at least two items in relation to each other.
Ratios are used in betting: -
50
Odds are given as 4 to 1 (4:1) = out of a total of 5 events you would be expected to lose four times and win
once.

There are two ways to express a ratio: -

Part-to-part (as above)
Part-to-whole – 4:5 = four losses out of five events.
Part-to-whole can easily be expressed as a fraction – 4:5 = 4
5
Ratios can be reduced to a lower form in the same way fractions can – 10:15 = 2:3 (both parts divided by 5)

ESTIMATE RESULTS
It may also be necessary to estimate an answer:

In a different study, 150 children were classified as securely attached. Of these, 40% were boys. How
many of the 150 children were girls? Show your workings.(2)

51
INTERPRETING MATHEMATICAL SYMBOLS

You will need to be able to understand and use the following mathematical symbols:

STATISTICAL TESTING
PROBABILITY
Conclusions about the findings from research are based on the probability that a particular set of results could
have arisen by chance or not.

MATHEMATICAL
The accepted level of probability CONTENT
in psychology is 5% or less. This is written as p ≤ 0.05

In other words, the probability that the result occurred by chance is equal to or less than 5%. / a 95%
probability that the results were due to the change in the independent variable (assuming the study was an
experiment).
Remember that 5% is not equivalent to 0.5 (this is 50%) but should be written as 0.05. Be careful, this is an
easy mistake to make!

SIGNIFICANCE
The difference/association between two sets of data is greater than what would occur by chance - coincidence
or fluke.

To find out if the difference/association is large enough to achieve significant (statistically meaningful) - if it is,
the hypothesis we are testing can be supported. To find this out, we need to use a statistical test (like the sign
test).

THE SIGN TEST (one of many used in Psychology)

The three conditions needed to use the sign test are:
1. Our test must be looking for a difference rather than an association.
2. The test needs to be a repeated measures design.
3. The data we get from our participants needs to be nominal data. This means when we get our data from
our participants it must be organised into categories (red or blue, girl or boy).

EXAMPLE: To test if CBT is effective in decreasing unipolar depression.

Hypothesis: Participants will rate themselves significantly higher on a happiness rating scale after therapy than
before therapy.
Clients rate their own level of happiness before and after therapy. The rating is out of 20 where 1 is miserable
and 20 is extremely happy. This rating of happiness is not nominal data yet. We need to convert the data into
categories rather than ratings. See the results below and follow the steps:

52
 CLIENT HAPPINESS RATING HAPPINESS RATING DIFFERENCE SIGN OF DIFFERENCE
BEFORE THERAPY AFTER THERAPY
1 3 7 4 +
2 12 18
3 9 5
4 7 7
5 8 12
6 1 5
7 15 16
8 10 12
9 11 15
10 10 17

Step 1 the score for rating “before therapy” is taken away from the score “after therapy” to produce a sign of
difference (either a plus or a minus).

For example, Client 1: 7 (after therapy) – 3 (before therapy) = 4 (difference) - a +ive sign

Step 2 From the table we then add up the total pluses and total minuses. We ignore any equals.

Total pluses =

Total minuses =

Total equals =

Step 3 Note there are no maths involved in this test - you find the least frequent sign and call this S.

In the above investigation S =

This is our calculated value but now we need to find out if this is significant.

Step 4 We compare our calculated value (S) with a critical value.

What is a critical value? The value of the test statistic that must be reached to show significance.

LEVEL OF SIGNIFICANCE FOR A ONE-TAILED TEST

0.05 0.025 0.01 0.005
LEVEL OF SIGNIFICANCE FOR A TWO-TAILED TEST
Number of 0.10 0.05 0.02 0.01
Participants (N)
5 0 - - -
6 0 0 - -
7 0 0 0 -
8 1 0 0 0
9 1 1 0 0
10 1 1 0 0
11 2 1 1 0
12 2 2 1 1
13 3 2 1 1
14 3 2 2 1
53
 15 3 3 2 2
The calculated value S must be ≤ the critical value for significance at the level shown.

As you can see the critical value depends on a few conditions:

1. The probability value (level of significance) we have chosen.

What is the chosen P-value for psychology?

2. The level of significance also depends on whether the hypothesis was one-tailed (directional) or
two-tailed (non-directional).

Our hypothesis was:

3. The number of participants (N). However, in a sign test any participants that showed no change
(equals sign) need to be deducted from our total number.

In our test N =

Therefore, our critical value is =

Step 5 In order to be significant our calculated value must be equal to or less than the critical value.

Are our results significant?

What does this mean?

Question practice

A psychologist was investigating the effect of prison conditions on institutional aggression.

He selected a sample of 12 prisoners and counted the number of aggressive acts of each prisoner over
one day in the exercise yard. The prison conditions were then changed, such that the number of prisoners
per cell was reduced and regular exercise periods introduced. After three months of these new conditions
the psychologist observed the same 12 prisoners and again counted the number of aggressive acts of
each prisoner over one day in the exercise yard. This study involves a repeated measures design.

(a) Explain one advantage of using a repeated measures design in this study. (2)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

(b) The psychologist obtained the following results:

• For two of the prisoners the number of aggressive acts increased

• For eight of the prisoners the number of aggressive acts decreased
• For two of the prisoners the number of aggressive acts stayed the same

The psychologist decides to use a sign test to see if his data are significant.

What is the calculated value of the sign test statistic ‘S’? Explain your answer. (2)

_____________________________________________________________________________

54
_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

(c) Look at the table of critical values of ‘S’ below and then answer the question that
follows.

N .10 .05 .025 .01

4 0
5 0 0
6 0 0 0
7 1 0 0 0
8 1 1 0 0
9 2 1 1 0
10 2 1 1 0
11 2 2 1 1
12 3 2 2 1

To be significant, the calculated/observed value must be equal to or less than the critical/table value.

Using the table of critical values of ‘S’ above, state whether the findings of the study are
significant at p < 0.05. Explain your answer. (2)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

PRESENTATION & DISPLAY OF QUANTITATIVE DATA

Specification: graphs, tables, MATHEMATICAL CONTENT

scattergrams, bar charts, histograms. Distributions: normal and skewed
distributions; characteristics of normal and skewed distributions.

Once data is collected, decisions have to be made on how the data will be represented or displayed visually.
TABLES: present a summary of behaviour of the people who took part in the study. All tables must be fully
labelled with a clear title and column headings.

EXAMPLE -
Title: summary statistics for the study investigating the number of errors made by males and females in a
driving simulator.
Males Females
Mean 4.5 7.0
Standard Deviation 1.05 1.41

It is usual to give a verbal summary of the results – to describe what the table shows and the draw attention to
the main points.
55
 EXAMPLE (for the above table) - We can see from the table that males on average make fewer errors than
females as the mean for male errors is 4.5 while the mean for female errors is 7.0. The standard deviations
indicate that there is a greater variance in ability in the females (1.41) than the males (1.05)
N.B. always include the numbers in your answer for full marks.

GRAPHS A second way of presenting a summary of the data is using a graphical display; types of graphical
displays you need to be able to recognise: - bar charts, histograms, line graphs and scattergrams.

WHEN TO USE EACH GRAPH:

Bar Graph – When there are separate (discrete) variables/categories. Each column represents a distinct
category (this why there are spaces between the bars).
Line Graph – When there is continuous data, generally over time. It can show how variables change and help
predict patterns/trends.
Histogram - When there is continuous data but this is made up of equal sized intervals. Each column
represents an aspect of the same fixed category (why the bars are touching).
Scattergram – When we are measuring a relationship between two variables/factors.

BAR CHARTS Show columns representing frequencies or amounts of variables. The variables are shown on the
x-axis and the frequency or amounts on the y-axis. Example for above table

Do not forget a
Notice the Y axis is specific title
labelled with the
amounts – mean
scores

Notice the X axis is

labelled with the
separate variables –
Gaps at beginning of
Males & Females
graph and between
bars

HISTOGRAMS: Similar look to bar charts, but the x-axis measures a constantly changing scale, like mass or
height. Theses bars would have equal intervals 1-5 6-10 etc. The frequency or amounts is still measured by the
y-axis.

Notice the Y axis is Do not forget a title

labelled with the
amounts – No of
students The bars are connected in a
Gaps at are still histogram
needed at the
beginning of the graph Notice the X axis is a
but not between bars continuous variable of
equal intervals

56
 LINE GRAPH: Similar to a histogram, the x-axis measures a constantly changing scale, however, generally years.
The frequency or amounts is still measured by the y-axis. However, a line is then drawn joining the scores for
each scale. It can then help predict trends - Example below: In 2002 the results may go down again.
Do not forget a title

Notice the Y axis is

labelled with the No bars, just lines.
amounts – No of
individuals

Notice the X axis is a

continuous variable.
the x-axis

SCATTERGRAM: The values for the same individual for two different variables are each plotted on one axis.
This is used to depict correlation and can show positive, negative or zero correlations.

Notice the title has the The relationship between braking distances and
word relationship in it the weight of the car.

No bars or lines, just

plots.

Notice the Y axis

is one variable –
Braking Distance Notice the X axis is
the other variable
– Mass of Car

NORMAL DISTRIBUTION:
If you measure certain variables, such as the height of all the people in Bolton School, the frequency of these
measurements should form a bell-shaped curve similar to below:

This is called a normal distribution - most people are located within the middle area of the curve with very few
people at the extreme ends. The mean, median and mode all occupy the same mid-point of the curve.

57
SKEWED DISTRIBUTIONS:
Not all distributions form such a balanced symmetrical pattern. Some data sets derived from psychological
scales or measurements may produce skewed distributions, that is, distributions that appear to lean to one
side or the other, as in the examples below:

Negative skew = most of the distribution is Positive skew = most of the distribution is
concentrated towards the right of the graph, concentrated towards the left of the graph,
resulting in a long tail on the left. E.g. a very resulting in a long tail on the right. E.g. a
easy test. The mean is pulled to the left (due very difficult test. The mean has been
to the lower scorers who are in the minority), dragged across to the right - extreme scores
with the mode dissecting the highest peak affect the mean. Here, the very high-scoring
and the median in the middle. candidates in the test have had the effect of
pulling the mean to the right.

Question practice

A psychologist investigated cognitive processing in two groups of people with schizophrenia.

People in Group A showed positive symptoms of schizophrenia and people in Group B showed
negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Each person completed a cognitive task and was given an
overall score. The psychologist then calculated average scores for each group. The results are
shown in the table below.

Measure of central tendency Group A scores Group B scores

Mean 22.4 26

Median 22.5 22.5

Mode 22 16

Using the data in the table above, explain how the distribution of scores in Group A differs from
the distribution of scores in Group B. (4)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

58
1. Identify the operationalised dependent variable in this study (2)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

2. Identify the type of experiment in this study (1) (circle the appropriate answer)
Laboratory quasi natural research

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

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

4.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________
59
 PILOT STUDIES AND THE AIMS OF PILOTING

A pilot study is a small scale trial run of the research design before doing the real thing and can be any method
(Experiment, observation, questionnaire etc.) It is done with a smaller sample of participants in order to check
the procedure/investigation runs smoothly – to make sure questions/instructions are understood, length and
difficulty of task, check the coding system in an observation.

If you try out the design using a few typical participants, you can see what needs to be adjusted without having
invested a large amount of time and money.

THE ROLE OF PEER REVIEW IN THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS

In psychology most research is published via academic journals. However, before this can happen the research
must be subjected to a peer review. This involves all aspects of the written investigation being scrutinised by a
small group of usually two or three experts (‘peers’) in the particular field. These experts should be objective
and unknown to the author or researcher.
PURPOSE OF PEER REVIEW:
1. To validate the quality and relevance of research.
All elements of the (Hypotheses, methodology, chosen stats test etc.) are assessed for quality and
accuracy.
2. To ensure accuracy of findings
3. To evaluate proposed designs (amend or improve).
Reviewers evaluate the proposed designs in terms of aims, quality and value of research – they may
suggest minor changes to the work to improve the investigation. In extreme cases they may say that the
work is inappropriate and should be withdrawn. Also to avoid socially sensitive research from being
published.
3. To allocate research funding.
Peer review can also help to decide whether or not funding can be given for a proposed research
project. Lots of Universities conduct research which can receive funding and this in turn can increase the
universities ratings and therefore attract more students.

PROCESS OF PEER REVIEW:

1. Other psychologists check the research report before deciding whether it could be published
2. Independent scrutiny by other psychologists working in a similar field
3. Work is considered in terms of validity, significance and originality
4. Assessment of the appropriateness of the methods and designs used
5. Reviewer can
1. accept the manuscript as it is or with revisions
2. Suggest the author makes revisions and re-submits
3. Reject without the possibility of re-submission
6. Research proposals are submitted to a panel and assessed for merit.

EVALUATION:

ANONYMITY
✓ It is usual practice that the ‘peer’ doing the reviewing remains anonymous throughout the process as
this is likely to produce a more honest appraisal.
× However, a minority of reviewers may use their anonymity as a way of criticising rival researchers who
they perceive as having crossed them in the past! This is made all the more likely by the fact that many
researchers are in direct competition for limited research funding. For this reason, some journals
favour a system of open reviewing whereby the names of the reviewer(s) are made public.

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PUBLICATION BIAS
× Editors of journals want to publish ‘headline grabbing’ findings to increase the credibility and
circulation of their publication. This could mean that some research is ignored, which creates a false
impression of the current state of psychological research.
BURYING GROUND-BREAKING RESEARCH
× Reviewers tend to be especially critical of research that contradicts their own view. Therefore, the
research/theories published may not be accurate depiction of the studies within Psychology.
× The peer review process may suppress opposition to mainstream theories, wishing to maintain the
status quo within particular scientific fields. Thus, peer review may have the effect of slowing down
the rate of change within a particular scientific discipline.
INSTITUION BIAS
× Research from Oxford is preferred to other universities
POSITIVE BIAS
× Accepting positive data only
PEER REVIEWERS ARE POORLY PAID
× Unwilling to do it
× Slow process
× Poor research makes it through

THE IMPLICATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH FOR THE ECONOMY.

We need to know how the findings of psychological research affect our economy. There are two example
below:

ATTACHMENT RESEARCH
Bowlby suggested, for psychological wellbeing, that a bond is needed between a child and its mother in the
early years of life. However, more recent research has suggested that there the child should form multiple
attachments, most notable of which is that of the father.
This makes an impact on our economy as the recent research suggests that both parents are equally capable
of providing the emotional support necessary for healthy psychological development, and this understanding
may promote more flexible working arrangements within the family.
It is now the norm in lots of households that the mother is the higher earner and so works longer hours, whilst
many couples share childcare responsibilities across the working week. This means that modern parents are
better equipped to maximise their income and contribute more effectively to the economy.

TREATMENTS FOR MENTAL ILLNESS

Absence from work costs the economy an estimated £15 billion a year. A recent government report revealed
that a third of all absences are caused by mild to moderate mental health disorders such as depression,
anxiety and stress.
Psychological research into the causes and treatments of mental illness therefore has an important role to play
in supporting a healthy workforce. Psychological research findings may also lead to better ways of managing
people who are prone to mental health issues whilst they are at work, which could improve their individual
productivity, boosting the economy.
Due to psychological treatment (Drugs, CBT etc.) sufferers are able to manage their condition effectively and
return to work. This means that there is an economic benefit of psychological research into disorders such as
depression and how to treat it.
Cutting-edge scientific research findings into treatments for mental health issues carried out in the UK may
encourage investment from overseas companies into this country, which could boost the economy.

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 Question practice

1. Which one of the following is not a role of peer review in the scientific process?

Shade one circle only.

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

2. A researcher wanted to see whether cognitive behaviour therapy was an effective treatment
for depression. Twenty depressed patients who had all recently completed a course of cognitive
behaviour therapy were involved in the investigation. From their employment records, the
researcher kept a record of the number of absences from work each patient had in the year
following their treatment. This was compared with the number of absences from work each
patient had in the year prior to their treatment.

Those patients who had fewer absences from work in the year following their treatment than in
the year prior to their treatment were classified as ‘improved’ (+). Those patients who had more
absences were classified as ‘deteriorated’ (-). Those patients who had the same number of
absences were classified as ‘neither’ (0).

The results of the investigation are included in Table 1 below.

Table 1

Patient Improved Deteriorated Neither

1 +

2 0

3 –

4 +

5 +

6 +

7 –

8 –

9 0

10 +

11 –

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 12 +

13 +

14 +

15 +

16 –

17 +

18 +

19 +

20 0

The researcher decided to use the sign test to analyse the data.

(a) Explain two factors that the researcher had to take into account when deciding to
use the sign test. Refer to the investigation above in your answer. (4)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________________

(b) Calculate the sign test value of s for the data in Table 1. Explain how you reached
your answer.(2)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

63
Table 2: Critical values for the sign test

n 0.005 (one 0.01 (one 0.025 (one 0.05 (one

tailed) tailed) tailed) tailed)
0.01 (two 0.02 (two 0.05 (two 0.10 (two
tailed) tailed) tailed) tailed)

16 2 2 3 4

17 2 3 4 4

18 3 3 4 5

For significance, the value of the less frequent sign is equal to, or less
than, the value of the table.

(c) With reference to the critical values in Table 2, explain whether or not the value of s
that you calculated in response to question (b) is significant at the 0.05 level for a
two tailed test. (2)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

(d) The investigation above is based on secondary data. In what ways would the use of
primary data have improved this investigation? (3)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

(e) Outline the implications of psychological research for the economy. Refer to the
investigation above in your answer.(5)

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

64
 A-LEVEL RESEARCH METHODS

A-LEVEL SPECIFICATION CONTENT - All of AS Specification content and the following:

• Content Analysis and coding. Thematic analysis.

• Case Studies.

• Analysis and interpretation of correlation, including correlation coefficients.

• Reliability across all methods of investigation. Ways of assessing reliability: test-retest and inter-
observer; improving reliability.

• Types of validity across all methods of investigation: face validity, concurrent validity, ecological
validity and temporal validity. Assessment of validity. Improving validity.

• Probability and significance: use of statistical tables and critical values in interpretation of significance;
Type I and Type II errors.

• Levels of measurement: nominal, ordinal and interval.

• Factors affecting the choice of statistical test, including level of measurement and experimental
design. When to use the following tests: Spearman’s rho, Pearson’s r, Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney,
related t-test, unrelated t-test and Chi-Squared test.

• Features of science: objectivity and the empirical method; replicability and falsifiability; theory
construction and hypothesis testing; paradigms and paradigm shifts.

• Reporting psychological investigations. Sections of a scientific report: abstract, introduction, method,

results, discussion and referencing.

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 CONTENT ANALYSIS AND CODING THEMATIC ANALYSIS

MATHEMATICAL CONTENT
Content analysis - a method used to quantify the content of any form of the media - studying people indirectly
by looking at the media they have produced. It aims to study the communications and develop conclusions.

EXAMPLE – Speeches/presentations, texts, e-mails, books, TV programmes,

newspapers, magazine articles etc.

Coding – There may be lots of information to study in a content analysis (for example
hours of programmes to watch!). So before quantifying the information we need to
agree on categories that are meaningful to our investigation.

EXAMPLE - The number of times women or men are shown to be doing

domestic chores in TV adverts. This may show us the understanding of
gender roles across society or if these have changed over time.

Analysis can involve words, themes, characters or time and space. The
number of times these things do not occur can also be important.

CODING UNITS FOR CONTENT ANALYSIS

UNIT EXAMPLES
Word Count the number of slang words used
Theme The amount of violence on TV
Character The number of female bosses there are on TV
programmes
Time & space The amount of time (on TV) and space (in
newspapers) dedicated to famine in Africa

Other things to consider when doing a content analysis:

Sampling method of the material – time sampling or event sampling
Recording data – recording, pictures, transcribe.
Analysing and representing data – Number of times (Quantitative) or described by using themes (Qualitative)

Thematic Analysis and qualitative data – A theme represents an idea that keeps recurring in the
communication that is being studied. These are more likely to be descriptive so therefore qualitative data.

EXAMPLE – A researcher wanted to see how the media portrayed the mentally ill. When watching the news,
the following was heard:

‘The mentally ill are a drain on the NHS, however, they do need to be medicated or institutionalised in order to
protect the public.’

This small snapshot can then be developed into broader categories such as - examples of stereotyping,
examples of control, examples of treatment. The researcher would then analyse other publications of mental
health and type up the descriptive data as quotations in a report in order to illustrate the theme.

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 EVALUATION OF CONTENT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS LIMITATIONS
• Enables us to analysis of a wide range of materials • Findings are limited by researcher’s expectations
and therefore may not limit us to single as they decide the categories and although
responses/points of view. researchers are trained, their interpretation of
material may be subjective. This means what is
• There are less ethical issues because people are reported may not be accurate.
not being dealt with directly. Anything published
in the public domain do not need permission to • Any media communication studies may be
use. outside of the context that it occurred. This
• Content analysis is flexible as its data can be both means that the interpretation of this material
quantitative and qualitative giving a fuller picture may not match the speaker’s/writers intentions at
of the matter of interest. the time. If it is taken out of context it may not be
an accurate representation.

CASE STUDIES
CASE STUDIES

MATHEMATICAL CONTENT
Case Study - detailed in-depth investigation of an individual, group, institution or event. Case studies often
analyse rare individuals or events but can also look at typical behavioural aspects. Examples: HM (no memory
following operation), Clive Wearing (7 second memory)

Case studies often collect qualitative data via interviews, observations,

questionnaires or a combination of all three. A case history of an individual may
be developed by talking to the individual, their family, friends, medical
professionals etc. They may ask an individual to participate in psychological
testing in order to test their abilities which could develop quantitative data to
help support the case study. They tend to be longitudinal.

Ethical Issue (Consent) in Case Studies - If HM had no memory for things that
happened to him, how could he have given his consent for psychologists to study him? He did not understand
what was being done to him (which included electric shocks) or who was doing it.

EVALUATION OF CASE STUDIES

STRENGTHS LIMITATIONS
• The method offers rich, in-depth data so • It is difficult to generalise from individual cases as
information that may be overlooked using other each one has unique characteristics.
methods is likely to be identified. This may be • It is often necessary to use recollection of past
preferred over the more superficial and quantitative events as part of the case history. As such this
elements such as experiments. retrospective evidence may be
• It can be used to investigate instances of human unreliable/inaccurate and may lack validity.
behaviour and experience that are rare, for example • Researchers may lack objectivity as they get to know
the case of HM or Clive Wearing. This helps the case or because theoretical bias may lead them
establish ‘typical’ behaviour by comparing to the to overlook aspects of the findings. This means they
rare/unusual. could be subjective with their interpretations and
• The complex interaction of many factors can be the results may be flawed.
studied. Whereas in an experiment we most • There are important ethical issued such as
variables are controlled so we cannot see the confidentiality. Many cases are easily identifiable
complexity of human behaviour. because of their unique characteristics, even when
• It could mean further research as one case study real names are not given. This means that
may lead to the revision of an entire theory. This confidentiality is not possible.
contributes to improving theories and to further
development of the psychological field.

67
 Question practice

Q1. A researcher used content analysis to investigate how the behaviour of young children
changed when they started day care. He identified a group of nine-month-old children who
were about to start day care. He asked the mother of each child to keep a diary recording
her child’s behaviour every day for two weeks before and for two weeks after the child
started day care.

(a) Explain how the researcher could have used content analysis to analyse what the
mothers had written in their diaries. (4)

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

Q2. Psychologists sometimes use case studies to study children. One example was of a boy
who was discovered at the age of six. He had been kept in a darkened room and had had
almost no social contact with people.

(a) How could a psychologist maintain confidentiality when reporting a case study? (2)

68
 (c) Psychologists use a range of techniques to gather information in case studies.
Outline one technique which the psychologist could use in this case study. (2)

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

RELIABILITY

MATHEMATICAL CONTENT
Specification: reliability across all methods of investigation. Ways of assessing reliability: test-retest and inter-
observer; improving reliability

RELIABILITY – does an instrument measures the same way each time it is used under the same condition with
the same participants - is it replicable? A measure is reliable if a person's score on the same test given twice is
similar.
Example – A ruler is reliable if it measures the same distance between two items each time it is used
(Repeated use).

It is important to remember that reliability is not measured, it is estimated. There are two types of reliability:

• External Reliability: refers to consistency of measurements over time and situations (this can be
checked by the test-retest method)

• Internal Reliability: refers to consistency within the measuring tool (this can be checked by the
internal consistency or inter-observer method)

HOW TO ASSESS RELIABILITY:

Test/Retest – Testing the same group of participants on more than one occasion with the same test. If you get
the same or similar scores each time the test is given, if it is reliable.
This is checked by correlation (Spearman’s Rho) – results from both tests should have significant positive
correlation coefficient (at least 0.8) to be reliable.

69
Inter-observer or Inter-rater Reliability
Two separate observers ‘rate’ or code the different types of behaviour at the same time. They work
independently and compare recordings at the end of the observation.
If there is a strong positive correlation they can say it has good inter-observer or inter-rater reliability (again it
has to have at least +.80). To increase inter-observer reliability, the observers could do a pilot study to make
sure they are observing behavioural categories in the same way before doing the real study.

IMPROVING RELIABILITY
Questionnaires – assessed by using the test retest method. If it is unreliable you could change some questions.
If a question is difficult to understand you may answer it differently each time you get it meaning it is
unreliable. This can be removed and replaced with a closed question which may be less confusing.

Interviews – In order to improve reliability, the same interviewer should be used so that the questions are
phrased in the same way and aren’t too leading or confusing. This is easier in structured interviews with fixed
questions rather than unstructured interviews which may be more likely to be unreliable.

Experiments – Particularly in controlled conditions (lab) could be very reliable as precise replication is more
likely to be achieved than in a field. If some conditions change this may make the test less reliable.

Observations – reliability can be assessed by inter-observer reliability. This means you should use more than
one and at least two researchers to observe and then correlate their answers. The best way to increase
reliability is to make sure the observations are operationalised written up on a checklist (for example
observing a push is much easier than observing aggression!). If the observations are not operationalised you
can get subjective interpretations which could lead to unreliable/inconsistent results.

However, reliability is not enough. A test may be reliable but may not be valid. What we mean is a test could
be giving the same results again and again but may not be measuring what is supposed to be measured.

Question practice
A psychologist is using the observational method to look at verbal aggression in a group of children with
behavioural difficulties. Pairs of observers watch a single child in the class for a period of one hour and note
the number of verbally aggressive acts within ten-minute time intervals. After seeing the first set of ratings,
the psychologist becomes concerned about the quality of inter-rater reliability. The tally chart for the two
observers is shown in Table 2

1. Using the data in Table 2, explain why the psychologist is concerned about inter-rater reliability. (4
marks)

70
2. If the psychologist does find low reliability, what could she do to improve inter-rater reliability before
proceeding with the observational research? (4 marks)

VALIDITY

MATHEMATICAL
Specification: types of validity across CONTENT
all methods of investigation: face validity, concurrent validity,
ecological validity and temporal validity. Assessment of validity. Improving validity

VALIDITY – Does something measures that which it intends to measure –are the results legitimate.

Example - Does an IQ test really measure intelligence? Is it the IQ test a valid measurement of intelligence or is
it a measurement of how familiar/good someone is with IQ tests?

TYPES OF VALIDITY:

External Validity refers to our ability to generalise the results of our study to real life settings and other
populations. An example of external validity is ecological validity.
• Ecological Validity: can the investigation be generalised to real-life experiences.
1) If the settings are similar to everyday life it may have ecological validity in comparison to a
controlled investigation, however, we could do a field study and it lack ecological validity.
2) If the task/test is artificial it lacks mundane realism. Even if the test is in a natural environment the
task may have low ecological validity as it isn’t a task we do in everyday life e.g. memorising a list
of words.
• Temporal Validity: can the investigation be generalised to other times. Whether a studies results hold
true over time and can be still seen as valid in the future.
Example – Asch and conformity rates may only be relevant in the 1950’s and may lack temporal
validity.

Internal Validity refers to whether the observed effect in an experiment is due to the manipulation of the IV
and not another factor.
• Demand characteristics can affect the internal validity of an experiment. Behaviour may not be
valid/realistic and participants may act differently due to the setting. Therefore, results may not reflect
true behaviour and could lead to low internal validity.
Example – Critics of the Milgram study suggest participants went to 450volts as they didn’t believe they were
giving electric shocks. This means the responded to the demands of the situation so the study was not a valid
measurement of obedience.

71
ASSESSMENT OF VALIDITY
There are two ways of checking for validity:

Face Validity refers to whether the test "looks like" it is going to measure what it is supposed to measure. This
can be assessed by ‘eyeballing’ the measuring instrument or passing to an expert to check.
Example - catching a ball with one hand looks like it may measure hand eye co-ordination so has face validity.

Concurrent Validity is when we compare a new measurement with a previous already validated measurement.
The results from the new measurement should be the same or similar to the already validated test. Close
agreement means the new test has high concurrent validity (again it needs to be a +.80 correlation using a
Spearman’s test).
Example – We test a group with catching a ball in one hand, and then test the same group with a
measurement used by sports psychologists to measure co-ordination. If there is a positive correlation, we can
assume it has concurrent validity.

IMPROVING VALDITY

Experiments – Using a control group makes it better able to see if changes in the IV have had an effect on the
DV, improving validity.
Example – Testing a new therapy technique gives you greater confidence in the results if you have a baseline
(control group) to compare it to.
Both demand characteristics (changing their behaviour due to the situation) and investigator effects (The
experimenter unconsciously conveys to participants how they should behave/respond) effect the validity of an
experiment. To improve this, we can do either single blind or double blind tests.

Single blind - participants are unaware of the aims of the study until they have taken part. This controls for
demand characteristics and gains more valid data.
Double blind – Participants and researcher unaware of the aims of the study (third party conducts
investigation without knowing its main purpose). This reduces both demand characteristics and investigator
effects as the experimenter cannot influence the research.

Questionnaires - Many questionnaires incorporate a lie scale. This is a set of questions that are phrased
similarly in order to test the truthfulness of the answers.
Example – “I never regret the things I say” might appear in the same test as “I’ve never said anything I later
wished I could take back”. This assesses consistency of the response and to control for social desirability bias
Validity may also be increased by assuring the respondents that all data is anonymous so they are more likely
to give honest answers.

Observations – in order to improve validity in an observation it would be best to run a covert observation. This
could lead to higher ecological validity, less demand characteristics and investigator effects. In addition,
precise operationalised behavioural categories will develop more valid data than ambiguous or broad
categories.

Qualitative Methods – Interviews and case studies are thought to have higher ecological validity than more
quantitative research. This is because the detail gained is more reflective of the person’s real life. However, as
we know, there may be subjective interpretation of the information based on preconceptions of the
researcher. To improve this, we need higher interpretive validity. This means the interpretation of the
information by the researcher needs to be accurate. This can be done by writing a coherent report, including
direct quotes and use a number of different sources to collect evidence (triangulation). This should then
increase the validity of the results shown.

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DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RELIABILITY & VALIDITY
A researcher devises a new test that measures IQ more quickly than the standard IQ test:
• If the new test delivers scores for a candidate of 87, 65, 143 and 102, then the test is not reliable or
valid, and it is fatally flawed.
1. If the test consistently delivers a score of 100 when checked, but the candidates real IQ is 120, then
the test is reliable, but not valid.
• If the researcher’s test delivers a consistent score of 118, then that is pretty close, and the test can be
considered both valid and reliable.

This means a test/measuring tool can be reliable but may not be valid. Example – broken scales give the same
weight score every time but it does not mean it is an accurate/valid measurement.

A test cannot be valid without being reliable. You would have to get consistently similar scores in order to be
considered valid.

Question practice

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. The questionnaire had high concurrent validity.

1. Explain what it means for a test to have high concurrent validity.(2)

2. Validity was still a concern because the researcher knew which participants were in each
experimental group. Explain how this could have affected the validity of the study.(4)

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 PROBABILITY & SIGNIFICANCE
Specification: Probability and significance: use of statistical tables and critical values in
MATHEMATICAL
interpretation of significance; type I and type II errors. CONTENT
WHY DO STATS TESTS?
To decide whether any pattern found in a set of data is significant or whether it was likely to be caused by
chance.

PROBABILITY – Conclusions about the findings from research are based on the probability that a particular set
of results could have arisen by chance or not. What’s the chance of the coin landing on heads? 50% or p=0.5 (p
means probability level/level of significance). The accepted level of probability in psychology is 5% or less.
This is written as p ≤ 0.05
In other words, the probability that the result occurred by chance is equal to or less than 5%. / a 95%
probability that the results were due to the change in the independent variable (assuming the study was an
experiment).
Remember that 5% is not equivalent to 0.5 (this is 50%) but should be written as 0.05. Be careful, this is an
easy mistake to make!

WHY P=0.05 - Type I & Type II Errors

If we set a high p value (P=0.5) we could be too lenient and make a type one error saying the hypothesis is
correct when it may not be. If we set a low p value (P=0.01) we could be too strict and say the hypothesis is
incorrect when it may be correct.

These errors can occur:

1. Because an experiment is badly designed and the results cannot be relied upon as correct.
2. Because the levels of probability accepted as significant are too lenient or too stringent.

• When the P-value is very large there is a danger that we will decide a result is significant when it is not
(Type One error).
This error can occur because the level of significance set as acceptable is too lenient (p<0.2). We are in
danger of concluding that we have obtained a significant result when really we haven’t done so. They
can also be caused by poor experimental design or confounding variables.

• When the P-value is very small, there is a danger that we will decide a result is not significant when it
is (Type Two error).
This error can occur because the level of significance set as acceptable is too stringent (p<0.001). We
are in danger of discounting a significant result by demanding too high a level of proof. They can also
be caused by poor experimental design or confounding variables.

Once we have the results from the investigation we select an appropriate statistical test (remember the Sign
Test) and apply it to our data from the investigation. The result of this calculation is called the calculated
value.

We then compare our calculated value to a critical value. A critical value is a number that statisticians have
said represents significance at the chosen level (generally P=0.05)

SIGNIFICANCE = The difference/association between two sets of data is greater than what would occur by
chance - coincidence or fluke.

To find out if the difference/association is large enough to achieve significant (statistically meaningful) - if it is,
the hypothesis we are testing can be supported. To find this out, we need to use a statistical test (like the sign
test).

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LEVELS OF SIGNIFICANCE
We can use a statistical test to work out how likely it is that the difference is due to chance - first, we must
decide the point at which a result due to chance is so unlikely that the difference must be significant.

HOW DO WE FIND OUT IF AN EXPERIMENT IS SIGNIFICANT?

• Which P-value do you think we should choose?

• How many participants are there?
• So what is our critical value (statistician value)?
• We then pick and run the correct stats test to get a calculated value.
• The experiment is then classified as significant if the calculated value is equal to or higher than the
critical value. (BE CAREFUL SOMETIMES THIS CAN BE EQUAL TO OR LOWER THAN SO READ THE
BOTTOM OF THE TABLE!!!)

CRITICAL VALUES
The statisticians have put critical values in tables like this:
CRITICAL VALUE TABLE
Sample Size P=0.5 P=0.2 P=0.05 P=0.01
5 78 90 102 114
6 72 84 90 102
7 66 78 84 90
8 60 72 78 84
9 54 66 72 78
10 48 60 66 72
11 42 54 60 66
12 36 48 54 60
13 30 42 48 54
14 24 36 42 48
15 18 30 36 42
16 12 24 30 36
17 6 18 24 30
For significance at the chosen level, the calculated value must be equal to or exceed the critical value from the
table. IMPORTANT - Could change
To obtain our critical value, we need to know:
1. The total sample size of participants (from both conditions – be careful when looking at repeated
measures – only one group!)
2. Our minimum acceptable P-value
What is our critical value for the investigation of sociability and students?

Then we need to compare the critical value with our calculated value. The statistical analysis of our data gave a
calculated value of 35. We make the comparison according to the rule at the bottom of the table.
• If the result is significant we accept the hypothesis – we say that the difference was due to the experiment
and not due to chance.
• If the result is not significant we accept the null hypothesis - we say that the difference was due to chance.

Is the difference between our samples significant?

Do we accept or reject the hypothesis?

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TESTING FOR SIGNIFICANCE:
Use the critical value table below to answer the questions (BTW each statistical test, which we will look at
later, has its own critical value table). Write an answer explaining whether the result is significant or not.

• State whether or not the hypothesis should be accepted or rejected.

• Explain why, by referring to the critical value and the calculated value
• Comment on whether the research is likely to have made a Type 1 or a Type 2 error.

Sample Size P=0.5 P=0.2 P=0.05 P=0.01

5 78 90 102 114
6 72 84 90 102
7 66 78 84 90
8 60 72 78 84
9 54 66 72 78
10 48 60 66 72
11 42 54 60 66
12 36 48 54 60
13 30 42 48 54
14 24 36 42 48
15 18 30 36 42
16 12 24 30 36
17 6 18 24 30
For significance at the chosen level, the calculated value must be equal to or exceed the critical value from the
table.

LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT: NOMINAL, ORDINAL AND INTERVAL.

In order to pick the correct statistical test a few things are needed one of them being the level of
measurement. Quantitative data is split into three different types: -
1) NOMINAL DATA – data that puts things in categories - called category data or frequency data).
This is the simplest level of data. It is just counting how many people are in one category and how many are in
another. The participant does not give a score they are the score.
For example,
❖ The number of people who helped or didn’t help.
❖ The numbers of people who drive a red car or a blue car.

2) ORDINAL DATA - data that puts things in order (or ranks). The participant gives a rank/scale or is given a
rank. Ordinal data gives more information than nominal data.
For example,
❖ Rated on a scale of helpfulness.
John came first in the race, Peter came second and Paul came third -- it doesn’t tell you if he was very close to
the winner or not. Ordinal data does not let us know the gap between scores.

3) INTERVAL DATA – data with precise and equal intervals – measured with an instrument e.g. ruler, watch,
scales – this is the most informative data.
For example,
❖ Time spent helping.
❖ John’s time was 1minute 32 seconds, Peter’s was 2minutes
❖ The scales for measuring temperature in degrees centigrade. If you are measuring heat then one degree
centigrade is always going to raise the temperature by exactly the same amount as another degree
centigrade. In other words, the interval between 10C and 20C is the same size as the interval between
20C and 30C and 40C is twice as hot as 20C.

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YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS TABLE

TABLE – SHOWING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TYPES OF MEASUREMENTS

LEVEL OF MEASUREMENT MEASUERE OF CENTRAL TENDENCY MEASURE OF DISPERSION
Nominal Mode N/A
Ordinal Median Range
Interval Mean Standard Deviation
Range, standard deviation, median and mean can’t be used with nominal data as it is a level of measurement
that offers no meaning to its numbers. The numbers are more of a label and no true score is given.
We also shouldn’t use mean and standard deviation with ordinal data as the intervals between the scores are
not of equal size.

LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT
In the following you are given an aim and three ways of measuring it. You have to decide which level
of measurement it is nominal, ordinal or interval:

AIM: To see if systematic desensitisation is effective in decreasing phobias.

1. Records of phobic patients after systematic desensitisation when classified as ‘improved’, ‘worse’, or ‘no
change’.

2. Phobic patients rate their level of anxiety after systematic desensitisation. The scale is 1 to 10, 1 being very
low (relaxed) 10 being very high (anxious

3. Measurements of the galvanic skin response (sweat on their hands) of phobic patients before and after
systematic desensitisation.

AIM: To see if children are children athletic.

1. Children take part in a race and are given a number based on their position.

2. Children tell the observer whether they are athletic or not.

3. Children are timed in a race.

AIM: To see if children eat healthily in the North West.

1. Children are weighed and compared to an average weight for the UK.

2. The child rates themselves on a scale of 1-10 1 being unhealthy and 10 being healthy.

3. Children are categorised as healthy or unhealthy.

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 In the following you are given an aim you must now write three ways of measuring it. Each one being
a nominal, ordinal and interval way of measuring.

AIM: To see whether boys or girls are better at reading.

NOMINAL

ORDINAL

INTERVAL

AIM: To see if people are anxious when in a dentist waiting room.

NOMINAL

ORDINAL

INTERVAL

AIM: To see whether teenagers walk more than adults.

NOMINAL

ORDINAL

INTERVAL

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 INFERENTIAL STATISTICS

MATHEMATICAL
Specification: factors affecting the CONTENT
choice of statistical test, including level of measurement and
experimental design. When to use the following tests: Spearman’s rho, Pearson’s r, Wilcoxon, Mann-
Whitney, Related t-test, Unrelated t-test and Chi-squared test

INFERENTIAL STATISTICS = involves mathematical procedures that allow psychologists to infer if the results
from your collected data are significant. These procedures generally estimate the likelihood that the collected
data occurred by chance or was due to the investigation (they basically make probability predictions).
An inferential statistical test such as Mann-Whitney might tell you that there is only a 5% chance that your
results are due to chance - you can be 95% certain that your results are not due to chance and that there is a
real difference between the scores of your two groups of participants.
If you use inferential statistics you can, therefore accept or reject the hypotheses with much greater certainty
that your conclusions are correct.

HOW DO YOU DECIDE ON WHICH STATISTICAL TEST TO USE? – DDD – Design, Difference, Data

There are 3 questions you need to ask that will direct you to the correct test for your investigation - DDD
1. Are you looking for a difference between the scores (experiment) or a relationship (correlation)?
2. What type of design do you have? (Repeated/independent measures)
3. Identify the data or level of measurement of the data. (nominal, ordinal, interval)

You MUST memorise the table below so you are able to pick out a statistical test with the data you are given.

STATISTICAL TEST TABLE

Test of Difference Test of Correlation
Matched Pairs &
Independent Groups Correlation/Associ
Level of Measurement Repeated
Design ation
Measure Design
Non Nominal Chi-Squared Sign test Chi-Squared
Parametric
Tests Ordinal Mann-Whitney Wilcoxon Spearman’s rho
Parametric
Interval Unrelated t-test Related t-test Pearson’s r
Test

To help you memorise the order of statistical tests above you could use the following mnemonic:

Carrots Should Come

Mashed With Swede
Under Roast Potatoes

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CHOOSING A STATS TEST

Give the type of design, level of measurement and statistical test for each of the following:

1. A study to investigate the hypothesis that people perform worse on an arithmetic test after drinking 4
pints of beer than with no beer. The items on the test are not all of equal difficulty. Participants are
tested with no beer and later with beer.

Type of Design:
Level of Measurement:
Statistical test:

2. A study to test the hypothesis that pupils in Snottingham Grammar School pass more GCSE’s than those
from Barnpot Comprehensive. You are told how any pupils took the exams and how many at each school
passed more than five.

Type of Design:
Level of Measurement:
Statistical test:

3. A study to test the hypothesis that there are sex differences in the short-term memory span of 12 years old
girls and boys when recalling lists of 20 words, all of equal difficulty.

Type of Design:
Level of Measurement:
Statistical test:

4. A study to see if more extroverts than introverts go to parties. You have a sample of introverts and a sample
of extroverts and you ask them whether or not they went to a party on a particular evening.

Type of Design:
Level of Measurement:
Statistical test:

5. A study to see if people with short legs run faster than those with long legs. You have measurements of leg
length and speed of running over 50 metres.

Type of Design:
Level of Measurement:
Statistical test:

6. Thirty people are given a questionnaire in which their attitude towards corporal punishment is measured
before and after they have been shown a film on the subject. The aim is to see if attitudes will be influenced
by the film: scores on the questionnaire are between 0-20, the lower the score the more the participant is in
favour of corporal punishment.

Type of Design:
Level of Measurement:
Statistical test:

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 INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
1. A 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.

The psychologist wanted to test the statistical significance of the data. Identify the most appropriate
choice of statistical test for analysing the data collected an explain three reasons for your choice in
the context of this study.(7)

2. 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 a
happiness questionnaire. Suggest an appropriate statistical test the psychology teacher could
use to analyse the data. Justify your choice of test.(4)

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3. In 1987, a survey of 1000 young people found that 540 said they smoked cigarettes, whilst
460 said they did not. In 2017, a similar survey of another 1000 young people found that 125
said they smoked cigarettes, whilst 875 said they did not.

Which statistical test should be used to calculate whether there is a significant difference in
reported smoking behaviour between the two surveys? Give three reasons for your answer.(4)

4. A researcher carried out an overt observation study of social learning. For one week the
helping behaviour of children in a playgroup was recorded. All the children then saw a short film
in which a child was praised for tidying up toys. For the following week the helping behaviour of
the same children in the playgroup was recorded.

At the end of the observation study the researcher used a sign test to see if the behaviour of the
children was more helpful, less helpful or the same after seeing the film than it was before they
had seen the film.

Explain why the researcher decided the sign test would be an appropriate statistical test
to use on the data from this study.(4)

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 REPORTING PSYCHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS

method, results, discussion MATHEMATICAL CONTENT

Specification: reporting psychological investigations. Sections of a scientific report: abstract, introduction,
and referencing.

ABSTRACT
A short summary of the investigation being around 150-200 words in length. It
includes the following:
1. Aim
2. Hypotheses
3. Method (Procedure)
4. Results
5. Conclusion
It makes it easier for a psychologist when researching a particular topic. They can
just read the abstract in order to identify those investigations that are worthy of
further examination.

INTRODUCTION
The introduction is a literature review (a review of other theories/studies that are relevant to the paper). It
should:
• Have a logical progression of relevant theories, studies related to the investigation – beginning broadly
and gradually becoming more specific to investigation intended.
• Present the aim and hypotheses.

METHOD
The method should include enough detail so that other researchers are able to precisely replicate the study if
they wish. It is made up of the following subsections:
• Design –clearly stated e.g. independent groups, naturalistic observation, etc. and reasons/justification
given for the choice.
• Sample –the people involved in the study: how many there were, sampling method and target
population.
• Apparatus/materials – Detail of any assessment instruments (questionnaire, observation categories
sheet, etc.) used and other relevant materials.
• Procedure – A ‘recipe-style’ step by step list of everything that happened in the investigation from
beginning to end. This should include a verbatim record of everything that was said to participants:
briefing, standardised instructions and debriefing.
• Ethics – An explanation of how these were addressed within the study.

RESULTS
These should summarise the key findings from the
investigation. This should feature:
• Descriptive statistics: tables, graphs and charts,
measures of central tendency and measures of
dispersion.
• Inferential statistics: choice of statistical test and
justify, calculated and critical values, the level of
significance and the final outcome i.e. which
hypothesis was rejected and which retained.
Any raw data that was collected and any calculations
should appear in an appendix rather than the main body
of the report.

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DISCUSSION
There are several key elements here:
• Conclusion - The researchers will summarise the results/findings in verbal, rather than statistical,
form.
• Refer to Introduction – The conclusions should be discussed in the context of the evidence presented
in the introduction and other research that may be considered relevant.
• Limitations - The researcher should discuss limitations of the investigation. This may include reference
to aspects of the method, or the sample for instance, and some suggestions of how these limitations
might be addressed in a future study.
• Wider implications or follow up research - This may include real-world applications of what has been
discovered and what contribution the investigation has made or what could be considered for further
research.

REFERENCES
Book Reference:
Flanagan, C. and Berry, D. (2016). A level Psychology. Cheltenham: Illuminate
publishing.
As you can see the title of the book is in italics.

This is an example of how to reference a journal you may use:

Journal Reference:
Gupta, S. (1991). Effects of time of day and personality on intelligence test
scores. Personality and Individual Differences, 12(11). 1227–1231.

Question practice

In 1992, a book about human relationships was published in London. The book was written by
Steve Duck from the University of Iowa. The title was ‘Human Relationships’. The book
was published by Sage. A researcher needs to modify the above information to include
Duck’s book in the references section of a scientific report.

Write the full reference for this book as it should appear in the reference section of the
researcher’s report.(2)

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

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 FEATURES OF SCIENCE

Specification: objectivity and MATHEMATICAL CONTENT

the empirical method; replicability and falsifiability; theory construction and
hypothesis testing; paradigms and paradigm shifts.

Is Psychology a science? In order to answer this question, we must first define what the features of science are
and consider whether Psychology has those features or not. There are several features of science:

1. PARADIGM AND PARADIGM SHIFTS

Kuhn (1962) suggested that a subject should have a Paradigm = an agreed set of assumptions and methods of
studying a subject. E.g. Biology is classified as a science = they nearly all agree with the theory of evolution and
this unites their field and helps define their work.

Kuhn suggests that there are three stages in the development of science:
1. Pre-science – the subject has no paradigm a perspective must be reached which explains all facts and
unites the field of study.
2. Normal Science – Once we have a paradigm researchers settle and begin to study the paradigm.
3. Revolution – A point is reached in almost all sciences where evidence conflicts with the paradigm and
it is rejected and replaced with a paradigm which fits. This can cause a paradigm shift and then normal
science returns. A paradigm shift occurs when there is too much contradictory evidence to ignore and
a new theory is developed.

Where does psychology fit?

Pre-Science - Kuhn suggests that psychology is a pre-science because there are too many conflicting theoretical
approaches and methods of study within Psychology. Although they all add value, unless they come together,
Kuhn suggests psychology cannot be given scientific status.

Normal Science - As most psychologists accept the definition of psychology being ‘the study of mind and
behaviour’ then there is a broad agreement of subject matter – Paradigm.

Revolution - Palermo argues that psychology has already gone through several paradigm shifts from structuralism
to behaviourism then to cognitive neuroscience. So psychology could be regarded as scientific.

2. FALSIFIABILITY

Karl Popper (1934) suggested that in order to be classified as a science any theory needs to be falsifiable -
scientific theories must have the ability to be tested in order to try and prove them wrong. (Popper suggested
that even if a theory has been repeatedly tested, and the results are the same, it doesn’t make it necessarily true,
it just hasn’t been proven false yet!).

Some psychological theories, when tested seem to show the same results strengthening the theory (Example –
Milgram’s 7+/-2) but some psychological theories are pseudo-scientific which makes them unfalsifiable and
therefore unscientific (Example – Freud’s theories)

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3. THEORY CONSTRUCTIONS AND HYPOTHESIS TESTING

A theory = set of general laws or principles that have the ability to explain events/behaviours.

Theory construction occurs by gathering evidence using empirical methods. This is done by first developing a
theory (probably by using the unscientific inductive process) and then using the scientific deductive process to
support or refute the theory (testing its falsifiability).

Two ways to create a theory -

Induction (unscientific): reasoning from the particular to the general. For example, a scientist may observe
instances of a natural phenomenon and come up with a general law or theory.
Example - Newton’s Law of Gravity - He observed the behaviour of physical objects (apple) and produced laws
that made sense of what he observed.

Deduction (scientific): reasoning from the general to the particular. Starting with a theory and looking for
instances that confirm this.
Example - Darwin’s theory of evolution - He formulated a theory and set out to test by observing animals in
nature. He specifically sought to collect data to prove his theory.

Hypothetico-deductive model
In order to be scientific the deductive process should be used and confirmed by testing theories with the use of
hypotheses. Karl Popper’s hypothetico-deductive model suggests developing a theory and testing the theory with
hypotheses in order to try and prove it wrong (falsifiability).

In the diagram above the inductive (non-scientific method) is to observe events and create a theory based on
those observations – Seeing a mouse near smelly socks and thinking that life emerges from non-living matter.
The hypothetico-deductive process is having a theory first ‘life emerges from non-living matter’ and subjecting
this theory to hypothesis testing – Putting smelly socks in a jar and leaving it for a few days. When there is no
mice we can disprove the theory. We can then start with another theory and subject that to hypothesis testing. If
we never prove it wrong it strengthens the theory.

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EMPIRICAL METHOD
If Psychology is not subject to empirical investigation, it cannot claim to be scientific.
Empiricism (Greek word for experience) is when information is gained through direct
observation/experience. It has to be observed through observational methods or
experiments and must be factual, verifiable and objective.

Empiricists (people who believe in the empirical method) see knowledge as

determined only by direct experience and sensory perception.

Milgram’s study found a massive difference from people’s belief about obedience
(less than 1% would go to 450 volts) and their actual behaviour (over 60% went to
450volts!).

OBJECTIVITY
Observations & experiments should not be affected by bias (such as researcher expectations). They must not let
their personal opinions and beliefs effect the data they are recording or interpreting.
The laboratory experiment is regarded as the most objective method as it has the most level of control, however,
it is hard in psychology to achieve objectivity as we can be influenced by our subject matter (other humans).

REPLICABILITY
Research should be repeated and similar results obtained. As we have seen whilst considering the hypothetico-
deductive model and falsifiability, if we can show the same results, across a number of different contexts and
circumstances, it strengthens the theory.

Replicability also increases the reliability of the research and helps to confirm its validity. If we do find the same
results across differing circumstances (cultural variations, differing times etc.) it increase its generalisability again
strengthening the theory. In order for replicability to become possible researchers need to report their
investigations with precision so that others can verify their findings accurately.

Question practice
1. Most early psychologists focused on causal explanations and argued that behaviour was determined
by either internal or external influences. In the 1960s, some psychologists chose to focus more on the
role of free will in behaviour. More recently, there has been a broad shift back to more deterministic
thinking, but this time with the focus on biology and cognitive processes.

Referring to the text above, explain what is meant by a paradigm shift.(4)

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2. A psychodynamic psychologist wished to investigate the function of dreams. He asked five
friends to keep a ‘dream diary’ for a week by writing a descriptive account of their dreams as
soon as they woke up in the morning. He interpreted the content of their dreams as an
expression of their repressed wishes.

Referring to the study above, explain why psychodynamic psychologists have often been
criticised for neglecting the rules of the scientific approach.(3)

3. A teacher has worked in the same primary school for two years. While chatting to the
children, she is concerned to find that the majority of them come to school without having eaten
a healthy breakfast. In her opinion, children who eat ‘a decent breakfast’ learn to read more
quickly and are better behaved than children who do not. She now wants to set up a pre-school
breakfast club for the children so that they can all have this beneficial start to the day. The local
authority is not willing to spend money on this project purely on the basis of the teacher’s
opinion and insists on having scientific evidence for the claimed benefits of eating a healthy
breakfast.

Explain why the teacher’s personal opinion cannot be accepted as scientific evidence.
Refer to some of the major features of science in your answer. (6)

NOW PRACTICE 12 MARK QUESTIONS IN THE DESIGN A STUDY WORKBOOKLET!

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