OCR A Level Psychology - Store & Retrieve Data Anywhere

Design a study solutions

OCR A Level Psychology

Research Methods

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OCR A LEVEL Psychology design a study solutions: RESEARCH METHODS Page 5

SAMPLE QUSTION: SELF‐REPORT THE EFFECTS OF FACEBOOK USE

Explain how you would carry out a self‐report to investigate the effects of Facebook use. You must refer to: a questionnaire or an interview open or closed questions how you may check the reliability of responses (12 marks)

You should use your own experience of carrying out an experiment to inform your response. Justify your decisions as part of your explanation. Task: Read the answer below and highlight in a different colour, where the answer addresses each of the following points:

1. Addressing all of the required features (the 3/4 bullet points) o a questionnaire or an interview o open or closed questions o how you may check the reliability of responses

2. Justifying your design decisions 3. Contextualising your answer – applying your knowledge to the scenario 4. Explicitly linking your design decisions to your own practical work

Sample Answer For my investigation into the effects of Facebook use, I would carry out a questionnaire. The reason for this isthatcomparedtoaninterview,theyareamuchquickerwayofgettingalargeamountofdatafrommanyparticipants.Thisisbecausetheyjustneedtobehandedoutandreturned;interviewsaremuchmoretimeconsumingasintervieweesarequestionedoneatatime,sothenumberofparticipantsisalsogoingbelessthanwithaquestionnaire.IfoundthisoutwhenIcarriedoutmyresearchatschoolintoattitudestowardsmentalhealthindifferentagegroups.Iwasabletoget20membersofmyclasstofillintheirquestionnairesfor5minutesatthesametimeattheendofalesson.However,whenreplicatingLoftusandPalmer’sstudy,ittookthesameamountoftimetointerviewoneparticipant,thereforeleadingtomehavingasmallsampleandhavingdifficultiesgeneralisingmyresults.AsallmyparticipantsareallFacebookusersIwillsendthemthequestionnaireonline;theycanthenquicklyfillinthequestionnaireandemailtheirresponsesbacktome.Withinmyquestionnaire,Iwoulduseclosedquestionssuchasthefollowing:usingaLikertscale(rangingfrom1stronglydisagree,to5stronglyagree) Facebookmakesfriendshipsstronger IfeelirritableifcannotlogintoFacebook IpreferchattingtomyfriendsonFacebookorfacetoface Iamnaturallyanoutgoingperson Facebookhasmadememoreconfident IamaddictedtoFacebook Facebookhashelpedmemakefriends

Page 6 OCR A LEVEL Psychology design a study solutions: RESEARCH METHODS

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IwoulduseclosedquestionstogainquantitativedataThisisbeneficialbecausethedataisnumericalfromaLikertscaleandcanthereforebeanalysedmoreeasilythanqualitativedata.Icanalsosummarisemydatamoreeasilyintographsandchartsandworkoutmeasuresofcentraltendency.ForexampleIcanworkoutthemean‘facebookaddiction’scorefordifferentpersonalitytypesandcompare‘confidence’scoresinabarchart.Thisismuchpreferabletoqualitativedatawhichismoredifficultanalyse.WhenIcarriedoutresearchintoreasonsforobedience,IincludedopenquestionsinmyquestionnaireandasresultIgotawiderangeofresponsesfrommyfriendswhichwasdifficulttocategorise.Usingclosedquestionsovercomesthisproblem.Iwouldcheckthereliabilityofresponsesbyusingthesplit‐halfmethod;thisenablestheresearchertoseeifparticipants’answersareconsistentbyaskingthesamequestionagaininaslightlydifferentwayorinreverse.Frommyownresearchintoattitudestowardsmentalhealth,myteacheradvisedthatweusedthistechniqueinourquestionnairetocheckfortheconsistencyofresponses.Forexample,oneparticipantansweredthattheystronglyagreedthatstigmatowardsmentalhealthhasreducedoverthepast10years;however,lateroninthequestionnairethey‘stronglyagreed’thatstigmahasincreasedoverthepast10years.Thisparticipant’sresultswereremovedastheylackedreliability.WithinthisquestionnaireIwouldalsousethesplit‐halfmethodbyincludingquestionssuchas:FacebookweakensfriendshipsandFacebookhasmademelessconfident,whicharethereverseofthequestionsabove.Thisistocheckthereliabilityofparticipants’responses;iftheseanswerscontradicteachotherthedatawillberemovedastheresultsareunreliable.Thereforewecanbesurethattheresultsarereliable.



Sample Answer – Highlighted FormyinvestigationintotheeffectsofFacebookuse,Iwouldcarryoutaquestionnaire.Thereasonforthisisthatcomparedtoaninterview,theyareamuchquickerwayofgettingalargeamountofdatafrommanyparticipants.Thisisbecausetheyjustneedtobehandedoutandreturned;interviewsaremuchmoretimeconsumingasintervieweesarequestionedoneatatime,sothenumberofparticipantsisalsogoingbelessthanwithaquestionnaire.IfoundthisoutwhenIcarriedoutmyresearchatschoolintoattitudestowardsmentalhealthindifferentagegroups.Iwasabletoget20membersofmyclasstofillintheirquestionnairesfor5minutesatthesametimeattheendofalesson.However,whenreplicatingLoftusandPalmer’sstudy,ittookthesameamountoftimetointerviewoneparticipant,thereforeleadingtomehavingasmallsampleandhavingdifficultiesgeneralisingmyresults.AsallmyparticipantsareallFacebookusersIwillsendthemthequestionnaireonline;theycanthenquicklyfillinthequestionnaireandemailtheirresponsesbacktome.Withinmyquestionnaire,Iwoulduseclosedquestionssuchasthefollowing:usingaLikertscale(rangingfrom1stronglydisagree,to5stronglyagree) Facebookmakesfriendshipsstronger IfeelirritableifcannotlogintoFacebook IpreferchattingtomyfriendsonFacebookorfacetoface Iamnaturallyanoutgoingperson Facebookhasmadememoreconfident IamaddictedtoFacebook Facebookhashelpedmemakefriends

Iwoulduseclosedquestionstogainquantitativedata.ThisisbeneficialbecausethedataisnumericalfromaLikertscaleandcanthereforebeanalysedmoreeasilythanqualitativedata.Icanalsosummarisemydatamoreeasilyintographsandchartsandworkoutmeasuresofcentraltendency.Forexample,Icanworkoutthemean‘Facebookaddiction’scorefordifferentpersonalitytypesandcompare‘confidence’scoresinabarchart.Thisismuchpreferabletoqualitativedatawhichismoredifficultanalyse.WhenIcarriedoutresearchintoreasonsforobedience,IincludedopenquestionsinmyquestionnaireandasresultIgotawiderangeofresponsesfrommyfriendswhichwasdifficulttocategorise.Usingclosedquestionsovercomesthisproblem.Iwouldcheckthereliabilityofresponsesbyusingthesplit‐halfmethod;thisenablestheresearchertoseeifparticipants’answersareconsistentbyaskingthesamequestionagaininaslightlydifferentwayorinreverse.Frommyownresearchintoattitudestowardsmentalhealth,myteacheradvisedthatweusedthistechniqueinourquestionnairetocheckfortheconsistencyofresponses.Forexample,oneparticipantansweredthattheystronglyagreedthatstigmatowardsmentalhealthhasreducedoverthepast10years;however,lateroninthequestionnairethey‘stronglyagreed’thatstigmahasincreasedoverthepast10years.Thisparticipant’sresultswereremovedastheylackedreliability.WithinthisquestionnaireIwouldalsousethesplit‐halfmethodbyincludingquestionssuchas:FacebookweakensfriendshipsandFacebookhasmademelessconfident,whicharethereverseofthequestionsabove.Thisistocheckthereliabilityofparticipants’responses;iftheseanswerscontradicteachotherthedatawillberemovedastheresultsareunreliable.Thereforewecanbesurethattheresultsarereliable.



Examinerstylecomments: Thisisclearlya‘good’topbandanswerandwouldachieve12/12marks.ThereisaccurateanddetailedknowledgeandunderstandingofeachfeatureinthecontextoftheFacebookinvestigation.Thereisalsogoodevidenceofapplicationoftheserequiredfeaturesincontext.Thereisappropriatejustificationofalldecisionsandthereisawell‐developedlineofreasoningthatisclearandlogicallystructured.Thereisexplicitreferencetopracticalworkandtherearelinksbetweenownpracticalworkandthisinvestigation.



CONTROLLED OBSERVATION: TELEVISION PREFERENCES OF PETS

Question: Explain how you would carry out an observation to investigate television preferences of pets. You must refer to: a controlled or naturalistic observation behaviour categories or coding frames how you would reduce observer effects

You should use your own experience of carrying out an observation to inform your response. Justify your decisions as part of your explanation. (12 marks)

Student Response IwillcarryoutacontrolledobservationinalaboratoryataUniversity.ThisisahighlycontrolledenvironmentinwhichIamabletomanipulatetheconditions,whichwillbepetswatchingdifferentTVprogrammesandobservingtheirbehaviourinanenvironmentwithnodistractions.Ifthisweretobeanaturalisticobservationintheanimals’ownhomes,thenalthoughitwouldbemorerealistictherewouldbeothervariablesthanmayaffecttheirbehavioursuchastheirowners,treats,otherpets.WithacontrolledobservationIcanbeconfidentthatpets’behaviourisbeingcausedbytheTVprogrammeandthereforetheylikecertainprogrammesmorethanothers.Iwasabletomakesimilarcausalconclusionsinmyowncontrolledobservation.Participantsweregivennoinstructions,buteitherwatchedavideoofpooltrickshotsorwereshownnovideoatall.Theywerethengiven5minutestoplaypool;duringtheobservationwefoundthattheyweremorelikelytoperformthetrickshotsfromthevideoiftheyhadwatchedit,comparedtothecontrolgroup.Soweconcludedthatenvironmentalfactorsinfluencedbehaviour,aseverythingelsewascontrolled.InthisstudyIwilluseacodingframewhenobservingpets’behaviour.Iwilluseacodingframebecausethiswillallowmetoobservepre‐determinedbehaviourswhichwillpreventanythingbeingmissedandtalliesofthesebehaviourscanalsobeanalysedeasilyasitwillbequantitativedata.AfurtherbenefitofmycodingframeisthataswellasmeasuringhowoftenabehaviouroccursIcanalsomeasurethestrength/severityofabehaviour.InmyownobservationintoaggressionIusedacodingframetorecordthebehaviourofvariousaggressiveacts.ForexampleaweakkickwascodedasK1,amoderatekickwasK5andaveryaggressivekickwasK10.Similarly,P1‐P10wasusedfordifferentstrengthsofpunches,whileothercodesincludeShforshoutingandSwforswearingwithassociatednumbers.Usingthiscodemadeitveryeasyformetorecordbehaviours.WhatIlearnedfrommyownobservationcanbeappliedhere.TwentydogswillbeshownthreedifferentTVprogrammesfor5minutes.TheprogrammeswillbeEastenders,MadeinChelseaandBigBangTheory.Thecodingframewillincludesomeofthefollowingbehaviours:JU–Jumpsup,Dr–Dribbles,Sl–Sleeps,TA–TurnsAway,CS–ClosetotheScreen,LTV–LicksTV,B–Barks,andWh–Whines.Numberscanbeaddedto


thesecodeswherenecessary;forexample,ifitisaconstantloudbark,thenB10willbegiven.ComparisonscanthenbemadebetweenthedifferentdogsandthedifferentTVprogrammestojudgewhichshowispreferred.ForexampletheremaybemostTAsforMadeinChelseaandmostLTVsforBigBangTheory,suggestingtheBigBangTheoryisthemostpreferredprogrammefordogsandMadeinChelseaistheleastpreferred.Althoughdogswillobviouslynotshowobservereffectsintermsofchangingtheirbehaviourbecausetheyknowtheyarebeingobservedanddemonstratingdemandcharacteristics,themerepresenceofanunfamiliarpersonmayexcite,angerordistressthedog,thereforechangingthefocusfromtheTVprogrammetotheobserver.IntheobservationpracticalthatIconductedweobservedchildrenthroughaone‐waymirror;thatwaytheywerenotaffectedbyourpresenceandthereforebehavedmorenaturally.Inthispieceofresearchwewillobservedogsthroughaonewaymirror,sotheyarenotinfluencedbyusbeingaroundandthereforeresultswillnotbeaffectedbyconfoundingvariables.




Student Response with Examiner Commentary When marking this question, examiners are looking for four key requirements to have been met within the answer:

1. Addressing all of the required features (the 3/4 bullet points) 2. Justifying your design decisions 3. Contextualising your answer – applying your knowledge to the scenario 4. Explicitly linking your design decisions to your own practical work

In the answer below, coloured text indicates where credit for the four requirements are given. Where content is not coloured, that part of the answer is not meeting the requirements of the question. IwillcarryoutacontrolledobservationinalaboratoryataUniversity.ThisisahighlycontrolledenvironmentinwhichIamabletomanipulatetheconditions,whichwillbepetswatchingdifferentTVprogrammesandobservingtheirbehaviourinanenvironmentwithnodistractions.Ifthisweretobeanaturalisticobservationintheanimals’ownhomes,thenalthoughitwouldbemorerealistictherewouldbeothervariablesthatmayaffecttheirbehavioursuchastheirowners,treats,otherpets.WithacontrolledobservationIcanbeconfidentthatpets’behaviourisbeingcausedbytheTVprogrammeandthereforetheylikecertainprogrammesmorethanothers.Iwasabletomakesimilarcausalconclusionsinmyowncontrolledobservation.Participantsweregivennoinstructions,buteitherwatchedavideoofpooltrickshotsorwereshownnovideoatall.Theywerethengiven5minutestoplaypool.Duringtheobservationwefoundthattheyweremorelikelytoperformthetrickshotsfromthevideoiftheyhadwatchedit,comparedtothecontrolgroup.Soweconcludedthatenvironmentalfactorsinfluencedbehaviour,aseverythingelsewascontrolled.InthisstudyIwilluseacodingframewhenobservingpets’behaviour.Iwilluseacodingframebecausethiswillallowmetoobservepre‐determinedbehaviourswhichwillpreventanythingbeingmissedandtalliesofthesebehaviourscanalsobeanalysedeasilyasitwillbequantitativedata.AfurtherbenefitofmycodingframeisthataswellasmeasuringhowoftenabehaviouroccursIcanalsomeasurethestrength/severityofabehaviour.InmyownobservationintoaggressionIusedacodingframetorecordthebehaviourofvariousaggressiveacts.ForexampleaweakkickwascodedasK1,amoderatekickwasK5andaveryaggressivekickwasK10.Similarly,P1‐P10wasusedfordifferentstrengthsofpunches,whileothercodesincludeShforshoutingandSwforswearingwith

Thefirstrequiredfeature–controlledobservationisaddressed.Thisisthencontextualisedtothisscenario.Justificationisprovidedastowhyacontrolledobservationispreferabletoanaturalisticobservationandfurthercontextisprovidedtosupportthejustification.Thisparagraphmakesreferencetoownpracticalworkandexplainswhatwasconcludedfromitthatcanthenbeappliedtothisstudy.Inthisparagraphthesecondrequiredfeatureisaddressedanditsuseisjustified.Anothergoodparagraphwhichexplicitlylinksownexperiencetotherequiredfeaturesofthisinvestigation.



associatednumbers.Usingthiscodemadeitveryeasyformetorecordbehaviours.WhatIlearnedfrommyownobservationcanbeappliedhere.TwentydogswillbeshownthreedifferentTVprogrammesfor5minutes.TheprogrammeswillbeEastenders,MadeinChelseaandBigBangTheory.Thecodingframewillincludesomeofthefollowingbehaviours:JU–Jumpsup,Dr–Dribbles,Sl–Sleeps,TA–TurnsAway,CS–ClosetotheScreen,LTV–LicksTV,B–Barks,andWh–Whines.Numberscanbeaddedtothesecodeswherenecessary;forexample,ifitisaconstantloudbark,thenB10willbegiven.ComparisonscanthenbemadebetweenthedifferentdogsandthedifferentTVprogrammestojudgewhichshowispreferred.ForexampletheremaybemostTAsforMadeinChelseaandmostLTVsforBigBangTheory,suggestingtheBigBangTheoryisthemostpreferredprogrammefordogsandMadeinChelseaistheleastpreferred.Althoughdogswillobviouslynotshowobservereffectsintermsofchangingtheirbehaviourbecausetheyknowtheyarebeingobservedanddemonstratingdemandcharacteristics,themerepresenceofanunfamiliarpersonmayexcite,angerordistressthedog,thereforechangingthefocusfromtheTVprogrammetotheobserver.IntheobservationpracticalthatIconductedweobservedchildrenthroughaonewaymirror;thatwaytheywerenotaffectedbyourpresenceandthereforebehavedmorenaturally.Inthispieceofresearchwewillobservedogsthroughaonewaymirror,sotheyarenotinfluencedbyusbeingaroundandthereforeresultswillnotbeaffectedbyconfoundingvariables.

Thisdemonstratesthattheresponseisbeinginformedbyownpracticalwork.Knowledgeandunderstandingofcodingframesandownexperienceofthemisappliedeffectivelytothisinvestigation.Thereisclearevidenceofstrongapplicationofknowledge.Referencetothefinalrequiredfeatureismade.Applicationofthefeatureismadetothisscenario.Linksaremadebetweenownresearchandplannedresearchthroughtheuseofaone‐waymirror.Briefjustificationismade.

Examinerstylecomments: Markband4:10‐12marksAlthoughtheremaybeanumberofresponsesthatarebetterthanthisanswer,itmeetstherequirementsofthemarkschemetobeawardedatopbandmark.Alltherequiredfeaturesareaddressedinsomedetailandknowledgeandunderstandingofthemisclear.Thereisappropriatejustificationofalldecisionsandsomearecontextualised.Finally,therearedefiniteexplicitlinksbetweentheplannedresearchandpreviouspracticalwork.

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OCR A Level Psychology - Store & Retrieve Data Anywhere