AQA A LevelPsychologyUnit Assessment

Research MethodsYear 1(Edition 1)

h 1 hour

h The maximum mark for this unit assessment is 48

UNIT ASSESSMENT

Name

Centre Name

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AQA A Level Psychology Unit Assessment – Research Methods (Year 1) ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS IN THIS SECTION

Read the item and answer the questions that follow.

A psychologist conducted a quasi-experiment to find out if there were any gender differences in spatial awareness abilities. He put an advert in a local newspaper asking for volunteers aged 18-65 to take part in a study to investigate spatial ability. 40 participants were recruited (20 males and 20 females) and when they arrived at the psychology department of the university, they were given a test of spatial ability. The test involved correctly rotating and placing 20 shapes (similar to those pictured on the right) in a square box. The participants were given 5 minutes to complete the task and each participant was given a score out of 20 for the number of shapes they managed to correctly place within 5 minutes. The following data was obtained: Table 1: Mean scores for spatial ability and standard deviations for males and females on the rotating shapes test.

MALES FEMALES MEAN 15.5 13.4 STANDARD DEVIATION 1.61 2.89

1 Explain why this study is an example of a quasi-experiment.

(2 marks)

2 What sampling technique did the psychologist use?

(1 mark)

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Read the item and answer the questions that follow.

A psychology student was interested in how members of the public respond when asked to buy a copy of ‘The Big Issue’ (a magazine sold by people who are facing poverty). The student decided to conduct a naturalistic observation in a busy town centre location on a weekday morning. She seated herself on a bench facing a ‘Big Issue’ seller and observed the behaviour of people approached by the seller for two hours. She used a behavioural checklist and tally chart to record each time a behaviour on the checklist was shown. The results are shown below in Table 1. Table 1: Number of people showing particular behaviours towards a seller of ‘The Big Issue’.

TALLY TOTAL BUYS A COPY OF THE MAGAZINE 15

SAYS ‘NO THANK YOU’ 46

IGNORES THE SELLER

92

10 The method used in this study was a covert naturalistic observation. Explain one strength of

using a covert observation in this study. (2 marks)

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11 Sketch an appropriate graph to display the results found in Table 1. (4 marks)

12 What sampling method was used to sample the behaviour in this study? Justify your answer.

(2 marks)

13 Give one limitation of using the sampling method identified in Q12, in relation to this study.

(2 marks)

AQA A LevelPsychologyUnit Assessment

Mark SchemeResearch MethodsYear 1(Edition 1)

UNIT ASSESSMENT

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A psychologist conducted a quasi-experiment to find out if there were any gender differences in spatial awareness abilities. He put an advert in a local newspaper asking for volunteers aged 18-65 to take part in a study to investigate spatial ability. 40 participants were recruited (20 males and 20 females) and when they arrived at the psychology department of the university, they were given a test of spatial ability. The test involved correctly rotating and placing 20 shapes (similar to those pictured on the right) in a square box. The participants were given 5 minutes to complete the task and each participant was given a score out of 20 for the number of shapes they managed to correctly place within 5 minutes. The following data was obtained: Table 1: Mean scores for spatial ability and standard deviations for males and females on the rotating shapes test.

MALES FEMALES MEAN 15.5 13.4 STANDARD DEVIATION 1.61 2.89

1 Explain why this study is an example of a quasi-experiment.

(2 marks) Marks for this question: AO2 = 2 h 2 marks for a clear and accurate explanation of why this is a quasi-experiment. For example, it is a

quasi-experiment because the independent variable is gender which is an existing difference between people and has not been manipulated directly by the psychologist.

Or h 1 mark for a muddled or incomplete explanation, or one that is not written in the context of this

study. For example, because the independent variable already exists and has not been manipulated by the experimenter.

2 What sampling technique did the psychologist use?

(1 mark) Marks for this question: AO2 = 1 h 1 mark for correctly identifying that volunteer sampling (or self-selected sampling) has been used.

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A psychology student was interested in how members of the public respond when asked to buy a copy of ‘The Big Issue’ (a magazine sold by people who are facing poverty). The student decided to conduct a naturalistic observation in a busy town centre location on a weekday morning. She seated herself on a bench facing a ‘Big Issue’ seller and observed the behaviour of people approached by the seller for two hours. She used a behavioural checklist and tally chart to record each time a behaviour on the checklist was shown. The results are shown below in Table 1. Table 1: Number of people showing particular behaviours towards a seller of ‘The Big Issue’.

TALLY TOTAL BUYS A COPY OF THE MAGAZINE 15

SAYS ‘NO THANK YOU’ 46

IGNORES THE SELLER

92

10 The method used in this study was a covert naturalistic observation. Explain one strength of

using a covert observation in this study. (2 marks)

Marks for this question: AO3 = 2 h 2 marks for a clear and accurate strength. For example, one strength of using a covert observation in

this study is that the participants do not know they are being observed. Consequently, their behaviour when approached by the Big Issue seller will be more natural (valid) and reflect how they would normally behave.

Or h 1 mark for a muddled or incomplete strength, or one that is not written in the context of this study.

For example, a strength is that the participants will behave naturally if they do not know they are being observed.

Credit other relevant strengths.

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11 Sketch an appropriate graph to display the results found in Table 1. (4 marks)

Marks for this question: AO2 = 4 1 MARK FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: h Suitable graph: bar chart h Clear explanatory title, e.g. A bar chart to show … h Axes correctly labelled h Bars plotted correctly using suitable scale

12 What sampling method was used to sample the behaviour in this study? Justify your answer.

(2 marks) Marks for this question: AO2 = 2 h 1 mark for identifying it as event sampling. Plus h 1 mark for a brief and accurate justification. For example, because the student counts the number of

times each of the behaviours on the checklist occurs while she watches people’s reactions to the Big Issue seller.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

BUYS A COPY OF THE MAGAZINE SAYS ‘NO THANK YOU’ IGNORES THE SELLER

FREQ

UEN

CY -

NUM

BER

OF

PEO

PLE

BEHAVIOURAL SHOWN

BAR CHART TO SHOW NUMBER OF PEOPLE SHOWING BEHAVIOURS TOWARDS A 'BIG ISSUE' SELLER

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QUESTION NUMBER AO1 AO2 AO3 TOTAL

1 2 RM 2 2 1 RM 1 3 4RM 4 4 2RM/Maths 2 5 2RM 2 6 3RM 3 7 4RM/Maths 6 8 2RM 2 9 4RM 4 10 2RM 2 11 4RM/Maths 3 12 2RM 2 13 2RM 2 14 2RM 2 15 2RM 2 16 3RM 3 17 2RM 2 18 2RM 2 19 2RM 2 20 1RM Total 3 35 10 48