Psychology component two/Section one

Question 1

Define the term ‘probability value’.

Answer 1

The numerical value that gives an indication of the likelihood that results are due to a real difference/correlation and not due to chance factors.

Question 2

Explain why a psychologist would use 0.05 rather than 0.01 as their probability value.

Answer 2

A psychologist would use 0.05 rather than 0.01 as it is less stringent because if we used 0.01 ,we could incorrectly accept the null hypothesis.

Question 3

Define ‘Sampling frame’.

Answer 3

A sampling frame is what is available to the researcher and what is representative of the target population.

Question 4

Define ‘Aim of the research’

Answer 4

A broad statement of the purpose of the research.

Question 5

Define ‘confounding variables’.

Answer 5

Confounding variables are variables that are not anticipated in the research and affect the DV and will ONLY affect some participants.

Question 6

Define ‘Extraneous variables’.

Answer 6

Extraneous variables are variables that are not anticipated in the research and affect the DV and will affect ALL participants.

Question 7

Explain what is meant by primary sources in psychology ?

Answer 7

Information that is directly collected from the researcher first hand e.g a questionnaire or experiment

Question 8

Explain what is meant by secondary sources in psychology ?

Answer 8

Data that is not directly collected by the researcher first hand e.g. use of methods such as content analysis of existing data or literature review

Question 9

What are the advantages to primary sources ?

Answer 9

• Primary sources have been designed specifically to the investigation and method of Data , and directly to the hypothesis
• Researcher has control over how Ps are recruited which is more ethical as researcher can ensure ethical guidelines have been followed from the BPS

Question 10

What are the disadvantages of primary sources ?

Answer 10

More time consuming and costly

Question 11

Explain the difference between quantitative data and qualitative data ?

Answer 11

A difference between quantitative data and qualitative data is that qualitative data focuses on in depth written data e.g. from a literature review. Whereas , quantitative is numerical data that is often represented as statistical data.

Question 12

Describe what concurrent validity is in psychology ?

Answer 12

Validating a measurement by comparing it with an established measurement that has known validity. If it’s results are the similar the test is valid

Question 13

Describe what construct validity is in psychology ?

Answer 13

More sophisticated as it looks at whether the overall results reflect the phenomena as a whole e.g. checking definitions of the behaviour being studied

Question 14

Define the term “case study”.

Answer 14

A method that involves an in-depth investigation of what is being studied , it is a descriptive analysis of a person, group or event and uses one or more methologies

Question 15

What are weaknesses of Case studies ?

Answer 15

• It is difficult to generalise
• Researcher bias

Question 16

What are strengths of case studies ?

Answer 16

• Higher validity due to in-depth analysis
• useful in investigating rare experiences

Question 17

Describe the process of peer review ?

Answer 17

1. Researcher submits article to journal.
2. Journal assessed by editor of journal.
3. If accepted by editor, article is sent to reviewers (who is also an expert in the
   field).
4. Reviewers are normally kept anonymous from the article’s author.
5. Reviewers submit their comments to the editor.
6. Editor may reject the article or return it to the author to make revisions.
7. Revised article is re-submitted to editor for publication.

Question 18

Explain the steps you would follow to calculate standard deviation ?

Answer 18

I would calculate the standard deviation by completing the following steps:
1. Calculate the mean of the data set.
2. Take the mean away from each score in the data set.
3. Square each difference.
4. Add together each of the squared differences
5. Divide this by N – 1 (the number of scores in your data set - 1).
6. Find the square root of this value and this is the standard deviation

Question 19

Strengths of standard deviation ?

Answer 19

• More precise and informative measure of dispersion than the range.
• Highlights if the mean is an appropriate measure of central tendency.
• Less affected by anomalous results than range scores

Question 20

Weaknesses of Standard deviation ?

Answer 20

• Can only be used if the data set is normally distributed and not skewed.
• More difficult to calculate than the range score.
• Can only be used when data collected is ordinal level or above.

Question 21

Advantages of longitudinal studies

Answer 21

• control over participant variables: A longitudinal study uses a repeated measures design- where the same participants are used on a number of occasions and compared

Question 22

Disadvantages of a longitudinal study

Answer 22

Attrition: some participants inevitably drop out over the course of a study. This is a limitation as the ones who drop out are more likely to have particular characteristics ( such as less motivation,likely to be more unhappy or have done less well), which leaves a biased sample as well as a small sample.
Demand characteristics : In longitudinal studies participants are more likely to become aware of the research aims and their behaviour may be affected

Question 23

Advantages of cross-sectional studies

Answer 23

Cross sectional studies have the advantage of being relatively quick and can be conducted in less than a year

Question 24

Disadvantages of cross sectional studies

Answer 24

• Participants my differ more in behaviour than is being researched