Practical Investigation

Question 1

What was the aim of your Social Psychology core practical?

Answer 1

To conduct a questionnaire to investigate whether females or males perceive themselves to be more obedient using self-report obedience scales (out of 50)

Question 2

What was the one-tailed hypothesis of your Social Psychology core practical?

Answer 2

The perception of obedience by females will be greater than the perception of obedience by males measured by scores out of 50 and themes identified

Question 3

What was the procedure of your Social Psychology core practical? (3 points)

Answer 3

20 students (10 M and 10 F) aged 12 years old completed the questionnaire on self-reported obedience in their classrooms in silence for 15 minutes

5 closed questions using the Likert-type scale and 5 open questions were included

All questionnaires were anonymous - only gender was indicated

Question 4

What are examples of questions that were included in the procedure of your Social Psychology core practical? (2 points)

Answer 4

Quantitative: “I follow the rules that people set for me. To what extent do you agree? (Scale of 1 - 5)”

Qualitative: “A ticket officer on a train asks you to give up your seat for another passenger. Describe your thought process and consequent actions.

Question 5

What were the results of your Social Psychology core practical? (2 points)

Answer 5

The calculated standard deviation was 0.96 which is close to 0 - data points were concordant and close to the mean

Experimental hypothesis accepted and null rejected at p=0.05

Question 6

What were 2 strengths of your Social Psychology core practical? (2 points)

Answer 6

Ethical:
+ All students informed of right to withdraw at beginning, middle and end
+ All questionnaires were anonymised to ensure students’ confidentiality was protected

Reliable
+ Same standardised script read aloud
+ Same allocated same time for questionnaire to be completed
+ Easily replicable by other social psych researchers

Question 7

What were 2 weaknesses of your Social Psychology core practical?

Answer 7

Ungeneralisable
+ Small sample of students in UAE used
+ Results cannot be generalised to children in individualist societies

Reduced IV
+ Presence of teacher in room may have caused social desirability bias
+ Pressure to give responses expected of them resulting in demand characteristics affecting them