personal investigation

Question 1

what is the experiment

Answer 1

a non-participant observation of mobile phone use

Question 2

what is the hypothesis

Answer 2

gender effects how much time sixth formers spend on mobile phones during breaktime
- there is no difference in the amount of time spent by male and female sixth formers on their mobile phones

Question 3

what type of hypothesis is this

Answer 3

non-directional hypothesis - non conclusive evidence

Question 3

what are the extraneous variables

Answer 3

1. time of day
2. number of people in the common room
3. day of the week

Question 3

variables

Answer 3

no IV or DV as it is an experiment
the variables being studied are gender (male and female) amount engaged (operationalised)

Question 3

cofounding variables

Answer 3

1. day of the week
2. who are the participants with
3. personality

Question 4

how were the variables controlled

Answer 4

1. done at breaktime
2. few people ( hard to control)
3. day that most people are in ( monday)

Question 5

potential cofounding variables

Answer 5

we cant deal with everyone in sixth form, same ages , being in sixth form gives them similarities

Question 6

what was the methodology/design

Answer 6

there is no experimental design.
The observation will consist of 10 participants (first 5 males to walk in + first 5 females to walk in)
each will be assigned to a researcher - to record who will use their phones in the first mins/secs

Question 7

strengths of methodology

Answer 7

(non participant observation)
ecological validity
no demand characteristics

Question 8

weakness of methodology

Answer 8

lack of reliability, no cause or effect relationship

Question 9

procedures

Answer 9

idea was put to an ethical committee
permission from head teacher + sixth former
presumptive consent obtained
1. 10 researchers sat in varying places
2. each person was debriefed
observing 1st male and first female

Question 10

event sampling

Answer 10

p’s were observed throughout the ‘event’ of breaktime
- so wont miss any phone acitivity
- just a snapshot

Question 11

target population

Answer 11

males and females in sixthform
5 males and 5 females first to enter common room

Question 12

issues of access

Answer 12

head teacher and head of sixth form

Question 13

sampling technique

Answer 13

opportunity sampling - first 5 males and 5 females to enter

Question 14

strengths and weakness of opportunity sampling

Answer 14

1. convenience= participants from the target population are available and the researcher are able to observe but NOT REPRESENTATIVE

Question 15

descriptive statistics

Answer 15

ratio data was collected in form of time
to work out mean, median and mode of each group= to calculate range

Question 16

graphical representation

Answer 16

mean is in a table for comparison + pie chart to show division of use and non-use for males and females

Question 17

inferential statistics

Answer 17

independent groups design (males females)
and times spent on mobiles (ratio data)
Mann Whitney U test
for 2 tailed test with 10 p’s the critical value of u = 2
observed value is 6.2
higher than critical value

Question 18

accept null hypthesis ?

Answer 18

ACCEPT NULL
REJECT HYPOTHESIS
no difference in amount of time spent on males and female

Question 19

issues of validity

Answer 19

1. operationalisation of mobile phones
2. demand characteristics
3. researcher bias

Question 20

why is timings/accuracy and issue
how was this controlled?

Answer 20

some researchers are more accurate than others
how was this controlled?
strict instructions were given all time

Question 21

why is individual differences and issue
how was this controlled?

Answer 21

may affect outcome if there is a reason such as uni offers / parent to call
make sample as large as possible for obersvation

Question 22

ethical issues

Answer 22

1. lack of informed consent
2. potential psychological harm
3. confidentiality
4. deception
5. lack of right to withdraw

Question 23

issues of reliability

Answer 23

1. time of day
2. timings/accuracy
   3.individual differences of participants

Question 24

two ethical issues and how they were dealt with

Answer 24

1. lack of informed consent- as participants were unaware they were being observed but this was dealt with being informed after observation during debriefing
2. lack of privacy - as participants privacy was invaded, dealt with by observing participants in common room (public area) therefore no expectation of privacy

Question 25

issues of validity

Answer 25

1. demand characteristics
2. researcher bias
3. operationalisation of mobile phone use

Question 26

operationisation of mobile phone use

Answer 26

just looking at time is superficial - no reasons why
dealt- content validity

Question 27

demand characteristics - IVal

Answer 27

p’s may spot the researchers watching them
dealt- be as inconspicuous as possible- blend in

Question 28

researcher bias IVal

Answer 28

may influence outcomes if we know who uses mobile alot
dealt- first 5 males and females to walk in