the biological correlational practical (pack 2) Flashcards
title
a correlational study to investigate whether there is a relationship between testosterone levels and aggression levels
what is testosterone
a hormone and androgen which is a chemical that develops and maintains male characteristics
what can antenatal exposure to testosterone do?
lead to increased competitive aggression
how is testosterone and aggression normally tested for an experiment?
with rats
cut of testicles and compare to rats with testicles
what did Mazur find on testosterone
indicated that throughout teenage years males testosterone increases and there is a strong positive correlation with aggressive behaviour and inter-male fighting
aim
to investigate, using a correlational method, whether testosterone levels can be linked to aggression levels
what was the sampling method
opportunity
what were 4 procedural steps in the practical?
- used the 4D/2D ratio which would imply our testosterone levels
- The buss-perry questionnaire requires the ppt to rate themselves on a 5 point scale on each item in terms of how characteristic they are of you
what did the scatter diagram tell us about our data in this study?
that there is no significant correlation between testosterone and levels of aggression
what do the results suggest about the method
that the 4D/2D method is only an estimate and cannot be relied on
anomalies can skew our data
what descriptive statistic did we use to collect the data?
scatter diagram
what inferential statistic was used for this practical
spearman’s rho
what are the 3 reasons why spearman’s rho was the correct test?
correlational
related
ordinal data
what was the results of the spearman
0.03
what does 0.03 mean for correlational coefficient
that it is very weak
what are two strengths for this practical?
quantitative data
easier to read and analyse, is objective and more scientific. Also, increases scientific credibility
also could be considered ethical as it is only correlational, so protection from harm. Follows BPS guidelines…increases scientific credibility
what are two weaknesses of this practical?
it could be considered deterministic as it is suggesting that if you were exposed to high levels of testosterone, then you would be more aggressive
generalisability is low as the sample used is opportunity, so there is a certain type of person going to that place. All students aged 16-18, therefore, cannot generalise to wider population
what is the research hypothesis for the practical?
There will be a significant correlation between testosterone levels measured using the 4D/2D ratio, averaged across both hands and aggression levels, measured using the buss-Perry aggression questionnaire ‘a five point likert scale 1 being extremely uncharacteristic of me and five being extremely characteristic of me
how do you measure using the 4D/2D method?
using a ruler, measure your ring finger from the crease nearest the palm to the tip, down the middle of your finger. Use mm.
repeat this for your index finger
using a calculator, divide the length of your ring finger by the length of your index finger. Enter results and round to 2 dp
repeat steps 1-3 for your left hand
find the mean 4D:2D ratio by adding the two ratios for right and left and divide by 2
what was my average 4D:2D digit ratio
1.01 mm
what was my total buss-Perry aggression scores
107.0
