AS Psychology
Research Methods
Workbook
Name …………………………………...
Teacher …………………………………
1
Section 1 - Quantitative and qualitative research methods
Research methods are the ways that psychologists investigate a theory. Different methods will
be appropriate for different topics/theories/situations.
Quantitative =
Qualitative =
Experiments
Experiments are generally thought to be the most reliable and effective way of demonstrating
that one variable causes another to change – that it has an effect on another, for example to
demonstrate that alcohol causes reaction times to slow down.
In psychology we talk about these variables as the independent (IV) and dependent variables
(DV).
IV =
DV =
Extraneous variables are……………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Confounding variables are.………..…………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
How can extraneous variables be controlled?
Use the textbook to find the IV and DV in one of Loftus’ experiments.
Study:
IV =
DV =
2
Identify the IV and DV for the following:
1. Severe punishment causes anxiety.
IV DV –
Directional or non-directional –
2. There is a difference in the ability of grey and white rats in learning to run a maze.
IV DV Directional or non-directional –
3. People are more likely to make a risky decision when they are in a group than when
they are alone.
IV DV Directional or non-directional –
4. Watching violent television is likely to give children nightmares.
IV DV Directional or non-directional –
5. First children learn to speak earlier than second and subsequent children.
IV DV Directional or non-directional –
6. Absence makes the heart grow fonder
IV DV Directional or non-directional –
3
7. Stressful experiences increase the likelihood of headaches.
IV DV Directional or non-directional –
8. A baby under 9 months of age will not search for a hidden object.
IV DV Directional or non-directional –
9. Social class affects IQ scores.
IV DV Directional or non-directional –
10. Men drive faster than women.
IV DV Directional or non-directional –
11. Bulls will charge more often when presented with a red rag than a blue rag.
IV DV Directional or non-directional –
Operationalising the variables
1. What does this mean?
2. Go back and pick 6 of the IV/DV examples above and operationalise the variables.
4
You are expected to be familiar with the main research methods used in psychology. This includes being able to describe each method,
knowing how it differs from the other methods and when each should be used.
You need to know at least two advantages and two disadvantages of each method.
Method
Description/use
Advantages
Disadvantages
Ethical issues
Example/well known
study
Laboratory
Experiment
Correlation
Observation
Questionnaire
5
Questions
Answer these questions about each of these stimulus examples.
1. What is the research method that has been used in this study?
2. Explain one advantage and one weakness of this method in the context of this study.
3. Identify one ethical issue that might arise in this study and suggest how you would
deal with it.
A study was conducted to investigate the effects of anxiety on performance. Participants were
given a task to complete in a set time. One set of the Ps was mildly stressed during the task.
This was achieved by arranging for the researcher to watch their performance closely. The
other set of Ps were watched but in a friendly manner.
Research method:
Advantage:
Disadvantage:
Ethical issue:
A group of psychology students were studying social influence. As part of their studies they
decided to investigate the extent to which drivers complied to the rules of the road. To do this
they stood near a pedestrian crossing and noted how often drivers stopped when a pedestrian
stood by the crossing waiting to cross.
Research method:
Advantage:
Disadvantage:
Ethical issue:
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Non-experimental research methods
Surveys
Interviews and questionnaires are both ways of collecting data using a survey. The
questions asked may be the same in both, but an interview is a face to face (spoken)
encounter between P and researcher whereas a questionnaire requires a written response.
Questionnaires
1. When might a questionnaire be used?
2. What are the features of a structured (fixed choice) questionnaire? Give an example
question.
3. What are the features of an unstructured (open-ended) questionnaire? Give an example
question
4. Give the advantages and disadvantages of each?
Interviews
5. What advantages and disadvantages do interviews
compared with questionnaires?
have
Observations
When planning an observation a researcher needs to operationally define key terms (ie. make
clear statements about how to measure or classify whatever is being studied). For example, if a
researcher wants to investigate age or sex differences in ‘reckless’ behaviour in the way children
and young people cross the road they first need to operationally define ‘reckless’ behaviour.
This means drawing up a list of criteria about what ‘reckless’ behaviour actually is.
To do this you might conduct a pilot study observing how young people behave as they cross
the road, then discuss as a group what you have observed and come to a collective decision
about what ten criteria make up ‘reckless’ behaviour.
6. What are:
a) Naturalistic observations?
b) Controlled observations?
c) Participant observations?
d) Disclosed observations?
e) Undisclosed observations?
7. What is observer bias?
8. How can reliability be maximised when an observation is conducted?
9. What ethical issues arise when devising a naturalistic observation?
Quasi-Experiments
What is a Quasi-experiment? Give an example.
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Conducting an observation – putting your knowledge of research methods into practice
Observing pedestrian behaviour
Collet & Marsh (1981) looked at the way adult pedestrians avoid colliding into one
another on a pedestrian crossing. They noticed te following:
o
Most pedestrians in the UK pass by on the right (Goffman, 1972 called this ‘lane
formation’ or ‘pedestrian streaming’).
o
People take cues from one another, such as looking for ‘body gloss’ which is when body
movement such as a slight turn of the shoulders indicates someone’s likely collisionavoidance behaviour.
o
When passing closely by another pedestrian, men tend to turn slightly towards the other
person. This is ‘open passing’. Women tend to turn slightly away from the other person.
This is ‘closed passing’.
Hypothesis: there will be a significant difference in the collision-avoidance behaviour of adults
according to gender. Men are more likely to pass by using an ‘open pass’ and women are more
likely to pass by using a ‘closed pass’.
Is this directional or non-directional?
Tick Sheet – observing collision-avoidance behaviour
Type of behaviour
Open pass
Male adult
Female adult
Total
Closed pass
Neutral pass
1. Suggest one advantage and one disadvantage of this design in the context of this
investigation.
2. How might you ensure reliability among different observers?
3. How could you ensure this study was carried out in an ethically acceptable manner?
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Section 2 - Research design and implementation
Aims: An aim is a general statement of why the study is being carried out.
Hypotheses: In psychology a hypothesis is:




A clear statement
A prediction
Testable
Formulated at the beginning of the research process
Psychologists start with a theory which is a general idea about a behaviour and then develop a
hypothesis which makes the theory testable.
Eg: a theory, popular in the 1960s, claimed that small amounts of information (approximately
seven digits) could be held in STM store at any one time. If we rehearse material by repeating
it, it is more securely stored, can be more easily passed into LTM and is therefore easier to
access and recall later.
A development of this idea stated that simple repetition was not the most effective way of
securing items in the memory store. It is more effective if ideas are chunked together and
meaningful links are made. For example if Ps were asked to recall a set of words including the
words ‘chocolate’ and ‘strawberry’ those who visualized a chocolate coated strawberry were
morel likely to recall the words.
A hypothesis to test the idea might be:
Ps will correctly recall more words in a memory test after learning a list of words by imagelinking than Ps who learn the same words via simple rehearsal.
With your neighbour try writing a hypothesis for the following theories:
a) Students remember more information if they revise listening to Mozart than
listening to Kylie.
b) Consuming alcohol reduces reaction time.
c) Drivers respond more quickly to red lights than green lights.
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Hypotheses do not:


Include an explanation eg. P will recall words from a list by using image-linking
because…..
Use imprecise terms eg. Memory will be better when using visualization (what exactly is
‘better’?)
A hypothesis can be directional or non-directional. This refers to whether the hypothesis
states the direction in which the results of the study will go.
A non-directional hypothesis (also called two-tailed) states that there will be a difference
between results but not what that difference will be eg. there will be a difference between the
number of words recalled from a list in a memory test between Ps asked to use repetition and
Ps asked to use image-linking to remember words.
A directional hypothesis (also called one-tailed) states that there will be a difference between
two results and predicts the difference eg. Ps who use image-linking to learn a list of words in a
memory test will correctly recall a greater number of words than Ps who use repetition to learn
the same words.
Directional or non-directional?
1. Pupils studying AS Level Psychology are much happier than
those studying AS Biology.
2. There will be a significant difference between the number of
times male and female drivers fail to stop at a red light.
3. People who eat only brown bread score more highly on IQ tests than people who eat
only white bread.
4. Ps will have a slower reaction time on a computer ‘beat-em-up’ game after consuming
one unit of alcohol.
5. There will be a difference between the number of Welsh and the number of Scottish Ps
rated as ‘extrovert’ on Eysenk’s personality test.
6. Students who wear designer labels and students who do not wear designer labels will
show significantly different ratings on Allport’s attitude scale.
7. Year 10 students are more likely to conform to a teachers’ incorrect response in a test
than Year 11 students.
8. Smokers will cough more times when asked to sit in silence, than non-smokers.
NB the term ‘experimental hypothesis’ should only be used when using the
experimental method, otherwise the term ‘alternative hypothesis’ should be used.
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The Null Hypothesis
The null hypothesis is written alongside the main hypothesis in order to make the scientific
prediction complete.
A null hypothesis predicts that any differences or similarities between the sets of results in an
experiment are due to chance alone. As psychologists, we must accept that we can never rule
out the possibility that any results gained in an investigation may be simply due to chance. This
possibility is tested using inferential statistics (more on this later!). Should analysis of data
indicate that results are not statistically significant a researcher must reject the experimental
hypothesis and accept the null hypothesis.
An example:
There will be no difference in the reaction time taken to press a button upon seeing a green
square on the computer screen (measured in milliseconds) before consumption of three units of
alcohol and after consumption of three units of alcohol. Any difference in results is due to
chance alone.
1.
Write a null hypothesis to match the following hypotheses:
a) Ps who learn a list of unrelated words whilst listening to classical music will recall more of the
words in a memory test than Ps who learn the words in silence.
b) Ps who play a violent computer game will hold a confederate’s hand in iced water for a longer
amount of time after an incorrect answer is given in a word-pair memory test than Ps who play a
non-violent game.
c) There will be a difference in the number of passers-by who stop to help a male confederate and
those who stop to help a female confederate who is seen to drop a pile of papers on the floor or
the school corridor.
d) There will be a difference in the number of Year 12 and the number of Year 13 students who look
at the answer paper of a Psychology test when the teacher leaves the room.
2.
Write a directional hypothesis and corresponding null hypothesis for
the following ideas:
a) Children are more aggressive after watching violent films.
b) Students feel more stress two days before an exam rather than on the day itself.
3.
Write a non-directional hypothesis and corresponding null hypothesis
for the following ideas:
a) Children who do not form an attachment before the age of two are at risk of social delinquency
b) Ps will remember information presented visually and information presented acoustically
differently.
For the exam you need to be able to write directional, non-directional
and null hypotheses.
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Research Design
Researchers use their participants in different ways in different experiments, depending on the situation. They weigh up
the advantages and disadvantages of each design and make their decision. Use the textbook to find out about the three main
methods of using participants, called designs.
Design
Advantages
Independent
groups
Repeated
measures
Matched pairs
(participants)
Disadvantages
Example study
Loftus & Palmer (1974)
Eg. Give one group of Ps a test in a
driving simulator after having drunk
alcohol and the other group without
having drunk alcohol.
Eg. Test the group on the simulator and
later give them a drink of alcohol and
test the same group again.
Kagan (1980) matched nursery and home
group.
Eg.
Ps matched in important
characteristics eg. driving ability and
alcohol tolerance and then tested in one
condition.
What are order effects?
How can researchers reduce them?
What is a control group and why are they used?
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Factors associated with Research
Use your textbook to fill in the table with the definitions and then answer these
questions. Write your answers on a separate sheet of paper so they can be
handed in.
Validity
Experimental validity
Internal validity
Population validity
Ecological validity
1. Why did Milgram’s study have ecological validity despite being carried out in a lab and
Hofling’s did not despite being in a naturalistic setting?
2. How can validity be improved?
3. What is a pilot study and why are they carried out?
4. What are standardised instructions and why are they used?
5. What is meant by reliability?
6. How can reliability be improved?
7. What is a longitudinal study?
8. What is a cross-cultural study?
9. What is a cross-sectional study?
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The relationship between researchers and
participants
1. What is meant by experimenter bias and how can it be reduced?
2. What are demand characteristics?
3. For each of the studies below say how effects of demand characteristics and
experimenter bias are likely to be shown.
a. A group of students is interviewed about their belief in superstitions. The aim of
the study is to see if there is a difference between males and females in the
degree to which they are superstitious.
b. Teenagers in a youth club are observed to see if girls are more co-operative than
boys.
c. Two teenagers carry out a study to investigate the effect of dress on helping
behaviour in elderly people. One dresses as a punk, the other dresses very
conventionally and smartly and they take it in turns to stop and ask people for
directions. They see how closely the elderly person stands when they speak to
them.
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Sampling
When conducting research psychologists need participants. In an
ideal world, a study would include all members of a target population as this
would provide the most accurate results. A target population is a group of
people who share the same characteristics eg. married women, A Level students,
males over the age of 40 who enjoy playing golf.
Clearly it is impossible to include all members of the target population within a study so a section
of that population, a sample is included instead. If a sample is truly representative, then
psychologists should be able to generalise the conclusions of the study to the whole target
population. There are several ways of obtaining a sample:
A random sample
A quota sample
A self-selected sample
An opportunity sample
You need to know which sampling method is most suitable to which circumstance/research and
why.
The larger the sample the more likely it is that the conclusions of the investigation will reflect the
behaviour of the whole target population. The size of a sample will be dictated partly by time and
financial constraints.
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Section 3 - Data Analysis
Data is the results from research. Rather than presenting all of this in its raw form in
your report we use data analysis, descriptive and inferential statistics to summarise these
results. This means that anybody reading the report of the study will have a concise summary
of the results and conclusions can be reached.
Levels of measurement
In psychology we aim to quantify data wherever possible (NB. Even qualitative data can, to
some extent be classified, categorised and counted.)
There are three levels at which data can be measured:
NOMINAL DATA – this is used when categorising something. Named categories are
established by the researcher and an item is counted when it falls into this category.
Eg.
The number of males and females in a psychology class.
The number of monolingual, bilingual and multilingual students in the school.
RANKED/ORDINAL DATA – this is when data is ranked so that it is possible to
see the order of scores I relation to one another.
Eg.
In a 100m race, we would know who came first, second, third etc.
INTERVAL/RATIO DATA – this is a more sophisticated level of data. It not only gives the rank
order of scores but it also details the precise intervals between scores.
Eg.
In our 100m race the finishing times of runners would be interval data:
Clarke, N
Smith, H
Lloyd, P
11.4 secs
11.9 secs
12.1 secs
What type of data? - Read the following and decide whether they are nominal, ordinal or
interval:
1. The number of Ps who only read the Times, The Guardian or The Sun.
2. P’s rating of their own self-worth on a scale ranging from 1-50.
3. Fifteen photographs arranged by Ps according to level of attractiveness.
4. Results of Year 12 Psychology test (marked out of 45).
5. A set of clinical records which classify patients as ‘acute’ or ‘chronic’.
6. P’s ratings on how interesting they found a particular Psychology lesson (on a scale of 1100 where 100 was ‘fascinating’).
7. The number of aggressive acts in a Tom and Jerry cartoon.
8. How could you collect nominal, ordinal and interval data when looking at IQ scores?
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Descriptive statistics
Descriptive stats allow research data to be described and presented. It is not helpful to the
reader to be given raw data of a study but it is important that they have a summary of that data.
This may take the form of:
o A table
o A graph
o Numerical average
Measures of central tendency
MEAN – when all scores in a group are added together and the total is divided by the number of
scores.
Eg. the results from a test (marked out of 50)
36 39 21 18 32 30 = 176
176 / 6 = 36
Mean = 36
Exercise 1
Find the mean of the following.
1.
The % scores in a Sociology exam:
52 64 58 41
2.
The number of library books borrowed by students in one year:
14 9 6 12 18 9
3.
The amount spent on weekly shopping (£):
45 84 52 38 42 66
MEDIAN – this is the central value in a set of scores after they have been put in rank order:
Eg. 95 109 121 130 140 Median = 121
If there is an even number of scores take the mean of the two central values:
Eg. 95 109 121 135 140 180
121 + 135 = 256 / 2 = 128
Exercise 2
Find the median values for questions 1-3 above.
MODE - this is the most commonly occurring value in a set of scores:
Eg. 1 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 7
Mode = 5
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Exercise 3
Find the mode of the following:
1.
The heights of the teachers at Wimbledon College:
5”9 5”3 5”8 6”2 5”8 5”1 6”4 5”2 5”3 5”3 5”9 5”7 5”9 5”10 5”7 6”0 5”9 5”7 5”1
5”9 5”6 5”10
2.
The weekly pocket money given to Year 8 students (£):
4 6 2 5.50 3 8 4 5 4 1 7 4.50 10 4 6 3 4 2 5 7 4 7 4 3 2 8
3.
The numbers of videos rented in one year:
14 15 25 12 14 18 10 0 28 25 14 18 7 4 19 14 10 30 19
Measures of dispersion
Measures of central tendency (mean/median/mode) are used to summarise sets of numbers
giving a score which is representative of the set. However in order to give a fuller picture, we
need to know how spread out (how dispersed) the scores are.
THE VARIATION RATIO - this is used in conjunction with the mode.
proportion of a set of scores is modal.
We assess what
Eg. the ages of members of a school choir:
9 9 10 11 11 11 11 13 14 15 mode = 11
Here 4 numbers are modal, 6 numbers are not modal
Count the non-modal scores (here 6) and divide by the total number of scores (10)
6 / 10 = 0.6 (x100 to find a percentage) = 60%
60% of scores are non-modal. The mode then does not seem to be representative of the whole
set of scores.
Exercise 4
Work out the mode and variation ratio for the following:
1.
The number of journeys by tube taken by Year 11 students in one week:
5 10 15 15 15 20 20 20 20 25 25 25
2.
The number of correct answers in a Year 7 spelling test:
6 9 8 7 6 7 7 9 6 6 7 8 8 7
3.
The ages of visitors to a museum:
11 16 14 15 14 12 11 12 13 12
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THE RANGE – this is simply the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a set of
values. 1 is then added if all the numbers are whole, 0.5 is added if scores have halves, 0.1 is
added if scores contain 1 decimal place, 0.01 if there are 2 decimal places etc.
Exercise 5
Find the range for the following set of scores:
1.
Age at which Ps claim to have ‘been in love’
21 19 22 18 25 21
2.
Amount spent on travel, per day (£)
8.5 9.5 17.5 12.5 14.5
3.
Scores obtained in age-related reading test:
9.8 7.1 4.2 8.4 9.9
STANDARD DEVIATION – The average amount all scores deviate from the mean. This is the
most powerful measure of dispersion. You will not have to work out standard deviation (hurrah!)
but you need to know how it is done.
To calculate the standard deviation:
 The difference (deviation) between each score and the mean of those scores is
calculated and then squared (to remove minus values).
 These squared deviations are then added up and their mean calculated to give a value
known as the variance.
 The square root of the variance gives the standard deviation of the scores.
Score
6
8
10
12
14
Total
Mean
10
10
10
10
10
d
-4
-2
0
+2
+4
d2
16
4
0
4
16
40
Mean of 40 = 8 (= variance)
Square root of variance = standard deviation = 2.8
Exercise 6.
Use the textbook to answer the following questions:
1.
2.
What is normal distribution? Draw an example.
What is skewed distribution? Draw an example.
For the exam you need to know how, why and when to use each of these methods and
how to calculate them BUT you will not have to do calculations in the exam. HOWEVER
the ability to work out means etc will be very useful if you are asked to describe a set of
results.
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Graphs
Graphs are used to display data in a form which is easy to read. You will be familiar
with different types of graphs but it is important to know when to use each type:
Histograms – these use bars which touch and are used with interval data only.
Bar charts – these use bars which do not touch and can be used with all types of data.
Pie charts – convert scores to degrees (all types of data)
Frequency polygrams – these use lines and are used to compare
scores (interval data)
sets of
Scattergraphs – these use dots and are used with correlations (data from one variable is
plotted against the X axis and the data from another variable is plotted against the Y axis).
Exercise 7
Produce an appropriate graph to display the following data:
1.
Results of a study into how age affects types of play:
Play
Solitary
Parallel
Co-operative
2.
2
8
9
3
3
4
7
9
Scores from Ps who were asked to rate speakers on intelligence on a scale
0-5 (where 5 was very intelligent) when speakers had Northern and Southern
accents.
Rating
1
2
3
4
5
3.
Age (years)
1
16
3
1
Southern
0
5
12
26
21
English
Northern
0
6
23
21
10
Results from a correlation study to see if practice on a driving test improves
performance:
Number of
attempts
1
2
3
4
5
6
Points
awarded
27
54
78
105
120
149
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Correlational studies (a non-experimental design)
Correlational studies are used to asses the strength of the relationship between variables i.e.
how strong is the link between two variables such as smoking and lung cancer? In this kind of
psychological study, there is no direct manipulation of the IV by the experimenter.
A correlation is not really a research method; it is really a tool of analysis as it makes use of
statistics to test this relationship between variables.
Correlations are often used when it is inappropriate or ethically unacceptable to use an
experimental design eg. Bowlby’s maternal Deprivation Hypothesis (1953) states that infants
who fail to bond with (attach to) a primary caregiver before the age of two are more likely to
show ‘delinquent behaviour’ in later life.
Q – What are the two linked variables here?
BPS guidelines would not allow an experiment to be conducted in order to test this hypothesis,
as it would be highly unethical to deprive an infant of an attachment with its parents in order to
further our psychological understanding. However a correlational study to test this theory would
be possible.
Q – How?
Supposing we formulated the following hypothesis:
Ps who sleep more than 7 hours per night (on average) in one year will gain higher marks in the
final A’Level exam than Ps who sleep less than 7 hours per night (on average) in one year.
Q – Is this a directional or non-directional hypothesis?
The results for this study are as follows:
P
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Hours of sleep Exam mark
(average)
8.5
73
5.8
52
5
35
6.1
61
7.4
66
6.9
70
7.4
65
6.6
56
7.5
71
8.9
79
The results in the table above seem quite closely related, that is where a P shows a low sleep
score (average hours per night) the P also tends to have a lower exam mark.
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Applying descriptive statistics
We can investigate the kind of correlational relationships that exist between variables by plotting
points of data on a scattergraph:
Draw a scattergraph for the above data.
(On a scattergraph it does not matter which variable goes on the X axis and which on the
Y axis).
If after a line of best fit has been drawn, the overall effect is a line moving upwards from bottom
left to top right, we have a positive correlation.
If the overall effect is a line moving downwards from top left to bottom right, we have a negative
correlation.
If points are scattered all over the graph, we have no correlation.
Q – What kind of correlation do we have for our sleep study?
Using textbooks write a list of the advantages and disadvantages of using a correlation.
Advantages
Disadvantages
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Key terms - You need to understand each of these terms in the context of a piece of
research. Test yourself as you go along and for revision.
1. Bar chart
20. Natural experiment
1. Confounding variables
21. Naturalistic observation
2. Correlational analysis
22. Negative correlation
3. Demand characteristics
23. Non-directional (two-tailed)
4. Directional (one-tailed) hypothesis
hypothesis
5. DV (dependent variable)
24. Null hypothesis
6. Experimental/alternative hypothesis
25. Opportunity sampling
7. Field experiment
26. Pilot study
8. Frequency polygon
27. Positive correlation
9. Histogram
28. Qualitative data
10. Independent groups design
29. Quantitative data
11. Interview
30. Quasi-experiment
12. Investigator effects
31. Questionnaire survey
13. IV (independent variable)
32. Random sampling
14. Laboratory experiment
33. Range
15. Matched pairs (matched
34. Reliability
participants) design
35. Repeated measures design
16. Mean
36. Research
17. Median
37. Sacttergraph
18. Mode
38. Standard deviation
19. Mundane realism
40. Validity
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Top tips for the exam!
You need to know everything in this booklet because there is a real chance that any of it
could come up in the exam.
As psychology is all about research, try and spot what method, design or sample was used in
studies as you revise your other topics eg. cognitive, social etc.
Read these bits of advice and then have a go at the following past paper. The more papers you
do the more familiar you will become with the format and the kind of questions that are asked.
This is an exam paper where practice really can make perfect!

Read the stimulus and the questions very carefully, the examiners are not trying to trick
you, even if sometimes it does seem like it.

Underline key terms and information in the stimulus material, for example the research
method used, the sampling technique, who is doing the research etc.

Be reasonable about ethics particularly protection from harm.

Use the wording in the stimulus to help you – you will generally find key phrases for the
hypothesis and aims right in front of you.
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