You are on page 1of 36

AS Psychology

PSYA1

Research Methods
Activities
This booklet belongs to:

MRS ROBSON, HOLLY LODGE GIRLS COLLEGE

QUESTIONNAIRES
ACTIVITY 1.1
Identify whether each of the following questions are open or closed:
OPEN

CLOSED

What do you think makes a good film?


How would you describe your personality?
Which do you prefer Coca Cola or Pepsi?
What is your gender?
Why did you choose to study Psychology?
Do you agree that Justin Bieber is evil?
How do you feel about the war in Iraq?
Do you enjoy your job?

ACTIVITY 1.2
Match each guideline for questionnaire construction with its example.
1. Avoid vagueness or ambiguity
2. Avoid double-barrelled questions
3. Avoid unnecessary jargon
4. Avoiding leading questions
Example
Do you take time off work? (please tick one)
Never Rarely Sometimes Often
Was the suspects shirt blue or green?
Do you think that life is more stressful than it was 30 years ago, or do people find that
modern technology reduces the stresses of life?
Do you favour affirmative action in employment practices?

Guideline #

ACTIVITY 1.3
Dominos want to undertake some market research to ensure their menu is attracting as many customers as
possible. They have asked you to create a questionnaire that they can give to their customers when they order.
In teams, write three open questions and three closed questions to find out whether the company could improve
anything about their recipes, prices or range. Remember to avoid vagueness/ambiguity, double-barrelled
questions, leading questions and overly complex phrases/technical jargon.
Their menu is printed on the next page to help you.
OPEN QUESTIONS
Q1.

Q2.

Q3.

CLOSED QUESTIONS
Q1.

Q2.

Q3.

ACTIVITY 1.4
Which were easier to write, the open or closed questions?

Which would provide the easiest to analyse answers, the open or closed questions?

Which would provide the richest detail/greatest amount of data, the open or closed questions?

INTERVIEWS
ACTIVITY 2.1
Look at the print interview examples below.
Identify which is the structured interview and which is the unstructured interview by ticking the relevant boxes.
Structured
JLS
Konnie Huq

Unstructured

CASE STUDIES
ACTIVITY 3.1
When compiling a case study a psychologist can draw on a huge range of sources of information, e.g.
1. WIRVTSIENE with the participant
2. DCEMLIA records
3. WIRVTSIENE with teachers/managers
4. UDETTTIA tests
5. Tests of IECLLITEGENN
6. Results of ALXEEMIRENTP tasks carried out by the participant
7. LIIOOSHCYPGLCA measures e.g. MRI scans, EEG traces
8. SSATIOOERVNB of the participant
9. Tests of CCIILLAN symptoms e.g. depression
10. WIRVTSIENE with parents/family members
11. OOHLSC records and reports
12. Tests of AEIOYTPRSNL
13. DIIEASR, TTEERLS or other biographical information
14. WIRVTSIENE with colleagues/co-workers
15. TNMMEEOPLY records
ACTIVITY 3.2
Which sources would be most relevant/useful in the following case studies?
Jamie is seven years old. When he first started school he seemed to enjoy it a lot.
He has recently become quiet and withdrawn in class however, and has stopped
making progress in his learning. His teachers have asked an educational
psychologist from the local authority to find out what the problem is.
Eva is a promising athlete and a potential Olympian. She has been a champion at
school and county level and is now starting to compete seriously at a national
level. Her coach has asked a sports psychologist to investigate how to give her
the edge on other competitors.
Reena is recovering from a car accident in which she sustained head injuries.
Surgeons had to operate on her brain and she spent several weeks in a coma.
She has now regained consciousness but it appears that her injuries have
affected her psychological functioning. An occupational psychologist has been
asked to help rehabilitate her.
Jeff was compulsorily detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act after
being arrested trying to break into a local zoo. The police became concerned by
the bizarre way he was talking and called for a clinical psychologist to try to find
an explanation for his behaviour.

OBSERVATIONS
ACTIVITY 4.1
Suggest three appropriate behavioural categories that researchers are likely to have on their behavioural
checklists in the following structured observations:
For example, an OFSTED inspector investigating learning behaviour in a lesson may look for:
Students writing
Teacher talking
Students reading
A
An investigation into gender differences in flirting behaviour in a nightclub.

B
An investigation into levels of stress in shoppers during sale periods compared to non-sale periods.

C
An investigation into aggression in car drivers.

ACTIVITY 4.2
In order to improve inter-rater reliability, researchers usually operationalize the items on their behaviour
checklist. Choose one item from each example above (A, B, C) and fully operationalize it below.
For example: Teacher talking could be operationalized as Teacher directly addressing the whole class for 30
seconds or more (otherwise different researchers may record when the teacher speaks to the whole class/a
group/an individual student/a colleague/themselves for any period of time, leading to low inter-rater reliability).
A) An investigation into gender differences in flirting behaviour in a nightclub.

B) An investigation into levels of stress in shoppers during sale periods compared to non-sale periods.

C) An investigation into aggression in car drivers.

ACTIVITY 4.3
In pairs, conduct a structured observation to investigate greeting behaviour in sixth form students.
First, identify possible behaviour categories for your behavioural checklist:
An investigation into how sixth form students greet each other in a common room.

Next, fully operationalize the final six behaviour categories for your behavioural checklist:

Next, create a tally chart to collect your data (i.e. your finalised behavioural checklist):
Type of greeting
Frequency

Now collect your data over a 15 minute period during a breaktime/lunchtime you must sit in the same place in
the common room as your partner during the observation, but you must not compare notes.
Finally, complete the following table:
Type of greeting

How reliable were your observations?

My frequencies

My partners frequencies

How could your observations have been improved?

CONTENT ANALYSIS
ACTIVITY 5.1
Below are witness statements from an imagined robbery.
Turn this qualitative data into quantitative data by counting frequencies using coding categories.

CATEGORIES
The bank robbers are male
The bank robbers wear some sort of disguise
The bank robbers wear dark clothes
The bank robbers demand money from the cashiers
The bank robbers have a getaway car waiting outside the bank
The getaway car has a driver sitting in it

FREQUENCIES

CORRELATIONAL ANALYSIS
ACTIVITY 6.1
Complete the following table with sketches to show the typical visual patterns of the three types of correlations:
POSITIVE
NEGATIVE
NO CORRELATION

ACTIVITY 6.2
Match the following correlations up with their correlation coefficients and their descriptions using the symbols.
+1.0

STRONG POSITIVE

+0.6

ZERO

-0.6

WEAK NEGATIVE

0.0

STRONG NEGATIVE

-1.0

WEAK POSITIVE

ACTIVITY 6.3
Explain the conclusion which can be drawn from each of the following scatter graphs.

ACTIVITY 6.4
Decide whether each of the following correlations is positive or negative:
POSITIVE

NEGATIVE

YES

NO

1) Aggressive parents produce aggressive children


2) The hotter the weather, the fewer the items of clothing people wear
3) The more expensive the petrol, the less of it people buy
4) The fewer the number of sweets eaten, the fewer the fillings needed
5) The colder the weather, the higher peoples fuel bills
6) The more people exercise, the less their risk of health problems
7) More extroverted people get more party invitations
8) The fewer the hours of daylight the happier vampires are
9) The better behaved the child, the less they are punished
10) The smaller the miniature pony, the greater its value
ACTIVITY 6.5
Decide whether each of the following topics is suitable for correlational analysis or not:
1) If gender is linked to sociability
2) If amount of fruit and veg eaten is linked to bowel movement frequency
3) If age affects extrasensory perception (ESP) ability
4) If rural or urban settings are linked more closely to contentment
5) If mood is linked to caffeine intake
6) If time of day is linked to mood
7) If happiness as an adult is linked to weight
8) If left-handedness is linked to creativity
9) If the colour scheme in a workplace is linked to work satisfaction
10) If sleepwalking is linked to gender
ACTIVITY 6.6
Bob sells ice cream, and he loves his job. He has however started to worry that he might be irresponsible in
selling ice cream because it appears to cause people to behave more aggressively. The table below shows the
data that Bob has collected while investigating this concern (all numbers are rounded to the nearest 1,000).
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Ice cream sales
10
8
7
21
32
56
130 141
84
32
11
6
Aggressive crimes
21
32
29
35
44
55
111 129
99
36
22
25
Draw a scatter graph to display Bobs data.
What conclusion is suggested by this graph?

Explain why correlational analysis may not be the


best research method for Bob to use to find an
answer to his question.

Can you think of any other (extraneous) variables


that might be affecting this relationship?

EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
ACTIVITY 7.1
Decide whether each of the following is a LABORATORY, FIELD or NATURAL experiment.
Example
Experiment type
1. Dave the psychologist brought 40 professional athletes into a medical research
facility at his university and tested their physical stamina before and after taking a
course of multivitamins and minerals.
2. Dave the psychologist heard that there had been an earthquake in a village in a
remote part of the world, so he got on a plane and headed there to study the effect
of a natural disaster on primitive tribal society.
3. Dave the psychologist put up posters advertising for university undergraduates to
take part into a research study on reaction times. They had to press a button on a
keyboard when an x appeared on a screen.
4. Dave the psychologist went shopping in Liverpool One wearing an Everton football
shirt. He pretended to collapse on the pavement and counted whether more
Liverpool or Everton supporters came to help him.
5. Dave the psychologist visited the toilets of his local nightclub and conducted a
study where he invaded the personal space of other men at the urinals and noted
how long it took for them to start urinating.
6. Dave the psychologist conducted a study where he compared the self-perceptions
of patients suffering from anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and obesity.
ACTIVITY 7.2
A
You have heard that taking omega fish oil supplements can improve your brain function, aiding concentration,
memory and possibly even intelligence. In preparation for your AS Psychology examinations you decide to
undertake three experiments to investigate whether it is worth taking a course of omega oils.
What would the procedure for each of the following types of experiment consist of?
LABORATORY
FIELD
NATURAL

B
You have been approached by the government to investigate the aggressive tendencies of a new breed of dog,
the Chavadidas, to see whether it should be placed on the governments dangerous breeds list or not.
What would the procedure for each of the following types of experiment consist of?
LABORATORY
FIELD
NATURAL

METHODS: SUMMARY
ACTIVITY 8.1
In the grid below, draw pictures/symbols to help you remember each of the nine main research methods.
QUESTIONNAIRES

INTERVIEWS

CASE STUDIES

OBSERVATIONS

CONTENT ANALYSIS

CORRELATIONAL ANALYSIS

LABORATORY EXPERIMENT

FIELD EXPERIMENT

NATURAL EXPERIMENT

EXPERIMENTAL DESIGNS
ACTIVITY 9.1
Each of the following sets of pictures represents an experimental design; each set has an experimental and a
control condition. Identify which is: INDEPENDENT GROUPS, REPEATED MEASURES, MATCHED PAIRS.
EXAMPLE

DESIGN

ACTIVITY 9.2
Read the details of each of the following studies and decide which design is being used.
EXAMPLE
A researcher presented participants with a list of 20 words. Participants were asked
to use either visual or auditory techniques to remember the words, depending on
which condition they were allocated to. On completion of the list participants were
asked to recall as many of the 20 words as they could.
The productivity of 20 factory workers from Sheffield is compared with 20 factory
workers from Glasgow. All attended inner city schools, have been working in
manufacturing for at least 15 years and have similar IQs.
A group of students are given a memory test. The next day they are given the same
test after having consumed alcoholic drinks. The difference between the number of
questions answered correctly in each condition is analysed.
A natural experiment was used to investigate the difference in social skills in five year
olds. Children in one condition had attended day care while children in the other
condition had been cared for at home.
20 students are given an IQ test and then re-tested a month later after they have
taken part in practice sessions, to see if these improve their score. The two sets of
results are compared.
A researcher was interested in the effects of a new teaching method on the
mathematical ability of Year 6 children. In one condition the children were exposed to
the new teaching method, in the other condition traditional teaching methods
continued to be used. He ranked children based on their mathematical ability and
then then allocated them in pairs one to the new method condition and one to the
traditional method.
An educational psychologist assessed the reading ability of a student with moderate
dyslexia. She then gave the student a selection of coloured plastic filters to place over
the text they were reading and assessed their ability again with each filter in turn,
until she found the filter that helped the student to read best.
In order to assess the effects of fatigue on reaction times, a researcher gave
participants a target detection test in which they pressed a button every time a dot
appeared on a screen. The time between the dot appearing and the button being
pressed was recorded. The participants did the test twice, once first thing in the
morning and once last thing at night.
The GCSE Maths grades of girls and boys attending the same school are compared.
In order to compare the effectiveness of two different types of therapy for depression,
depressed patients were assigned to receive either cognitive therapy or behaviour
therapy for a 12 week period. The researchers attempted to ensure that the patients
in the two groups had a similar severity of depressed symptoms by administering a
standardised test of depression to each participant, then coupling them according to
the severity of their symptoms.

DESIGN

ACTIVITY 9.3
Look at the pictures below and decide which design is being used each time. Indicate your choice by writing I
(independent groups), R (repeated measures) or M (matched participants) next to each picture. Draw a
suggestion of what the missing example would consist of.

ACTIVITY 9.4
Alton Towers have commissioned you to conduct research into which types of ride are most worth investing in.
Ideally, they want to know whether rollercoasters or water rides are more exciting for visitors.
Explain how you would carry out FIELD experiments using:
INDEPENDENT GROUPS

REPEATED MEASURES

MATCHED PAIRS

ACTIVITY 9.5
Imagine you are going to conduct an experiment to investigate whether males or females have a better memory
for faces. Explain why an independent groups design would be the only possible design you could use.

Imagine you are going to conduct an experiment to investigate whether adults or children have better
imaginations. Explain why an independent groups design would be the only possible design you could use.

AIMS
ACTIVITY 10.1
Write out the aim for each of the following studies:
1. A health psychologist compares a group of obese
children who watch more than 6 hours of television a
day with a group who watch less than one hour a day
and arent obese.
2. An organisational psychologist conducts a study on
behalf of a factory owner, where different types of
music are played across the loudspeaker system and
the workers productivity is measured.
3. A clinical psychologist conducts a study where the
depression levels of people living in the city are
compared with people living in the countryside.

4. A psychologist stands in a city centre on a summers


day and on a winters day and interviews people about
their general mood.

5. A mattress company asks psychologists to visit bed


showrooms where their products are sold and
investigate the facial expression, body language and
verbal comments made by males and females as they
try out soft and hard mattresses.
6. Before advising a head teacher on their school
timetable an educational psychologist visits lessons on
Monday mornings and Friday afternoons and looks at
how hard students are working; they also analyse the
examination performance of the different groups.
7. A forensic psychologist analyses biographical
information on the childhood of serial killers.

8. A cognitive psychologist asks teenage, middle aged


and elderly participants to complete a range of sudoku
and word search puzzles.

HYPOTHESES
ACTIVITY 11.1
Are the following hypotheses directional or non-directional?
HYPOTHESIS
1. In a blind taste test, most Psychology teachers will prefer the taste of Coca-Cola to
the taste of Pepsi.
2. Taking fish oil supplements every day will have an effect on the concentration
levels of children when completing schoolwork.
3. There will be no difference between the amount of fear experienced when a
claustrophobic patient is trapped in a lift compared to a tent.
4. There will be no difference between the reaction times of children and adults when
engaged in competitive Lazer-Quest.
5. There will be a difference between the number of attempts needed to learn simple
maze by a group of five rats and by Westlife.
6. Women are more likely to wait for a green light to appear at a pedestrian crossing
before crossing than men are.
7. There will be a difference between the scores of males and females on a standard
IQ test.
8. Bulls will charge more often when presented with a red rag, than when presented
with a blue rag.
9. There will be a difference between the number of tomatoes produced by plants in
grow bags and plants in the ground.

TYPE

ACTIVITY 11.2
Which phrases seem to be used commonly in the wording of each hypothesis?
DIRECTIONAL
NON-DIRECTIONAL
NULL

ACTIVITY 11.3
A) Write a directional hypothesis for the following studies:
A study to investigate whether eating doughnuts causes obesity.
A study to investigate whether criminality increases with level of poverty.

B) Write a non-directional hypothesis for the following studies:


A study to investigate whether lack of sleep affects quality of schoolwork.
A study to investigate whether alcohol affects co-ordination.

C) Write a null hypothesis for the following studies:


A study to investigate whether nail extensions or hair extensions increase physical attractiveness the most.
A study to investigate whether babies show greater attachment to their mother or father.

VARIABLES: IV & DV
ACTIVITY 12.1
Identify which part of each research study is the IV and which part is the DV.
1) An investigation into whether severe acne is caused by eating chocolate or not.
2) An investigation into whether bleaching your hair lowers your I.Q. score or not.
3) An investigation into whether impulse buying is linked to the layout of shops or not.
4) An investigation into whether Viagra improves sexual performance or not.
5) An investigation into whether Vitamin C supplements improve the immune system or not.
6) An investigation into whether hangovers are caused by alcohol or not.
7) An investigation into whether men or women are ill more often.
8) An investigation into whether number of nightmares increases after watching horror films.
9) An investigation into whether people are more aggressive in summer or winter.
10) An investigation into whether people work better in quiet or noisy conditions.
11) An investigation into whether sparrows prefer to eat big or small bugs.
12) An investigation into whether people work quicker when alone or in a team.

ACTIVITY 12.2
Identify the hypotheses, independent variables and dependent variables; fill in the spaces.
HYPOTHESIS
IV
DV
Older people will be slower in
Reaction time in seconds
reacting to visual stimuli
Giving babies a lot of love teaches
them to trust

Amount of love, shown by cuddling


a baby
Amount of violence watched

Talking to children increases their


language skills

Size of the childrens vocabulary

Recall of a list of words will be


better when the words are
meaningful
The more bystanders there are, the
less likely it is that help will be given

Whether or not help is given

Participants will perform better


when they are working alone
First impressions count

Amount of aggressive behaviour


shown

Level of performance
Vary the first impression to be
favourable, or unfavourable

VARIABLES: OPERATIONALISING
ACTIVITY 13.1
A) Dr Spock the psychologist is carrying out an investigation into the effect of eating nothing but McDonalds food
on mood after one month. He cant be bothered to collect his data, so he instructs five research assistants to do
it. How can he further operationalise the variable McDonalds, so that they all carry out the same procedure?

B) He also wants to carry out an investigation into the effect of wearing aftershave vs. not wearing aftershave on
the ability of men to attract women in a nightclub. He cant be bothered to collect his data again, so he instructs
his research students to do it. How can he further operationalise the variable aftershave, so that all of his
assistants carry out the same procedure?

ACTIVITY 13.2
Imagine each of the following are variables within pieces of research suggest could each be operationalized.
Cheddar cheese
Illness
Celebrity workout DVD

Memory

Facebook usage

Relaxation

VARIABLES: EXTRANEOUS
ACTIVITY 14.1
Which drink did you prefer M or Q? ___
Can you think of a possible extraneous variable in this study?

ACTIVITY 14.2
Identify three possible extraneous variables in each of the following studies.
Researchers wanted to look at how word length affected the capacity of short term memory. They tested one
group on words of one syllable and the other group on words of three syllables.

Researchers wanted to find out if older or younger people could remember the most text message abbreviations.
Both groups had to recall a list of ten abbreviations.

Researchers wanted to see how rewards affect learning. Rats were tested in a maze, some were rewarded every
time they finished the maze and others were rewarded randomly.

ACTIVITY 14.3
Are demand characteristics likely to occur in the following studies, or not? If yes, how will these be shown?
YES NO
The researcher tells participants that people of
greater intelligence tend to try harder at tasks
during experiments.
The researcher tells participants that only people
with poor sex lives will select orange as their
favourite colour in a colour preference task.
ACTIVITY 14.4
Interviews are conducted in a study comparing discrimination in 2011 with 1911. For each participant, identify
which scenario is most likely to elicit HONESTY and which is most likely to produce INVESTIGATOR EFFECTS.
Pamela is anxious about disability.
She is interviewed about whether
workplace discrimination against
disabled people is acceptable.
Barry is sexist.
He is interviewed about whether
workplace discrimination against
women is acceptable.
Jane is racist.
He is interviewed about whether
workplace discrimination based on
ethnicity is acceptable.

Her interviewer is in a wheelchair.


Her interviewer appears able
bodied.
His interviewer is female.
His interviewer is male.
Jane is white, her interviewer is
white.
Jane is white, her interviewer is
Asian.

ETHICS & ETHICAL ISSUES


ACTIVITY 15.1
Name the main ethical guideline broken in each of the following:
A researcher carried out an investigation into reasons for infidelity. He placed a
newspaper advert in The Sun, asking for husbands who had recently cheated on
their wives to take part in some research. The male participants who responded
to the advert were interviewed the researcher recorded details of
where/when/how their infidelity took place. In his research report he forgot to
remove the names of the men he had interviewed.
A researcher conducted a study to investigate whether males or females are
more likely to commit criminal acts. Participants were asked to commit a range of
crimes as part of a laboratory experiment, such as theft, arson and murder. To
encourage them to commit the crimes it was suggested to the participants that
they would not be held responsible for their actions, as they are taking part in a
psychology experiment. Any participants who did commit a crime were in fact
reported to the police.
A researcher conducted an investigation into which type of drink most improves
athletic performance. 300 people were tested; they were each asked to run 100
metres, they were timed and their results were recorded. Then, the participants
were given a drink and had to re-run the 100 metre course; they were timed and
their results were compared to their first attempt. One group of 100 participants
drank Lucozade Hydro Active, one group drank Powerade and one group drank
cat urine. The groups were not told what they were drinking, as the researcher
didnt want demand characteristics to affect the results.
A researcher conducted a study into achluophobia (fear of the dark/night time). A
laboratory experiment was used; participants with achluophobia were asked to
give a fear rating while experiencing ten different levels of artificial light intensity
in a windowless room. On trial ten, the light in the room was turned off
completely participants reactions were observed using night vision cameras.
A researcher conducted a study to investigate how people cope without everyday
luxuries. Participants were sent to an island in the middle of the ocean, and had
only basic shelters/food etc. They lived there for one year their psychological
state and the success of their new society was measured at the end of the
experiment. There was no communication with the islanders, and no boats
between the island and the mainland for the duration of the study, to ensure that
was no attrition in the sample. Participants were told that if anyone attempted to
escape from the island (e.g. by swimming away), they forfeited their fee for taking
part in the research.

ACTIVITY 15.2
Complete this summary grid by matching up the details given in each column:
ETHICAL
DESCRIPTION
WAYS OF DEALING
GUIDELINE
OF GUIDELINE
WITH ISSUE
This means keeping information private. Participants
Debriefing should be used after the study to explain
PROTECTION
should feel confident that the studys report wont
the real aim and rationale for this, as well as to
FROM HARM
reveal information or data which makes it possible for
individual participants to be identified, or for their data
to be linked to them i.e. they should remain
anonymous.

INFORMED
CONSENT

Psychologists have a responsibility to protect their


participants from e.g. embarrassment/humiliation,
stress or loss of self-esteem/dignity. Participants
should not be exposed to more risk than they would
expect to experience in everyday life.

DECEPTION

Participants should be allowed to leave at any point


during the study if they decide they no longer want to
take part, including retrospectively after the study has
finished (their data would be removed from the
research and destroyed).

CONFIDENTIALITY Researchers should not withhold any information from

RIGHT TO
WITHDRAW

participants or actively mislead them about the true


nature of the study they are to be involved in, either to
encourage them to take part or to get more valid
results. Exceptions include when the deception is
minor, deemed scientifically justified by an ethics
committee and/or if participants are unlikely to
object/show unease when the deception is revealed.
This is when a participant is told the aims of research,
as well as the nature of the procedure and the purpose
of their role and agrees to it.

reassure the participant and allow them to ask any


questions they might have. The right to withdraw
should be emphasised throughout, and the
retrospective right to withdraw via destruction of data
should also be offered.
Participants should be informed of their right at the
beginning of the research, and should be reminded of
this right at suitable points during and after the
research. If they choose to exercise their right,
pressure should not be put on them to stay and
payment should not be used to coerce participants.
Task avoidance should be taken as a wish to withdraw
in child participants. If participants withdraw
retrospectively their data must be destroyed.
Psychologists should allocate numbers, letters or
codes to participant data in place of names to ensure
it is anonymous, as well as keeping the location of the
research as general as possible i.e. not naming a
specific institution/organisation. Consent must be
gained from participants for their data to be used in
situations where it is impossible to offer this right e.g. if
a specific place must be referred to.
Psychologists can ask their research colleagues as well
as ethics committees to check their research
proposals, to help spot any potential problems. At the
start of their study they can ask their participants
about any pre-existing physical/mental conditions.
During the study they can stop the research at the first
sign of any harm occurring. After the study they can
debrief all participants in full and offer aftercare.
Psychologists will ask adult participants to read and
sign a consent form, and will ask the parents of
children under 16 years of age to give consent on their
behalf. The carers/specialists of an adult with
communication/ understanding difficulties will be
consulted if it is felt they are unable to make an
informed decision on their own.

ACTIVITY 15.3
The BPS have commissioned you to design a set of logos to represent each of their ethical guidelines.
You must sum up the essence of each guideline in a clear, concise and symbolic way.
INFORMED
CONSENT

DECEPTION

RIGHT TO
WITHDRAW

PROTECTION
FROM HARM

CONFIDENTIALITY

PARTICIPANT SAMPLING TECHNIQUES


ACTIVITY 16.1
Identify the target population in each of the following studies:
1) A comparison of male and female reading habits.
2) A test to see if 9/10 cats really do prefer Whiskas.
3) A study into whether cat owners believe the claims
made in the Whiskas advert.
4) Research into the effectiveness of the use of
counselling for phobias.
5) An investigation into the play habits of 1 year old
infants.
ACTIVITY 16.2
Decide which participant sampling technique is being used in each of the following studies:
STUDY DETAILS
TECHNIQUE
An organisational psychologist wants to trial a new pattern of shift work with trainee
doctors to try to alleviate the jet lag like symptoms brought on by long shifts. He contacts
the Merseyside Primary Care Trust to obtain a list of all trainee doctors in the Liverpool
area he allocates each trainee a doctor a number then uses a number generating
software programme to select his participants.
A researcher investigating addiction wants to run a trial to find out whether nicotine
patches really work, or whether a placebo patch is just as effective. She places an advert
in a national newspaper asking for anyone who is interested to get in contact with her.
An organisational psychology wants to investigate the effect that personality type has on
coping mechanisms for dealing with stress. She sends emails to several major companies
and gives her contact details.
A university lecturer is interested in finding out whether emotive or neutral images are
recalled more effectively. He conducts his experiment on his undergraduate students at
the beginning of one of his lectures on cognitive psychology.
An educational psychologist is concerned with the underperformance of African-American
boys at a tough inner city school. He obtains a list of all of the boys at the school and
draws 10 names out of a hat. These boys then form his sample.
A psychodynamic therapist wants to try a new method of psychoanalysis and decides to
use it with half his patients while keeping the other half as a control group.
ACTIVITY 16.3
A social psychologist wishes to conduct a study to profile the personality of a typical Jeremy Kyle guest.
They visit Jezzas studio on a day when the show is being recorded.
How could they select a sample of guests from their target population, using:
RANDOM SAMPLING
OPPORTUNITY SAMPLING
VOLUNTEER SAMPLING

ACTIVITY 16.4
Identify ways in which the samples below may be unrepresentative:
1) A psychologist advertises in a University bulletin for
2) A researcher wishes to survey young peoples
student participants for an experiment concerning the
attitudes to law and order. They visit a youth club on an
effects of alcohol consumption on appetite.
estate in Newcastle to interview participants.

RELIABILITY & VALIDITY

ACTIVITY 17.1
Decide whether each of the following examples illustrates an issue of reliability or validity.
RESEARCH EXAMPLE

R OR V

Your bathroom scales say you are a different weight every time you stand on them.

Some people say that having a large head means you are more intelligent because
you must have a bigger brain.
You are interviewed by two researchers. One concludes that you are extroverted;
one concludes that you are introverted.
A study on the effect of horror films on the behaviour of children is carried out; the
researcher believes the films are scary but the children just find them funny.
The speedometer in your car says you are doing 30mph when you are in fact doing
31mph. You get caught by a speed camera.
A test designed to assess IQ really only tests how much general knowledge people
have.
A researcher concludes using natural daylight light bulbs increases productivity in a
factory, but doesnt realise the workers have just been given their annual pay rise.
You ask your friend if your bum looks big in your new jeans. They give you an answer
but you ask them again, just to be sure.
ACTIVITY 17.2
Decide whether each of the following examples illustrates an issue of ecological, population or temporal validity.
RESEARCH EXAMPLE
E, P or T
An educational psychologist worked with a group of students from a private school
in London to develop new revision techniques. She then went to teach the same
techniques to a group of students from a young offenders institution in Glasgow.
A study into gender stereotypes was conducted in the 1950s can it still be applied
to modern society?
A researcher was interested in the emotions experienced by lottery winners. He set
up an experiment where people were given a lottery ticket and were then asked to
watch as six numbers were chosen at random by a computer programme. The
programme was rigged so that on the third draw the participants numbers came up.
A neuropsychologist interested in sensation developed a tickling machine in order to
study the physical effect being tickled has on the brain, without having to touch
anyones feet.
A study into the level of stress in estate agents during the 2008/09 credit crunch
was conducted. Will it still be relevant in years to come?
A researcher used opportunity sampling for his investigation into drinking behaviour,
and tested 250 of his undergraduate students. He wants to apply his results to
middle aged men to try to explain their alcoholism.

TYPES OF DATA
ACTIVITY 18.1
Identify whether each piece of research would gather quantitative or qualitative data.
STUDY

QUAN

QUAL

A geographer measures the height of the Lake District mountains.


A historian asks war veterans about their experiences.
A fitness coach measures weight loss on a new regime.
A chef experiments with the length of time it takes to boil an egg.
A lifestyle coach asks a new client about their feelings of wellbeing.
A checkout operator at ASDA counts how many people he serves in a day.
A consumer panel is asked to describe the texture of a new cake.
A high street shop conducts a survey to find out the average clothes size.
A head teacher analyses examination results to look for patterns.
A mattress company asks customers for feedback on their new springs.
A doctor asks his patients how they are feeling on their new medication.
A teenage boy keeps a diary about his search for a girlfriend.
A psychologist measures the length of short term memory.
A parent asks a teacher how their child is progressing at school.
A travel agent calculates the average cost of a honeymoon.
ACTIVITY 18.2
Imagine that you have been commissioned by match.com to carry out research into customers opinions of the
quality of the service that they have received. Questionnaires are to be emailed to customers after they have
been on a date with someone that they met through the website; your job is to write the questions.

Quantitative question

How physically attractive did the customer find their date?


Qualitative question

How likely is the customer to arrange a second date with the person they met up with?
Quantitative question
Qualitative question

Does the customer think the service they receive from match.com is worth the membership fee?
Quantitative question
Qualitative question

How likely is the customer to recommend the match.com service to a friend?


Quantitative question
Qualitative question

MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY


ACTIVITY 19.1
A
Calculate the MEAN for each of the following sets of data.
Q1) 45, 87, 72, 45, 56, 29, 37, 35, 93
Q2) 1, 11, 100, 1001, 10001
Q3) 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 2, 4, 6, 8
Q4) 453, 723, 742, 247, 237, 834, 824
B
Calculate the MEDIAN for each of the following sets of data.
Q1) 1, 1, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Q2) 2, 5, 7, 13, 17, 19, 20, 22
Q3) 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61
Q4) 98, 101, 55, 1097, 66, 3, 45
C
Calculate the MODE for each of the following sets of data.
Q1) 20, 21, 22, 22, 22, 23, 24
Q2) 20, 21, 21, 21, 22, 23, 23, 23
Q3) 54, 58, 56, 54, 53, 51, 54
Q4) 100, 111, 111, 98, 98, 100, 98

ACTIVITY 19.2
The table contains the data from an investigation into the
effect of caffeine on concentration.
The participants in condition 1 werent given any caffeine; the
participants in condition 2 drank five strong cups of coffee.
The scores show the number of maths problems each
participant correctly solved in10 minutes.

Calculate the MEAN for each


condition and use this to interpret
the effect caffeine had on
concentration.

Participant
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Calculate the MEDIAN for each


condition and use this to interpret
the effect caffeine had on
concentration.

Condition 1
5
4
3
2
7
3
4
5
4
6

Condition 2
9
3
1
1
7
5
1
9
2
7

Calculate the MODE for each


condition and use this to interpret
the effect caffeine had on
concentration.

ACTIVITY 19.3
Carefully deconstruct your cookies. Count the number of chocolate chips inside. Record your findings below.
COOKIE A

COOKIE B

COOKIE C

BRAND A (HIGHER COST)


BRAND B (LOWER COST)

Record the findings from the rest of the class in the table below.
BRAND A (HIGHER COST)

BRAND B (LOWER COST)

Calculate the following:


BRAND A (HIGHER COST)
Mean
Median
Mode

BRAND B (LOWER COST)

MEASURES OF DISPERSION
ACTIVITY 20.1
Calculate the range for each of the following sets of data.
Q1) 1, 28, 29, 33, 76
Q2) 33, 34, 38, 52, 56, 57
Q3) 100, 192, 346, 643, 832
Q4) 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9
Q5) Using the data from the investigation into the effect
of caffeine on concentration, calculate the range for
each condition and use this to interpret the effect
caffeine had on concentration.
ACTIVITY 20.2
What conclusion can be drawn from each of the following studies, using the standard deviations?
A
Table to show the effect of time of day on performance in a simple memory test.
Group 1 (children tested in morning)
Group 2 (children tested in afternoon)
1.46
3.23

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
B
Table to show the number of attempts needed by a rat to learn the path through a maze.
Group 1 (rewarded every time)
Group 2 (rewarded every third time)
3.55
4.58

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
C
Table to show the effect on participant mood of TV news stories with different emotional content.
Group 1 ( positive news)
2.38
Group 2 (negative news)
1.26

_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________

INTERPRETATING QUANTITATIVE DATA


ACTIVITY 21.1
Write a conclusion to accompany each of the following graphs.
(Remember the rules for wording conclusions correctly).
A

PRESENTING QUANTITATIVE DATA


ACTIVITY 22.1
Draw a BAR CHART to summarise the findings from our survey on the sauce our class prefers on their chips:
KETCHUP
BROWN
BBQ
CURRY
MAYO
OTHER
NONE

ACTIVITY 22.2
Draw a HISTOGRAM to summarise how long people in our class can stand on one leg for:
Under 1 minute
More than 1 minute but less than 2 minutes
More than 2 minutes but less than 3 minutes
More than 3 minutes but less than 4 minutes
More than 4 minutes but less than 5 minutes
Over 5 minutes

ACTIVITY 22.3
Over a four week period, schoolchildren Tom and Lauren are observed working in their classroom. When Tom
behaves disruptively, he is told off; when Lauren behaves disruptively, she is ignored. Any instance of disruptive
behaviour by either pupil is recorded; findings are shown in the table. Draw a LINE GRAPH to summarise the
outcome of the investigation, to help the researchers conclude what the best way to improve behaviour is.
Tom (# of acts)
Lauren (# of acts)
Week 1
6
7
Week 2
7
4
Week 3
8
4
Week 4
11
3

ACTIVITY 22.4
Students scores in end of year Maths and English examinations were collected in order to see if there was any
correlation between the two. Draw a SCATTER GRAPH to summarise the findings in order to draw a conclusion.
Student
Maths
English
Student
Maths
English
Sally
20
30
Alex
32
38
Kath
71
80
Beth
47
40
Bill
60
65
Ken
90
87
Tom
52
50
Alan
49
55
Gita
80
81
Jo
80
70

Notes:

You might also like