key practical Flashcards
aim
to see if there is a link between masculinity of a person and aggressive behaviour
null hypothesis
there will be no relationship between masculinity and aggression, any relationship found will be due to chance
alternative hypothesis
there will be a significant positive correlation between masculinity and aggression
operationalize
participants will do a brain sex quiz that gives a score about masculinity of the brain and then observe the person play a moderately violent video game that would allow us to get an aggression score. the aggression score will be calculated by how many characters in the game that they knock down
operationalized hypothesis
there will be a significant positive correlation between a participants masculinity score on a brain sex quiz and their scores on a moderately violent video game
design
using two variables to assess the relationship between them
controls
all participants tested in the same way using the same brain quiz
all will be checked to ensure they are equally proficient at the video game
equal amount of time to practice
sample
opportunity sampling used to collect the sample, 10 male participants were approached and given the aim of the research and asked if they would like to participate
ethics
- all were made aware of the aims so they could give informed consent
- all were reminded of their right to withdraw
- all names were replaced with numbers to anonymise the data. all were told that it was confidential
- all were over the age of 16 as the study involved playing the violent video game
pilot study
we conducted apilot study to run through the procedures to highlight any procedural and ethical issues that could arise in the main study. we wanted to check the instructions were appropriate and were clear
procedure
- after the intial briefing, each ppt were asked to give informed consent. 10 volunteers were gathered in a classroom and were each allocated a number
- then taken into an adjoining room and sat at a computer which had the preloaded brain quiz on it. each ppt were told they could take as long as they wanted. done in silence and supervised
- once each had finished they returned to the classroom and were asked to wait until called, then shown into one of two small lab rooms - each were seated alone at the computer with the video game preloaded. supervised at all times. were allowed 3 minutes to familiarise themselves with the game and then had 5 minutes to play.
- given a thorough debrief
data analysis
two sets of data were cleared from each ppt
ORDINAL DATA
aggression score from 0-20, a low score indicated low aggression
brain sex test 25-100 a high score indicated a high level of masculinity
results
positive correlation
correlation coefficient = 0.709
used 10 ppts and level of significance was 0.05
the critical for this data was 0.564 so our data is significant so we reject the null and accept the alternative hypothesis
evaluation
- brain test LACKS VALIDITY as it is a very superficial measure of masculinity and fails to consider other factors
- video game LACKS ECOLOGICAL VALIDITY as sitting in front of a screen and manipulating a character does not translate into real world aggression
- used a standardised procedure and objective measures INCREASES THE RELIABILITY
- some ppts who did the brain sex quiz first may have talked to other candidates before they completed it which may affected the way they performed
- some had longer to wait between the 2 quizzes and may have become relaxed
- some may be experienced in playing video games
- small sample size and all from college and all male so NOT GENERALISABLE
