1.5 - practical investigation

Question 1

what is the alternate hypothesis for the practical?

Answer 1

there will be a negative correlation between score for attitude towards migrants out of 45 and score for authoritarianism out of 4

Question 2

what is the null hypothesis for the practical?

Answer 2

there will be no correlation between score for attitude towards migrants out of 45 and score for authoritarianism out of 4

Question 3

what is the aim for the practical?

Answer 3

to identify whether there is a correlation between attitude towards migrants and authoritarianism

Question 4

what is the target population?

Answer 4

people aged 16 and over in the West Midlands

Question 5

what is the sample and sampling method?

Answer 5

24 participants aged 16-51
of those, 20 were aged 16-17 and only 1 was male
sampling method was opportunity

Question 6

what was the comparison variable and how was it operationalised?

Answer 6

authoritarian or non-authoritarian personality
measured using 1 closed-question statement on questionnaire with participants responding using 4-point Likert scale
score of 1 or 2 = non-authoritarian
score of 3 or 4 = authoritarian

Question 7

what was the dependent variable and how was it operationalised?

Answer 7

attitude towards migrants
measured using 9 closed-question statements (4 positive and 5 negative) on questionnaire with participants responding using 5-point Likert scale
for positive statements, 1 meant strongly disagree and 5 meant strongly agree
for negative statements, 1 meant strongly agree and 5 meant strongly disagree
added up response to each question to create overall score for attitude towards migrants out of 45 (higher score=more positive attitude)
also measured with 3 open questions

Question 8

what was the structure of the questionnaire?

Answer 8

1. 2 questions asking for age and gender
2. 10 closed questions with Likert scale - 1 measuring personality and 9 measuring attitude
3. 3 open questions

Question 9

what decisions were made when designing the questionnaire?

Answer 9

use positive and negative statements to measure attitude - overcome acquiescent response bias
use force response to measure personality (no middle option on Likert scale) - allows us to definitively identify whether someone is authoritarian or non-authoritarian

Question 10

what was the procedure for collecting the data?

Answer 10

1. design the online questionnaire
2. send the questionnaire out to participants and ask them to fill it in

Question 11

what was the procedure for analysing the quantitative data?

Answer 11

1. calculate score for authoritarianism and total score for attitude towards migrants
2. calculate mean attitude towards migrants score for the authoritarians and non-authoritarians
3. plot bar graph showing mean attitude towards migrants score for authoritarians and non-authoritarians

Question 12

what were the quantitative results of the practical?

Answer 12

authoritarians - mean attitude towards migrants score was 34.6
non-authoritarians - mean attitude towards migrants score was 35.4

Question 13

what was the procedure for analysing the qualitative data?

Answer 13

thematic analysis - familiarise, identify ideas, identify themes, check intercoder reliability, report

Question 14

what were the qualitative results of the practical?

Answer 14

diversity - pps felt migrants increased diversity and culture
economy - pps felt migrants helped the economy through income tax, consumption and taking on jobs which native residents don’t want to
conflict - pps felt migrants may experience discrimination which would cause disagreements between communities and affect social cohesion

Question 15

weakness - generalisability?

Answer 15

sample only contained 1 male participant so isn’t fully representative of target population
findings can’t be generalised to see if there is a correlation between attitudes towards migrants and authoritarianism in males

Question 16

weakness - validity?

Answer 16

pps knew what questionnaire was about so may have guessed aim of study which could cause demand characteristics
using questionnaire creates risk of social desirability bias
we don’t know whether results provide valid representation of if there is correlation between authoritarianism and attitude towards migrants

Question 17

strength - ethics?

Answer 17

anonymous questionnaire - confidentiality
pps knew what survey was investigating and how data would be used - deception
pps knew that by submitting survey they were providing consent - informed consent
told pps how they could withdraw from study - right to withdraw

Question 18

strength - replicability and reliability?

Answer 18

questionnaire used to obtain data from participants (standardised procedure)
questionnaires can easily be replicated and used by other researchers so they can repeat the practical and compare results to see if they are consistent
ensures information on whether there is a correlation between attitudes towards migrants and authoritarianism is reliable

Question 19

improvements - validity?

Answer 19

add filler questions to the questionnaire to stop participants guessing aim of practical - would reduce effect of demand characteristics and social desirability bias allowing more valid data to be obtained

Question 20

improvements - generalisability?

Answer 20

send survey to more men so sample has larger number of males
would mean sample is more representative of target population so results of practical can be generalised to men as well