Paper 2: 2017 Flashcards
Explain one strength of conducting research on-line. (3)
Credit could be given for:
Ability to access participants all over the world comparatively easily
(compared to past).
Ability to access large numbers of participants more easily than if using
traditional face to face or questionnaire methods.
Cost effective as on-line questionnaires can be quickly constructed,
distributed for free and results analysed using software that has minimal
costs; traditionally there were printing costs, posting costs and payments
required to people who input data and analysed results from ‘pen & paper’
questionnaires.
Describe the main features of a content analysis. (4)
Credit could be given for:
Analyses content in a systematic manner, using behavioural categories.
Can be used to analyse primary and secondary sources.
An indirect observational method of artefacts.
Can be used to produce both quantitative and qualitative data.
Explain how you would calculate the median value in a set of data. (2)
Credit could be given for:
Placing the values of a data set in rank order and, if there is an odd number of
scores just select the middle value. However if there is an even number of
scores, and the two middle values are different, you can add the two middle
values together and divide by two. [2 marks].
Describe what is meant by a cross-sectional study. (3)
Credit could be given for:
Key elements of a cross-sectional study:
Assessed at a single point in time.
Can allow researchers to observe numerous factors (e.g. age, gender).
Doesn’t involve the manipulation of variables.
Frequently used to assess the prevalence in a given population.
Examples of cross-sectional studies.
Describe what is meant by a longitudinal study. (3)
Credit could be given for:
Key elements of a longitudinal study:
Assessed over a prolonged period of time.
Usually used to show changes as people age.
Is usually observational in nature.
Examples of longitudinal studies.
Justify why cross-sectional studies might be more appropriate than longitudinal studies
when conducting research in psychology. (6)
Credit could be given for:
Comparison of the strengths of cross-sectional studies vs. weaknesses of
longitudinal studies:
Sample Attrition more likely to occur in longitudinal than cross-sectional
research.
Cross-sectional studies are likely to be cheaper to conduct than
longitudinal studies.
Data is collected quickly from a cross-sectional study, whereas it can
take a long time to collect all the data from a longitudinal study.
Participants are less likely to suffer from demand characteristics in a
cross-sectional study because they take a ‘snapshot’ of behaviour,
whilst in longitudinal studies participants are likely to be repeatedly
exposed to research materials.
Describe the methodology used by Kohlberg in his 1968 research ‘The child as a moral
philosopher’. (3)
Credit could be given for:
Methodology:
Longitudinal study which followed the development of the same group of
boys for 12 years.
Use of interviews to assess moral reasoning; including the use of moral
dilemmas.
Cross-cultural comparison.
Any other appropriate description of the methodology - although it must
be cited in the original article.
Describe the sample used by Kohlberg in his 1968 research ‘The child as a moral
philosopher’. (3)
Credit could be given for:
Sample:
75 American boys who started the research between the ages of 10 and
16.
The boys were 22-28 at the end of the research.
Additional sample from Great Britain, Canada, Mexico, Turkey and
Taiwan were interviewed by Kohlberg or a colleague of Kohlberg.
Any other appropriate description of the sample - although it must be
cited in the original article.
Discuss the validity and ethical issues raised by Kohlberg’s (1968) research ‘The child as
a moral philosopher’. (12) Validity issues:
Credit could be given for:
Validity issues
Use of hypothetical moral
dilemmas.
Investigator bias in
interpreting responses.
Population validity: use of all
male sampling group.
Issues resulting from use of
interview.
Discuss the validity and ethical issues raised by Kohlberg’s (1968) research ‘The child as
a moral philosopher’. (12) Ethical issues:
Ethical issues
Use of children
Issues of informed consent
Right to withdraw
Use of hypothetical moral
dilemmas
(2017 p2) A developmental psychologist was concerned about the amount of time pensioners spent
alone each day. He decided to conduct a semi-structured interview with pensioners who were
shopping alone at a local supermarket. One of the questions the developmental psychologist
asked each participant was ‘On a scale of 0 (never) to 10 (all the time), rate how lonely you feel’.
The results to this question are displayed in the table below:
Explain two strengths of using a semi-structured interview in this research. (2+2)
Credit could be given for:
Strength:
Allows the researcher more flexibility in their interview than a structured
interview; the researcher can ask follow-up questions if the pensioner says
something interesting.
Researcher is still able to ensure that all pensioners are asked some questions
which are all the same, which may be the case with an unstructured interview.
(2017 p2) A developmental psychologist was concerned about the amount of time pensioners spent
alone each day. He decided to conduct a semi-structured interview with pensioners who were
shopping alone at a local supermarket. One of the questions the developmental psychologist
asked each participant was ‘On a scale of 0 (never) to 10 (all the time), rate how lonely you feel’.
The results to this question are displayed in the table below:
Explain why the question ‘On a scale of 0 (never) to 10 (all the time), rate how lonely you
feel’ should produce quantitative data. (2)
Credit could be given for:
Identification of key words such as “scale” or phrases such as “0 to 10”
suggest the question is eliciting a numerical response, ergo the content
of the answer should be producing quantitative data.
The question is quite ‘closed’; so is more likely to produce quantitative
data.
(2017 p2) A developmental psychologist was concerned about the amount of time pensioners spent
alone each day. He decided to conduct a semi-structured interview with pensioners who were
shopping alone at a local supermarket. One of the questions the developmental psychologist
asked each participant was ‘On a scale of 0 (never) to 10 (all the time), rate how lonely you feel’.
The results to this question are displayed in the table below:
Suggest one question that could be used in this research that could produce qualitative
data.
Credit could be given for:
Appropriately phrased question that would produce qualitative data in the
response given by the participant
Exemplar answers:
Why have you given yourself this loneliness rating? [2 marks]
(2017 p2) A developmental psychologist was concerned about the amount of time pensioners spent
alone each day. He decided to conduct a semi-structured interview with pensioners who were
shopping alone at a local supermarket. One of the questions the developmental psychologist
asked each participant was ‘On a scale of 0 (never) to 10 (all the time), rate how lonely you feel’.
The results to this question are displayed in the table below:
The total of the loneliness ratings given by the ten pensioners was 45. State the mean of
the loneliness ratings. (10 participants) (1)
Credit could be given for:
45 / 10 = 4.5
3+4+5+4+6+10+3+0+5+5= 45/10 = 4.5
4.5
(2017 p2) A developmental psychologist was concerned about the amount of time pensioners spent
alone each day. He decided to conduct a semi-structured interview with pensioners who were
shopping alone at a local supermarket. One of the questions the developmental psychologist
asked each participant was ‘On a scale of 0 (never) to 10 (all the time), rate how lonely you feel’.
The results to this question are displayed in the table below:
Explain why the mode might be an appropriate measure of central tendency for describing
these loneliness ratings. (2)
Credit could be given for:
Appropriate strengths of a modal score.
Exemplar answers
The mean 4.5 did not appear in the original set of loneliness ratings,
whereas the modal value (5) is definitely a value that has occurred in the
loneliness ratings. [2 marks]
(2017 p2) A developmental psychologist was concerned about the amount of time pensioners spent
alone each day. He decided to conduct a semi-structured interview with pensioners who were
shopping alone at a local supermarket. One of the questions the developmental psychologist
asked each participant was ‘On a scale of 0 (never) to 10 (all the time), rate how lonely you feel’.
The results to this question are displayed in the table below:
Identify one method, other than a semi-structured interview, that could be used by
the developmental psychologist to investigate loneliness in pensioners (1)
Credit could be given for:
Case study
Questionnaire
(2017 p2) A developmental psychologist was concerned about the amount of time pensioners spent
alone each day. He decided to conduct a semi-structured interview with pensioners who were
shopping alone at a local supermarket. One of the questions the developmental psychologist
asked each participant was ‘On a scale of 0 (never) to 10 (all the time), rate how lonely you feel’.
The results to this question are displayed in the table below:
Explain why the method identified in (f)(i) would be appropriate in this research. (3)
Exemplar answer:
(ii) The psychologist should use a case study as it would allow him to
gather detailed information about the pensioners’ loneliness. He
would be able to gather detailed qualitative and quantitative data
using interviews, questionnaires and observations regarding how
often the pensioner was alone, how much time the pensioner
spent with family or friends; what groups or societies the
pensioners attended; what barriers the pensioner had in reducing
loneliness. This would allow him to describe his findings in a case
study, providing rich detail about this pensioner’s experience of
loneliness and offering a first person perspective on loneliness in
pensioners. [3 marks]
(2017 p2) A psychologist investigated if the reading confidence of primary school children could be
improved if they routinely read to a therapy dog. In September, the psychologist asked two
teachers to rate the reading confidence levels of the 62 children in their classes. The teachers
rated the children as having low, medium or high reading confidence. The psychologist used
stratified sampling to select 10 children. These children spent 30 minutes per week reading
aloud to a therapy dog. At the end of March, the teachers rated the reading confidence of the
children. The psychologist then compared their reading confidence ratings to investigate if there
had been any change. The raw data recorded by the researcher was as follows:
Outline what is meant by the term ‘target population’. (2)
Exemplar answers:
A target population is the group of individuals a researcher is interested in, such
as primary school children in the UK.
[2 marks].
A target population is everyone in the group of individuals that the researcher
wants to investigate; if a sample is representative we should be able to
generalise from the sample to the target population. [2 marks]
(2017 p2) A psychologist investigated if the reading confidence of primary school children could be
improved if they routinely read to a therapy dog. In September, the psychologist asked two
teachers to rate the reading confidence levels of the 62 children in their classes. The teachers
rated the children as having low, medium or high reading confidence. The psychologist used
stratified sampling to select 10 children. These children spent 30 minutes per week reading
aloud to a therapy dog. At the end of March, the teachers rated the reading confidence of the
children. The psychologist then compared their reading confidence ratings to investigate if there
had been any change. The raw data recorded by the researcher was as follows:
Identify the target population in this research. (1)
Credit could be given for:
Primary school children.
(2017 p2) A psychologist investigated if the reading confidence of primary school children could be
improved if they routinely read to a therapy dog. In September, the psychologist asked two
teachers to rate the reading confidence levels of the 62 children in their classes. The teachers
rated the children as having low, medium or high reading confidence. The psychologist used
stratified sampling to select 10 children. These children spent 30 minutes per week reading
aloud to a therapy dog. At the end of March, the teachers rated the reading confidence of the
children. The psychologist then compared their reading confidence ratings to investigate if there
had been any change. The raw data recorded by the researcher was as follows:
Explain how the psychologist might have selected the 10 children using a stratified
sampling technique. (2)
Exemplar answers:
The researchers should investigate to see how the school is stratified for
features such as gender, age, and reading confidence of the children at
the school. Once subdivided into different strata, the researcher would
randomly select from each strata, until they had a sample that reflected
the features of the school. [2 marks]
(2017 p2) A psychologist investigated if the reading confidence of primary school children could be
improved if they routinely read to a therapy dog. In September, the psychologist asked two
teachers to rate the reading confidence levels of the 62 children in their classes. The teachers
rated the children as having low, medium or high reading confidence. The psychologist used
stratified sampling to select 10 children. These children spent 30 minutes per week reading
aloud to a therapy dog. At the end of March, the teachers rated the reading confidence of the
children. The psychologist then compared their reading confidence ratings to investigate if there
had been any change. The raw data recorded by the researcher was as follows:
Describe one issue of internal reliability that may have occurred in this research. (2)
Exemplar answers:
There are two teachers that are being used to rate the children’s
reading confidence abilities; if these two teachers are not rating in
the same way and therefore being consistent in their ratings this
would be an issue of internal reliability. [2 marks]
(2017 p2) A psychologist investigated if the reading confidence of primary school children could be
improved if they routinely read to a therapy dog. In September, the psychologist asked two
teachers to rate the reading confidence levels of the 62 children in their classes. The teachers
rated the children as having low, medium or high reading confidence. The psychologist used
stratified sampling to select 10 children. These children spent 30 minutes per week reading
aloud to a therapy dog. At the end of March, the teachers rated the reading confidence of the
children. The psychologist then compared their reading confidence ratings to investigate if there
had been any change. The raw data recorded by the researcher was as follows:
Explain how this issue of reliability, identified in (c) (i) could be assessed. (3)
Credit could be given for:
Explanation involving inter-rater.
Explanation involving split-half.
Exemplar answers:
The two teachers could assess the reading confidence of the same
10 children. The two sets of reading confidence ratings could then
be correlated. If there was a strong positive correlation between
the two teacher’s ratings, then they could be said to have interrater reliability. [3 marks]
(2017 p2) A psychologist investigated if the reading confidence of primary school children could be
improved if they routinely read to a therapy dog. In September, the psychologist asked two
teachers to rate the reading confidence levels of the 62 children in their classes. The teachers
rated the children as having low, medium or high reading confidence. The psychologist used
stratified sampling to select 10 children. These children spent 30 minutes per week reading
aloud to a therapy dog. At the end of March, the teachers rated the reading confidence of the
children. The psychologist then compared their reading confidence ratings to investigate if there
had been any change. The raw data recorded by the researcher was as follows:
The researcher analyses the data using a Sign test. The observed (calculated value) of s
was 1. With reference to the table below, (10 participants - 8 that had answers that weren’t the same) explain if the researcher should accept or reject
their hypothesis that ‘The reading confidence of a child will increase after six months of
reading to a therapy dog’, using a probability value of 5%. (3)
Credit could be given for:
Identifying that the researcher should accept the hypothesis. [1mark]
Detailed = All of the following elements:
Identifying N as 8.
Identifying ‘hypothesis’ as being directional and hence a one-tailed level of
significance should be used.
Identifying 5% as 0.05
Reasonable = 2 of the 3 above elements. Exemplar answers:
The researcher should accept their hypothesis as the observed value of 1
is equal to the critical value is 1 (for a one-tailed test at p=0.05, where
N =8). [3 marks].
(2017 p2) A psychologist investigated if the reading confidence of primary school children could be
improved if they routinely read to a therapy dog. In September, the psychologist asked two
teachers to rate the reading confidence levels of the 62 children in their classes. The teachers
rated the children as having low, medium or high reading confidence. The psychologist used
stratified sampling to select 10 children. These children spent 30 minutes per week reading
aloud to a therapy dog. At the end of March, the teachers rated the reading confidence of the
children. The psychologist then compared their reading confidence ratings to investigate if there
had been any change. The raw data recorded by the researcher was as follows:
Identify and explain one ethical issue that is evident in this research. (3)
Credit could be given for:
Working with animals, i.e. use of therapy dogs.
Use of a vulnerable population i.e. use of children.
Valid consent, i.e. no consent from parent/guardian.
