A practical guide
to your
psychological
research project
Surbiton High Psychology Department
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A practical guide to your
psychological research project
Introduction............................................................................................................... 3
Questions to ask before carrying out investigations ...................................... 4
General issues:....................................................................................................... 4
Consent .................................................................................................................... 4
Conduct.................................................................................................................... 4
Confidentiality ....................................................................................................... 4
Would you authorise this research? .................................................................... 5
What will I research?.............................................................................................. 6
Planning Research ..................................................................................................... 7
Sampling ...................................................................................................................... 8
Key words (research these definitions) .......................................................... 8
Consent form ............................................................................................................. 9
Writing up your report ...........................................................................................10
Contents .................................................................................................................10
Abstract: ................................................................................................................... 11
Introduction/aim hypothesis: ............................................................................... 11
Method: ...................................................................................................................... 11
Design ..................................................................................................................... 11
Participants ........................................................................................................... 11
Standardised procedure .................................................................................... 11
Controls ..................................................................................................................12
Results ........................................................................................................................12
Discussion ..................................................................................................................12
References ................................................................................................................12
Appendix ....................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
This project is designed to enable you to address G544 section A of the
A2 Psychology syllabus. This section requires you to develop your
understanding of research methods developed in AS Psychology. Some of
the key areas you should be developing are as follows:
 Research methods
 Research design
 Data presentation
 Data interpretation and analysis.
You have 8/9 lessons to complete this project. Below is a guide to where
you should be at certain points:
Lessons 1-3: Complete all sections in this booklet up to and including page
9. Have videoed your research proposal ready for the lesson 4.
Lesson 4 (15th June): Be the ethics committee for another psychology
class. Nominate a chief for each proposal you hear and ensure sufficient
feedback is provided in written format. The flow diagram explains which
class will view which proposals.
DEADLINE:
25TH JUNE.
HANDED TO:
B
A
E
C
D
Miss S (12A,B &
C)
Miss W (12D &
E)
Lesson 5-8/9: Complete the report write-up. All members of the group
will need a copy of the research paper to use for the start of term in
September.
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Questions to ask before carrying out
investigations
General issues:
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Should I be conducting this kind of study at all?
What is the most ethical way of carrying it out?
Am I sufficiently competent to carry it out?
Have I informed the participants of all that they need and would
expect to know before taking part?
Have they willingly agreed to take part?
How do I ensure that all research records are confidential and
anonymous, and will remain so?
How do I ensure that my research is carried out professionally and
in a way that protects the rights of those involved?
Consent
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Informed consent should be given by participants wherever
possible.
Deception of participants should be avoided.
Debriefing of participants should take place.
Participants have the right to withdraw from an investigation at
any time.
Participants completing an investigation have the right to refuse
the use of their data.
Pressure should not be placed on people to continue to take part
when they do not wish to do so.
Right to privacy should be respected.
No minors will be used only those over 16 years may be
participants.
Conduct
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Physiological and psychological discomfort to others should be
avoided.
Participants should leave the research situation in at least as good
a psychological state as they entered it.
Confidentiality
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Maintain confidentiality of data at all times.
Do not name participants (numbers or pseudonyms may be used e.g.
P1 or P2 did this….).
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Would you authorise this research?
Act as a member of the BPS and approve or ban the
following investigations. Make sure you justify your choices.
1. Conduct a survey that asks parents their opinion of
sex education in schools.
2. Use students’ test scores and grade point averages to predict
success in their future education endeavours.
3. Randomly assign some but not all minority students to an
experimental program that is designed to help graduation rates.
4. Conduct a survey in which students are asked if they have ever
contemplated suicide.
5. Video tape nursery school children playing with the consent of the
parents but without the knowledge of the children.
6. Children participating in a study hear a child call for help outside
the classroom.
7. Middle school children consult to participate in a study about
advertising it is really about individuals self esteem.
8. A study is conducted concerning body image, it is discovered one
participant has an eating disorder, should the study continue?
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What will I research?
Eyewitness testimony: Loftus and Palmer (1974 etc)
Perception: Optical illusions
Perception: Reaction times
Competing cognitions: Stroop effect
Obedience: Questionnaire about attitudes to authority
Conformity: Jenness (1932)
Social cognition: Nisbett (1973) friend and self rated personality traits
Most memory experiments
Brewer and Treyens: Schema theory and schema plus tag theory
Attitudes questionnaires
Personal space
Appearance and conformity
Age and perception of violence in the media
Correlation of traits e.g. neurotic / stable and gender.
Certain stress tests
Interview of social opinions
Naturalistic observations
Correlation: Personality and attachment type
Sleep and reaction times
Gender and levels of aggression (survey / interview)
Preference of body shape according to gender
Intelligence
Guessing personality stranger / friend
Face attractiveness and happiness
Halo effect
Moral development questionnaire
Altruism
Audience effect
Content analysis on smoking in films
Gender and TV adverts
The list of studies is endless so get on the computer and in the library
and research.
However, as way of a warning do not risk being
unethical, if it is not approved you cannot do
it.
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Planning Research
After deciding on an area of research and having gathered the relevant
information through research you are ready to start planning your study.
To guide you through this planning stage fill in the following form.
Title of research
Independent Variable
Dependent variable
Hypothesis
Directional or nondirectional
Experimental design
(e.g. repeated
measures)
Ethical issues
1. consent
2. deception
3. confidentiality
4. withdrawal
5. protection of p’s
Debriefing
1. Nominal
2. Ordinal
3. Interval
Sampling
1. Type
2. Size
Materials
When and where will I
do this study?
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Sampling
Key words (research these definitions)
A Target population is
A representative sample is
A Sampling frame is the list from which you select your sample. If you
select your sample from an inadequate sampling frame that is one which
does not contain all those in your target population you may end up with a
biased sample. Examples of sampling frames are class lists, electoral
register, or employee lists.
A sampling bias is
How big should your sample be (is the sample size you require affected by
the research method you use)?
What sampling method will I use and how will I justify it?
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Consent form
Please modify as appropriate, bracketed words are to be deleted they
only contain information you may need to know.
(Informed Consent) I am conducting a psychology investigation as part of
my A2 course. I plan to conduct a simple experiment into …………..This
experiment involves a level of deception but I can assure you there
will be no risk of physical or psychological.
(Confidentiality) I can assure all participants that they will remain
anonymous throughout the study and even the experimenters will log all
results without reference to names.
(Withdrawal/protection) All participants have the right to withdraw from
the experiment at any time before or during the experiment. In addition,
you may withdraw your data at any time after the experiment has been
completed and the study may not refer to this data.
(Debriefing) All participants will be debriefed at the end of the study
and will be able to ask any questions or raise issues of concern at this
time.
This experiment will conform to the BPS (British Psychological Society)
guidance on all ethical issues arising from this study. If as a participant
you are unsatisfied in the way you have been treated please consult Miss
Shefik Head of Psychology
Yours Sincerely
Sigmund Fraud
Participants Signature
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
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Writing up your report
Contents
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Title
Contents
Abstract
Introduction, Aim and
Hypothesis
Method
Results
Discussion
References
Appendix
Title: An investigation into
stress before exams………
narrows into an aim which is
operationalised.
Method
Essentially, “How to bake a cake!”
instructions:
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3 etc
This allows for replication which
allows for reliability tests.
Results:
Descriptive statistics
Inferential statistics
Contents:
Discussion:
Index the sections of your
report
Discuss results widening to past
research and the real world!
Abstract
References:
A summary of your report in 100
words essentially an APFC.
Where did you get your
information from?
Introduction, Aim and
Hypothesis
Appendix
The introduction discusses
existing background research and
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All the stuff that has no other
place to go e.g. calculations etc
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Abstract:
Your aim/method/results/conclusion in a very, very concise fashion.
Introduction/aim/hypothesis:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Overview of area (literature review)
Specific research study 1
Specific research study 2
Specific research study 3
The above lead into your aim
Aim is then operationalised into a
testable IV and DV which leads to a
hypothesis formation.
7. Finally a null hypothesis is written
Introduction / aim / hypothesis
General statement about your subject
Explore theories concerning your topic
Discuss supporting or
contradictory research
evidence
1.
Focus in
on an aim
2.
3.
Relevant background
information
Funnel to an obvious
aim and hypothesis
150-200 words
Method:
Design
1. Detail your design, e.g. repeated measures, IV, DV, how they are
operationalised. Use full sentences in a concise scientific manner
2. Describe in detail the decisions made to design your
experiment/correlation.
3. Identify expected extraneous variables, how they might become
confounding variables and how you might control for this.
Participants
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State target population, selection method, sex, age, background,
and method of application to experimental conditions.
Standardised procedure
1. Bullet point steps clearly like a “how to bake a cake”.
You want your readers to get the same cake so
include what they need to know in a very concise
fashion.
2. Include as the first step, presentation of written
instructions (but put actual instructions in the appendix don’t write
them out here).
3. As a last step state a debriefing script was read (put the script in
the appendix).
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Controls
What controls are in place to limit confounding variables?
Results
1. All raw data goes in your appendix.
2. Then you have 2 sub headings.
3. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (see below).
Results
Results
• Descriptive Statistics:
Condition 1
Condition 2
Mean
Median
Mode
Range
Standard
deviation
• Make relevant comments based on observation
• Inferential statistics:
• Example: A difference was observed between
conditions. The Chi-squared test was performed
to measure to establish whether there was a
significant difference between conditions at a
p≤0.05. The critical value for this test was 16.27
and to be significant the value for Chi needed to
be equal to this or greater. The result of this
study’s test was 19.5. Therefore we were able to
reject the null hypothesis and accept the
experimental hypothesis.
4. All calculations go in the appendix.
5. Choosing an inferential statistic (see p.14)
Discussion
You need a paragraph on each of the following areas (see below).
Discussion
Your figures and
whether you accept
your experimental
hypothesis
How your findings
relate with the
evidence stated in the
background /
introduction
Strengths, weaknesses
and improvements
Ethical issues
Applications and follow up
References
 Alphabetical according to author.
 Example:
Stevenson, K & Gent, R. (2009) irrelevant aspects of Psychology; A
practical guide, Dorset, Lytchett Minster Press.
Appendix
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Permission forms/Calculations/Consent and debriefing scripts.
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