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2011 Assessment Resource
Level 2 Psychology
27691, Conduct, analyse and report on a psychological research activity.
Credit: 6
Teacher guidelines:
The following guidelines are supplied to enable teachers to carry out valid and consistent
assessment using this internal assessment resource.
Context/setting:
In this activity students will be provided with one piece of psychological research by the
teacher and based on this research they will conduct their own piece of research and
present their findings. Students will use research steps from the Scientific Method for
their research.
References should be appropriate to Level 7 of the NZC, or have characteristics that
enable students to meet the expected level of understanding. Assessment of this
standard also provides opportunities for students to develop aspects of the key
competencies of the NZC.
Conditions:
The assessment task will be an assignment done in and out of class over a period of
three weeks. Students can read texts, collect information and develop ideas for the
assessment.
A summary or edited article can be tailored by the teacher for the students to meet the
needs of the assessment.
Resource requirements:
The students must have access to a range of psychological research studies.
Possible studies could include;
 Asch ( 1951 ) Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of
judgements’, in H. Guetzokow (ed) Groups, leadership and men, Pittsburg:Carnegie
Press
 Moscovici, S. and Zavalloni, M. (1969). The group as a polarizer of attitudes. Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology, 12, 125-135.
 Tanford, S. and Penrod, S. (1984) Social Influence Model: A formal integration of
research on majority and minority influence processes, Psychological Bulletin, 95,
189-225
 Kalven, H Jr. & Zeisel., H The American Jury (1966).
 Myers, D.G. (1999). Social Psychology. Boston: McGraw Hill [ includes study on
conformity]
 Deutsch and Gerard (1995) A study of normative and informational social influence
upon judgment. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 51, 629-636.
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Possible modifications of conformity research or, other possible research or similar;
o Replicate a modification of the Asch’s line study.
o Replicate a modification of Moscoviki’s colour perception task.
o Replicate a modification of the Stroop test.
Psychological research uses data gathering methods which include – experiment,
observation, survey, interviews, correlation, case study, psychometrics/tests and testing.
Research steps refer to the series of steps associated with the scientific method that is
used in psychological research. Steps are - identifying problem, establishing a
hypothesis and/or aim and/or open research question, considering published research,
gathering data, analysing of data, stating conclusion(s), and/or recognising strengths and
limitations.
Data analysis refers to – interpreting statistics such as mean, median, mode, range,
percentile, and may be reported using any one of graphs, tables, charts.
Additional information:
Teaching and learning guidelines that inform psychology as it is taught in New Zealand
can be found at http://www.tki.org.nz/ncea/.
 New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2016
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Level 2 Psychology
Would you conform to the norm?
27691, Conduct, analyse and report on a psychological research activity.
Credit: 6
Student Instructions Sheet
During your Psychology programme in class, your teacher will work with you on a variety
of written, oral and visual texts. You will do a wide range of activities in class which will
help you to source additional information and read for meaning e.g. for journal articles.
Assessment guide
For achieved
For merit
For excellence
Conduct, analyse and
report on a psychological
research activity according
to the research steps
associated with the
scientific method used in
psychological research.
The analysis and report
include a clear presentation
of the research findings
with valid conclusions
derived from data analysis,
and a discussion of key
strengths and/or limitations
of the research activity
The analysis and report
include a comprehensive
presentation of the
research findings with
suggestions for two or more
relevant improvements to
the research activity with
reference to elements such
as validity and reliability.
Reference may be made to
previous research design in
a related topic
Task
You will be given one piece of psychological research article by your teacher to
understand the methodology. You will be required to conduct a similar piece of research
on subjects. You will use research steps from the Scientific method and present your
findings.
Ash (1951) conducted research into conformity. Study the research article and present
the findings in the introduction of your lab report. It is suggested you use an APA style of
referencing.
Replicate an approved modification of Asch’s line study on students in your school.
Task instructions
Conduct an investigation to observe the conforming behaviour of students in a group
situation. Your presentation must include;

Title : one sentence outlining your research.

Step 1: Hypothesis: a statement of the hypothesis for your experiment.
 New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2016
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
Step 2: Introduction: You must describe the types of conformity (majority and
minority). You need to summarise at least one well known experiment on conformity.
You need to state the purpose of your experiment. Your language should be formal
and in the third person.

Step 3: Method: Include the following (enough to be replicable)
o The participants – how many and whom?
o How you will brief them
o How you will debrief them
o Ethical considerations/procedures.

Step 4: Results: include your data collection sheets. Create a table of your results
and a mean. A brief summary of your results in a sentence.

Step 5 Conclusion: Comment on the following:
o Does the data gathered support the hypothesis?
o Reliability
o Validity
o Strengths of the research procedure
o Weaknesses of the research procedure
o Any suggestions for improvements, with reasons
o Are there any ethical implications to the study?

References: Include one or more references using APA style formatting.
Your presentation must be typed and handed to your teacher within the due date.
For achieved you must:
o Describe at least one previous study which define the definition of conformity,
o You must outline the steps of your methodology,
o You must present your data clearly and draw conclusions.
For merit you must also:
 Draw valid conclusions from the data analysis,
 Discuss the key strengths and/or limitations of the study.
For excellence you must also:
 Include a comprehensive presentation of the research findings, with reference to
elements such as reliability and validity. These findings may relate to other previous
research,
 Suggest, with reasons, at least two improvements to the research design,
 As part of the comprehensive presentation of the research findings you may discuss
the wider implications of your findings and how they contribute to the wider world of
Psychology.
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Assessment schedule
27691 Judgement statements: Conduct, analyse, and report on a psychological research activity
Achieved
Achieved with merit
Achieved with excellence
Complete the research including all steps
and present findings with conclusion/s.
The analysis and report include a clear
presentation of the research findings with
valid conclusions derived from data
analysis, and a discussion of key strengths
and/or limitations of the research activity.
The analysis and report include a
comprehensive presentation of the research
findings with suggestions for two or more
relevant improvements to the research
activity with reference to elements such as
validity and reliability. Reference may be
made to previous research design in a
related topic.
 Conduct a guided piece of experimental
research.
 A clear presentation of the findings is  A comprehensive presentation of the
made including:
research findings is made with:
 Present the findings, and the analysis of
the research findings, with conclusion[s]
derived from the data
1. a discussion of two or more key 1. two or more relevant improvements to
strengths and/or
limitations of the
the research design suggested with
methodology.
reference to elements such as validity
and reliability
2. valid conclusions derived from statistical
analysis of the data.
2. reference may be made to previous
research design in a related topic.
3. the comprehensive presentation may
include reference to the wider
implications within psychology or a
population such as NZ.
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27691 Evidence Statements: Conduct, analyse, and report on a psychological research activity
Achieved
Achieved with Merit
Achieved with Excellence
Introduction summarises at least one study
of conformity as background literature. For
example;
As for achieved plus;
As for merit plus;
Accurately and clearly presenting their
findings.
A more in-depth analysis of previous
research.
This means any of the following;
Formal and concise language
A detailed and clear statement of whether
the data supports the hypothesis.
How the study could be designed better; For
example;
(Asch). Solomon Asch conducted studies on
conformity to group pressure. Subjects were
asked to say which line from three matched
the target line. Unknown to a naiive subject,
there were confederates of the experimenter
and primed to give certain responses. For
most trials they gave the correct answers
but some trials called critical trials, they
gave the wrong answer. The subject was
the last in the group to answer. He then
either conformed to the wrong answer or did
not yield to group pressure and gave the
correct answer. In 40% of the trials, the
subject conformed.
A definition of conformity such as;
Conformity is the process of yielding to
majority or minority influence.
The hypothesis is stated clearly-eg; it is
predicted the naïve participant would be
pressured into giving the wrong answers.
The apparatus and methodology are
outlined clearly and replicable– Eg; stimulus
described such as lines or pictures, number
The introduction summarises a second
study in detail
The methodology is detailed and easily
replicable.
For it to have ecological validity it would
require more repeated tests on other
communities, cultures and ages. It was
conducted in a classroom. For it to be
stronger, it could be conducted in a
controlled lab environment.
And one of the following or similar;
The conclusion describes the strengths and
limitations of the study.
Comments on the wider contribution to
Psychology or a population such as New
For example; easy to get participants but the Zealand teenagers are likely to conform due
sample may not be enough to draw
to such societal pressures at that age.
conclusions to the whole population;
Dependent on the group, people will
confounding variables such as teenagers
conform more to please others and gain
under peer pressure, knowing the fellow
acceptance, regardless of the unjustness or
participants, actors skill, time constraints
incorrectness.
during class time.
The conclusion describes in depth the
The conclusion discusses problems in detail ethical aspects of the investigation.
with the design such as confounding
For example;
variables, validity and reliability.
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of trials and participants etc
For example;
A mean calculated and results are in a table
of some form.
The presentation follows clear steps;
hypothesis, introduction, method, results,
conclusion.
It is valid because the IV did measure the
response. It is not reliable as it wasn’t
repeated over time or on other samples.
Variables such as the age, gender, air
temperature and noise could affect it.
Potential for trauma and embarrassment to
participants. The debriefing has to account
for this. Describe the variables in depth. For
example ; Confounding variables could
include socio-economic factors such as
racial pressures or fears of being bullied.
Formal language is used in the third person.
The results are stated clearly-a sentence
describing the table.
With conclusions means:
conclusions are accurately drawn from the
data. For example; Students did conform to
majority influence because 60 % gave the
incorrect answer during the critical trials.
At least one correctly referenced work in
APA format for example;
Roger Wolcott Sperry (1968) Hemispheric
disconnection and unity in conscious
awareness. American Psychologist, 23,
pages 723-733.
 New Zealand Qualifications Authority 2016