practical Flashcards
aim
To investigate whether perceived gender differences in obedience between men and women.
Alternative hypothesis (H1):
There will be a significant difference in the perceived attitudes towards obedience, measured by scores out of 20 in a questionnaire, and themes based on story endings, between males and females
Null Hypothesis (H0):
There will be no significant difference in the perceived attitudes towards obedience, measured by scores out of 20 in a questionnaire and themes based on story endings, between males and females and difference will be down to chance factors.
Research method
A survey – questionnaire
independent variable
Gender of participants – Male and Female
dependant variable
Perceived levels of obedience (questionnaire, scored out of 20, high score = high obedience)
sample
opportunity sampling.
Opportunity sampling is a sampling technique used to select participants from a target group to take part in research study.
It consists of the researcher selecting anyone who is available at the time and willing to take part in the study.
For our study, whoever was available at the time in the Sixth Form Centre during a lunch break. 20 participants (10 females and 10 males) who were aged 16-18 agreed to take part. Good
procedure
- We carried out a pilot study (we tested the questionnaire on 2 participants who weren’t taking part in the final research) – questions on obedience were understood e.g. the language was simple and not too technical./ questions were not offensive and the full aim (gender and obedience) was not obvious
- Sampling – participants were approached in the sixth form centre during a lunch break and asked if they would like to participate in a study on obedience.
- Questions – closed and Likert-scale questions (quantitative)– designed to find out what participants think people would do when asked to obey. ‘Story starter’ to gather qualitative data.
- Ethics – Participants sent brief by e-mail, stating it was a questionnaire about perceived obedience (consent), but not gender and obedience (so not informed consent)
- Ethics – Participants told they did not have to complete the obedience survey - could stop answering questions at any point and their data (answers) would remain anonymous.
- Participants sent the questionnaire via e-mail and asked to complete it in their own time, with a deadline of one week to reply using e-mail
- Participants e-mailed the completed questionnaire back to the researcher, then the data was analysed to score perceived levels of obedience, and to identify obedience ‘themes’ in the qualitative data. (a little more detail about what you counted)
- Participants were then sent an e-mail to inform them of the full aim of the study (gender and perceived obedience), and offered the right to withdraw their questionnaire responses (data).
apparatus list
- Computer
- Questionnaire – digital because it is sent to participants on email.
- Internet Access – so participants can access the questionnaire.
- Calculator – so the data collected can be analysed.
controls used
- The study had good internal validity, which means testing what you intend to test, as the participants could complete the questionnaire on obedience privately as it was e-mailed to them (with no researcher present), so there may be less chance of social desirability where participants gave answers they may thing would portray them in a better light e.g. Females responding that obedience levels would be lower, to go against social norms.
- The study had good internal validity as the participants had no time limit on competing the questionnaire. They were given a week to do the questionnaire so they weren’t under any time pressures (extraneous variable) and their answers on perceived gender and obedience weren’t rushed.
- The study also had good reliability, which means the consistency of research findings, because the participants were asked standardised questions during in their questionnaire, they were given the same brief, questionnaire and instructions during their study of perceived gender and obedience.
ethical issues
- Informed consent – participants consented to take part in the study on perceived obedience.
- Deception – participants didn’t know it was research on obedience and gender, so informed consent wasn’t given.
- Right to withdraw – the participants were given a 6 month time period following the study to withdraw their results (APPLY e.g. questionnaire responses on perceived obedience) from the study.
- Protection of participants – the participants were kept anonymous (Anonymity) when the results of the questionnaire were being studied – APPLY e.g. questionnaires were numbered, when analysing data, rather than using names.
- Debriefing – after the participants had completed the questionnaire they were told fully what the questionnaire was being used for (gender and obedience and were assured that their results (questionnaire findings on perceived levels of obedience) were going to be kept anonymous.
stats statement
The calculated value of U= 1 is less than the critical value of 23 for a two tailed test at P 0.05, with n= 10. Therefore the result is statistically significant and the experimental hypothesis (H1) of there will be a significant difference in the perceived attitudes towards obedience, measured by scores out of 20 in a questionnaire, and themes based on story endings, between males and females can be accepted
strength - validity
There will be a significant difference in the perceived attitudes towards obedience, measured by scores out of 20 in a questionnaire, and themes based on story endings, between males and females
improvement to validity
The conditions can’t be controlled because the obedience questionnaire was completed in private, so it is possible that the participants had help from friend or family and spend different amounts of time completing it and their answers to questions on perceived levels of obedience may have been influenced by others (extraneous variable).
strength - reliability
reliability is the consistency of the results from a study, if the same methods are used the study is reliable
The same perceived levels of obedience questionnaire was used for all participants and completed in the same way – they were all e-mailed it and they completed it in their own time and then e-mailed it back.
