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The aim of this booklet is to provide you with practical activities to enhance your understanding of research methods in psychology. Once completed it will provide a valuable revision tool…so take care of it!!
Methods and techniques
Candidates will be expected to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the following research methods, their advantages and weaknesses:

Experimental method, including laboratory, field and natural experiments.

Studies using correlational analysis.

Observational techniques.

Self report techniques including questionnaire and interview.

Case studies.
Candidates should be familiar with the following features of investigation design: Investigation design
Data analysis and presentation

Aims.

Hypothesis, including directional and non-directional.

Experimental design (independent groups, repeated measures and matched pairs).

Design of naturalistic observations, including the development and use of behavioural categories.

Design of questionnaires and interviews.

Operationalisation of variables, including independent and dependent variables.

Pilot studies.

Control of extraneous variables.

Reliability and validity.

Awareness of the British Psychological Society (BPS) Code of Ethics.

Selection of participants and sampling techniques, including random, opportunity and volunteer sampling.

Demand characteristics and investigator effects.
Candidates should be familiar with the following features of data analysis, presentation and interpretation:

Presentation and interpretation of quantitative data including graphs, scattergrams and tables.

Analysis and interpretation of quantitative data. Measures of central tendency including median, mean, mode. Measures of dispersion including ranges and standard deviation.

Analysis and interpretation of correlational data. Positive and negative correlations and the interpretation of correlation coefficients.

Presentation of qualitative data.

Processes involved in content analysis.

The term experimental method refers to the method used to carry out the experiment.
There are three main types of experiment – laboratory, field and natural experiments.
Fill in the table below:
Research
Method
Laboratory experiment
Definition:
Field experiment
Quasi / natural experiment
Advantage(s) Disadvantage(s)

For each of the following examples identify which experimental method is being used.
1.
A researcher wanted to find out the effects of caffeine on memory. The researcher had two groups of participants in a controlled environment. One group drank strong coffee and were then given a list of words to recall. The second group were given a warm caffeine free drink and were given a list of words to recall.
Answer: _____________________________________
2.
Researchers were interested in factors affecting aggression in primary aged children such as age and gender. They produced a sheet of behavioural categories including typical aggressive behaviours and studied children in a primary school playground. The children did not know they were being observed.
Answer: _____________________________________
3.
Researchers were interested in attachment styles and how they affect ‘stranger anxiety’ and so created an appropriate scenario within a room. The children were brought into the room with their parents and then the parent left them alone with a stranger. The researcher’s video recorded and watched the childrens’ behaviour using a two-way mirror.
Answer: _____________________________________
4.
A researcher wanted to see if people would help someone on the tube. They set up a situation where a confederate would collapse during a tube journey. The confederate appeared drunk in one condition and sick in the other condition. The researchers observed the behaviours of the passengers witnessing the event.
Answer: _____________________________________

What might be the ethical considerations associated with each method?
Lab:
Field:
Natural:

What is an aim?
What about a hypothesis?
Aims are normally very straight forward. For example, what might the aim be for the following research questions?
1.
Does background noise affect memory?
2.
Do students who revise perform better in AS exams?
3.
Are blondes really dumb?
Hypotheses
There are two different types of hypothesis, an experimental/alternate hypothesis and a null hypothesis. An experimental / alternate hypothesis is a prediction about what the researcher expects to find and a null hypothesis is a prediction that no difference or effect will be found.
Experimental / alternate hypotheses can be:
 One tailed (directional)
 Two tailed (non-directional)
A directional (one tailed) hypothesis states which direction the results are expected to go in, for example “Boys will gain higher A level grades in Maths than Girls”.

A non directional (2 tailed) hypothesis is less clear of the direction the results will go in, for example, “There will be a difference between boys & girls in A level grades achieved in
Maths…”
A null hypothesis for this experiment would go something like: “There will be no difference between boys and girls in the A level grades achieved in maths”

Now write one directional, one non-directional and one null hypothesis for a study on the effects of noise on task performance below:
Directional (one tailed):
Non-Directional (two tailed):
Null:

• In an experiment there is an independent variable (IV) manipulated by the researcher.
• The effects of the IV on another variable are observed or measured. This variable is called the dependent variable (DV).
• Ideally the participants are allocated randomly to the conditions.
Caffeine increases performance
IV
DV
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 will give children more 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 –

Many of the concepts used in hypotheses are abstract; operationalising a variable is saying what you are going to measure in precise terms.
Example:
Hypothesis
Alcohol affects reaction time.
Operationalised hypothesis
The amount of alcohol (mg) consumed affects reaction time ( in seconds)
Operationalise the following examples
1.
Alcohol affects reaction time.
Operationalised IV: _____________________________________________________
Operationalised DV: _____________________________________________________
Operationalised experimental hypothesis:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
2.
Bulls will charge more often when presented with a red rag than when presented with a blue rag.
Operationalised IV: _____________________________________________________
Operationalised DV: _____________________________________________________
Operationalised experimental hypothesis:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________

3.
Boys are more aggressive than girls.
Operationalised IV: _____________________________________________________
Operationalised DV: _____________________________________________________
Operationalised experimental hypothesis:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
4.
The faster you type, the more mistakes you make.
Operationalised IV: _____________________________________________________
Operationalised DV: _____________________________________________________
Operationalised experimental hypothesis:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
5.
The amount of sleep affect exam results
Operationalised IV: _____________________________________________________
Operationalised DV: _____________________________________________________
Operationalised experimental hypothesis:
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
6.
Anxiety affects the level of adrenaline in the blood.
Operationalised IV: _____________________________________________________
Operationalised DV: _____________________________________________________
Operationalised experimental hypothesis:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

Once the researcher has chosen the experimental method which best suits the nature of the study, they then have to choose what type of design it will have. The choices are repeated measures,
independent groups and matched pairs.
Task: Cut out paper men to identify repeated measures, independent groups and matched pairs design!
Now fill in the table below:
Experimental Design:
Repeated measures:
The same PPs are used in both conditions.
Independent Groups:
PPs are randomly allocated to different groups which represent the different conditions.
Matched Pairs:
Pairs of PPs are closely matched and are then randomly allocated to one of the experimental conditions.
Strengths Weaknesses

Which design is being used here?
1) Researchers wanted to find out whether a new teaching method could improve verbal reasoning ability in 5 year olds. In one condition the children were taught the new method and in the other they were taught a traditional method. Each participant in the new method group was matched with a participant from the other condition.
2) Researchers were looking at whether people remembered more in the morning or evening. They gave one set of participants free recall tests in the morning and the other set of participants free recall tests in the afternoon and compared their results.
3) A researcher recruited 20 participants into their experiment. All participants completed a musical task and then a written task. Their abilities to perform each task under pressure were compared.

An extraneous variable is any variable other than the independent variable that can affect the dependent variable.
There are different types of extraneous variables:
1.
Participant variables: a characteristic a participant might have which will influence the DV i.e. if a dyslexic participant takes part in a study focused on spelling, his/ her dyslexia will influence his/her performance.
2.
Situational variables: something in the environment which influences the participants’ performance i.e. if it too hot or too cold the participants might not focus on the task as they are uncomfortable.
3.
Investigator variables: the researcher influences the results without necessarily meaning to i.e. if the researcher is “fit” the participants might try harder to perform the task, the researcher might unwittingly give hints about the results he/she expect and the participants might change their behaviour to
“fit in” with his/her expectations.
1.
Identify the independent and dependent variables.
2.
Identify extraneous variables.
3.
Suggest how the extraneous variables could influence the results of the experiment and how they could be controlled.
Researchers investigated whether noise affects concentration.
To measure concentration, the participants were asked to complete a word search, either in silence or with music playing.
Variables: a.
noise levels_______________________________________________ b.
time of day________________________________________________ c.
the word searches__________________________________________ d.
age of participants___________________________________________

e.
number of words found in the word search________________________
How could extraneous variables influence the results of the experiment and how could they be controlled?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Experiment 2:
Researchers investigated whether memory is affected by time of day. Participants were asked to look at a list of words and then immediately recall them. They were tested in the morning one day, and in the afternoon on the next day.
Variables: a.
length of the words_____________________________________ b.
time of day____________________________________________ c.
time allowed to look at the words___________________________ d.
number of words remembered_____________________________ e.
age of participants_______________________________________ f.
the researcher___________________________________________
How could extraneous variables influence the results of the experiment and how could they be controlled?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

Experiment 3:
Researchers investigated how short-term memory is encoded. Participants were asked to listen to lists of words that were acoustically similar or dissimilar, or semantically similar or dissimilar. They were then asked to recall the lists of words in the correct order.
Variables: a.
noise levels________________________________________________ b.
time of day_________________________________________________ c.
time before being asked to recall the words________________________ d.
number of words recalled correctly_______________________________ e.
list of words_________________________________________________ f.
the researcher_______________________________________________
How could extraneous variables influence the results of the experiment and how could they be controlled?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Experiment 4:
Researchers investigated the effect of leading questions on eyewitness recall. Participants were asked to watch a film of a traffic accident before estimating the speed of the vehicles involved. The researcher used different verbs, like smashed, collided, contacted, bumped or hit, to describe the accident to the participants.
Variables: a.
estimated speed of vehicles__________________________________________ b.
noise levels_______________________________________________________ c.
age of participants__________________________________________________ d.
time of day________________________________________________________ e.
verb used to describe the accident_____________________________________ f.
the researcher_____________________________________________________

How could extraneous variables influence the results of the experiment and how could they be controlled?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
Extraneous variables
Choose a different colour for each type of extraneous variable and colour variables to match heading.
Situational variables Participants variables
Investigator variables expectations mood noise time of day gender experimental design motivation temperature

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.
Demand characteristics:
Experimenter bias:

b.
Teenagers in a youth club are observed to see if girls are more co-operative than boys.
Demand characteristics:
Experimenter bias: 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.
Demand characteristics:
Experimenter bias:

Target population: The group from which the sample was drawn, and the group it is hoped the results can be generalised to.
Sample: A group drawn from the target population
Representative sample: A sample which matches the target population. It has the same subgroups in the same proportions. It means the results will generalise to the target population.
Weaknesses Technique
Random Sampling
Choosing people from the target population, with every person having an equal chance of being picked. It can be done by putting ‘all names in a hat’, or in a computer which can pick them out randomly
Opportunity Sampling
When P’s are picked as the opportunity arises. It means using those who happen to be there at the time. For example, using the people that happen to be in the canteen, or that you meet in the corridor, or the people in your class that day.
Volunteer/Self-selected
Sampling
This means the participants pick themselves. This is seen when volunteers are used, or when people respond to phone surveys or magazine questionnaires.
Strengths

DEFINITION OF ETHICS = “A branch of philosophy concerned with that which is deemed acceptable in human behaviour, with what is good or bad, right or wrong with human conduct in pursuit of goals and aims.”
What is the BPS?
What is an ethic committee and what does it do?
What is the cost benefit analysis?
Costs to the participants
What should happen if a psychologist behaves in an unethical manner?
Benefits to society
Peter Piper Cried When Charles
Darwin Died
Protection of participants Privacy Consent Withdrawal Confidentiality Deception
Debriefing

1) What is the purpose of ethical guidelines?
2) Why are they important to follow?
3) When can research be excused for not following some of these guidelines?
4) How would you, as a researcher, control for the following ethical issues:
 Deception

Informed Consent

Protection from Harm
 Right to Withdraw
 Confidentiality

Fill in the table with definitions and then answer the following questions.
Validity
Experimental
Validity
Internal validity
Ecological/
External validity
Reliability Internal:
External:
T
HE
P
SYCHO
-
MEASURE
I
NTELLIGENCE
T
EST
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Why don’t you buy one ……. Astound your friends!
1. Which of the following statements best describes the PSYCHO-MEASURE
INTELLIGENCE TEST? Put a tick against your answer. a) The test is reliable and valid ____ b) The test is reliable but not valid ____ c) The test is valid but not reliable ____ d) The test is neither reliable or valid ____
2. Describe ONE way that you could assess the reliability of the PSYCHOMEASURE test.
2.
Describe ONE way that you could assess the validity of the PSYCHOMEASURE test.
3.
Which research method seems the most likely to be reliable? Explain your answer.
4.
Are non-experimental research methods reliable? Explain your answer.
5.
How can the reliability of observations be improved?

6.
What is the split-half method? When and why is it used?
7.
What is the test-retest method? When and why is it used?
8.
What is population validity?
A pilot study is a small scale trial run of a research design before doing the real thing. It is done in order to find out if certain things don’t work. For example, participants may not understand instructions or it may be too easy to guess what the experiment is about. They may also get bored if there are too many tasks or too many questions. In an observation the behavioural categories chosen may be unclear or there may be behaviours that are not included.
If you can try out the design on a small number of typical participants you can see what needs to be adjusted without having to potentially waste a large amount of time & money.
Designing a pilot study is often one of the best ways to check that everything in your actual experiment will run smoothly (as much as possible!).
9.
A pilot study is a ___________ scale study conducted on a small
________________sample. It helps the researcher to identify any ___________ problems with the ___________ method, design, _____________ given to participants and so on. Pilot studies can also be used in self report studies to check items on a
______________ to make sure that they are easy to answer and unambiguous. It is also used in an _____________________ to check the suitability of a behavioural checklist.
Imagine you have been asked to carry out an experiment into the effects of music on the ability to recall words from a list. Why is it important to carry out a pilot study before conducting the actual experiment?

A researcher might decide to conduct an observation instead of an experiment. There are two types of observational method to chose from – a naturalistic observation or a controlled observation. Be careful not to confuse a naturalistic observation with a
natural experiment - the two are different!
Fill in the table below:
Definition: Strength:
Naturalistic
Observation:
Weakness Example:
Controlled
Observation:

Observations can further be divided into sub-categories:
 P____________ based
 N____- P______________ based
Which form of observation is being described below?
This form of observation requires the researcher to take part in the situation being studied.
Answer: _____________________
Participants are usually aware that they are being studied. This is also known as an overt observation.
Answer: _____________________
This form of observation occurs when the researcher observes behaviour from outside of the situation.
Answer: _____________________
The participants usually do not know that they are being studied. This is also known as a covert observation.
Answer: _____________________
Behavioural Categories:
A behavioural category is a specific type of behaviour which is defined before the study takes place. It allows researchers to focus their investigation on a specific behaviour in order to gather the most valid and reliable data. Carrying out an observation without the use of these would not be a clever idea!
Which behavioural categories could you expect to be looking out for when conducting a naturalistic observation of behaviour on the tube?
Category:

When planning an observation a researcher needs to operationally define key terms (i.e. 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.
1.
What are: a) Naturalistic observations? b) Controlled observations? c) Participant observations? d) Disclosed observations? e) Undisclosed observations?
2.
What is observer bias?
3.
How can reliability be maximised when an observation is conducted?

4.
What ethical issues arise when devising a naturalistic observation?
Collet & Marsh (1981) looked at the way adult pedestrians avoid colliding into one another on a pedestrian crossing. They noticed the 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 collision-avoidance 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?
5.
Suggest one advantage and one disadvantage of this design in the context of this investigation.
6.
How might you ensure reliability among different observers?
7.
How could you ensure this study was carried out in an ethically acceptable manner?

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 Pp and researcher whereas a questionnaire requires a written response.
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?
5.
Explain what social desirability effects are?

Explain the advantages and disadvantages of questionnaires.
6.
Define the different types of interviews
Structured Interviews
Unstructured interviews
7.
What advantages and disadvantages do interviews have compared with questionnaires?

As with the previous research methods we have learned about, this is a non-experimental technique.
A case study is an in depth study of one person or a small group of people. It can also refer to the study of an institution (such as a school or hospital) or an event. It uses a range of sources from both the person under investigation, and from their family and friends.
What is a Case Study?
A case study is technically a type of research method, but more often it is actually a combination of many types of research method. A pure case study would just be a detailed written account the person, their behaviour, and the researcher’s interpretations. In reality however, a researcher might use a lab experiment, a questionnaire, a psychometric test, an observation, etc as part of the case study.
Psychometric Test: A type of questionnaire which specifically measures some aspect of personality or ability e.g. an IQ test or an assessment of personality type.
For example, a case study on a person with Alzheimer’s disease a researcher might
 Carry out a structured observation to see what particular behaviour the person shows
 Assess their cognitive ability with a psychometric test
 Test their co-ordination with a lab experiment
 Conduct interviews and questionnaires with the friends and relatives of the person
 Correlate two or more variables such as the person’s alertness with the number of hours they sleep
All of these research methods are combined to create an in depth understanding of one person (or small group of people, institution, event etc.). The findings are organised to represent the person’s thoughts, emotions, experiences and abilities. In this way, case studies are different from other methods of research as it is an idiographic method of investigation, rather than nomothetic like the other methods we have looked at so far.
In a case study, often it is qualitative data which is recorded. However, depending on what other methods are used (see above) quantitative data is often collected. Case studies are often longitudinal meaning that they follow the person over an extended period of time.

Strengths and Weaknesses of Case Studies
As case studies often involve the use of other research methods, the evaluation of any case study can also include evaluation of the other methods it uses. For example, if evaluating a case study which has used observations as one method, we could include relevant strengths and weaknesses of observations in our evaluation.
However, there are some evaluation points specific to case studies.
A few things that you could include: Ethics, validity, reliability, quality of data, subjectivity in interpretation, gaining an insight and a deeper understanding, how easy is data to analyse, generalisability, some things that can only be investigated with a case study, practicality, anything else!
Strengths Weaknesses

 Name one person studied through the use of a case study:
 What were the main findings of the study?

Correlational studies are used to assess the strength of the relationship between variables, i.e. how strong is the link between two variables such as smoking and lung cancer?
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, e.g. 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.
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 correlation study to test this theory would be possible.
How?
Supposing we formulated the following hypothesis:
‘Participants who sleep more than 7 hours per night (on average) in one year will gain higher marks in the final A Level exam than Participants who sleep less than 7 hours per night (on average) in one year’.

Is this a directional or non-directional hypothesis?
The results for this study are as follows:
P
Hours of sleep
(average)
Exam mark
1
2
8.5
5.8
73
52
3
4
5
5
6.1
7.4
35
61
66
8
9
6
7
6.9
7.4
6.6
7.5
70
65
56
71
10 8.9 79
The results in the table above seem quite closely related, that is, where a Pp shows a low sleep score (average hours per night) the Pp also tends to have a lower exam mark.
However what other factors could be involved?

Advantages and disadvantages of correlation studies
We can investigate the kind of correlational relationships that exist between variables by plotting points of data on a scattergraph:
Results from a correlation study to see if practice on a driving test performance: improves

Number of attempts
1
2
5
6
3
4
Points awarded
27
54
78
105
120
149
Draw a scattergraph for the above data.
(On a scattergraph it does not matter which variable goes on the X axis and which
goes on the Y axis as there is no IV or DV, just 2 co-variables).
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.
Correlation coefficient
The coefficient can be calculated using the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient test.
This indicates how strong (or weak) the relationship between the two factors is.

Negative coefficients indicate a negative correlation (when one factor increases the other factor decreases), a positive coefficient indicates a positive correlation (when one factor increases the other increases too).
The stronger the relationship, the closer to 1 or -1 the coefficient is. For weak relationships the coefficient is closer to 0.
Exercise:
Place the following coefficient in order from the stronger to the weaker
-0.8, +0.7, +.0.45, +0.68, -0.75

As with previous research methods we have learned about, this is a non-experimental technique. In brief, a content analysis is a specific type of observation. However, instead of observing behaviour directly, we observe and analyse the content of things produced by people, such as TV shows, magazines etc.
What is a Content Analysis?
A content analysis does what it says: an analysis of the content of something! That “something” is called an artefact (which is just a technical way of saying “something made by people”). This could be magazines, television programmes, websites, advertisements etc. The researcher is aiming to identify patterns and trends, and to describe the content in a systematic way so that conclusions can be drawn. For example, a researcher might want to analyse the content of car adverts, to see if men and women are portrayed differently in the adverts.
A content analysis is a form of indirect observation. It is indirect, because you are not observing people directly, but observing them through the artefacts that they produce. The process is similar to that of an observation.
What happens in a content analysis?
Sample: a content analysis is different from other research methods in that the sample is not a group of people. The sample will be the
artefacts that are to be analysed. This needs to be representative. For example, if looking at gender stereotypes in car adverts that appear in magazines, you would need a wide range of different magazines to get a representative sample. If you only used men’s magazines, your sample would be biased, and you may not be able to generalise your results.
Coding System: Similarly to an observation, the researcher has to create a coding system, which breaks down the information into categories. So for the example above, for each advert, you may first identify the gender of person in the car advert, and then tally what they are depicted doing. These behavioural categories might be:







Driving the car
Passenger in the car
Washing the car
Loading up the boot
Sitting on the bonnet
Looking at the car
Etc.....

The researcher would then tally each time either a man or woman was seen doing a particular behaviour in the advert. This is called a quantitative analysis.
An alternative to having a coding system like above is to do a qualitative analysis. This is where the researcher has categories and chooses a particular example to illustrate this category. So for the category “Driving the car” he might choose the picture above left as a demonstration. Instead of counting the data, it is described (hence qualitative rather than quantitative).
Results: the researcher then looks at the data he has collected, and draws conclusions. For example, he may find that many more men are depicted driving the cars than women, and women are more likely to be seen as passengers. He might conclude from this that there is a gender bias in the way cars are advertised.
Strengths and weaknesses of content analysis
 Content analyses tend to have high ecological validity because it is based on observations of what people actually do; real communications that are current and relevant such as recent newspapers or children’s books. Therefore, it also has high mundane realism.
 Also, as the artefacts that are being analyzed already exist, there is no chance of
demand characteristics. The person who created the artefact did not know that what they created would be used in a content analysis, and therefore, this could not have affected them.
 Unlike other methods of observation, content analysis can be replicated by others. So long as the artefacts that are being analysed are available for others (the same magazines, TV shows etc), the analysis could be repeated and reliability assessed.
 Reliability can also be assessed using inter-observer reliability (see below)
 A big weakness in a content analysis, as in all observations, is observer bias. This can affect both the objectivity and validity of findings as different observers might interpret the meanings of the categories in the coding system differently.
 There can be a big culture bias as the interpretation of verbal or written content will be affected by the language and culture of the observer and the coding system used.

 Similarly to other non-experimental methods, we cannot draw cause and effect relationships
Dealing with validity in content analyses
 As in other research methods, validity can be affected by having an unrepresentative sample. Remember, in a content analysis, the sample is not a group of people, but the artefacts that you decide to analyse. o To deal with this, the researcher needs to ensure that the sample is representative. For example, if looking for racial stereotypes in TV adverts, you would need a range of adverts, for a range of different products, which are shown at different times of the day and on different channels.

The coding system could also be an issue with regards to validity. The coding system may not actually be measuring what you intend to measure. We can assess how valid our measuring system by: o Content validity: are we measuring what we intent to measure? We could ask a panel of experts of assess our coding system.

In a content analysis, there may be an observer bias. The observer doing the analysis may have an idea of what they hope to find, and so have a bias to only record those bits of information that fit their theory. o One way to overcome this is to use a double blind technique, where the person doing the observing does not know that aim of the study, and so will not have a bias.
Dealing with reliability in content analyses

The reliability of a content analysis refers to how consistent we would expect the results to be. In other words, the same results should be gained if repeated. The coding system should therefore be clear and easy to use. It should be objective so that a particular behaviour will only be recorded in one category. There are a number of ways to assess reliability in a content analysis: o Test-retest: another researcher (or even the same researcher) can repeat the analysis using the same coding system and the same artefacts. If the analysis is reliable, the same results should be gained. o Inter-observer reliability: Two or more observers can analyse the same artefacts. Their results are correlated. If the coding system is reliable, there should be more than 80% agreement. o Reliability can also be increased by training the observers in the use of the coding system through practice.
Exercise;
Why not conduct your own content analysis?
There are a number of ideas listed below;
1. Characteristics used by males & females to advertise themselves and/or seek in others in ‘Lonely Hearts’ columns.
2. Number of aggressive acts seen in TV programmes screened before & after the
‘watershed’.
3. Gender role stereotyping in childrens books
4. Gender role stereotyping in films from different eras..
5. Gender role stereotyping in soap operas.

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.
 e.g.: 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 in relation to one another.
E.g. 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.
E.g. In our 100m race the finishing times of runners would be interval data:
Clarke, N 11.4 seconds
Smith, H 11.9 seconds
Lloyd, P 12.1 seconds

What type of data? - Read the following and decide whether they are nominal, ordinal or interval: (write N, O or I after each example)
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 1-100 where 100 was ‘fascinating’).
7.
The number of aggressive / non aggressive acts in a Tom and Jerry cartoon and a
South Park cartoon.
8. Reaction times in an experiment on the effects of caffeine (mg) on reaction time?

Descriptive statistics allow research data to be described and presented. It is not helpful to the reader to be given the raw data from 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.
E.g. the results from a test (marked out of 50)
2.
1.
36 39 21 18 32 30 = 176
176 / 6 = 36
Mean = 36
Exercise 1
Find the mean of the following.
The % scores in a Sociology exam:
52 64 58 41 32 76 12 74 23
The number of library books borrowed by students in one year:
14 9 6 12 18 9 4 7 12 2 8

3. The amount spent on weekly shopping (£):
45 84 52 38 42 66 132 54 67 93
What are the strengths of the mean?
What are the limitations of the mean?
MEDIAN – this is the central value in a set of scores after they have been put in rank order:
E.g. 95 109 121 130 140 Median = 121
If there is an even number of scores we take the mean of the two central values:
E.g. 95 109 121 135 140 180
121 + 135 = 256 / 2 = 128
Exercise 2
Find the median values for questions 1-3 above.

What are the strengths of the median?
What are the limitations of the median?
MODE - this is the most commonly occurring value in a set of scores:
E.g. 1 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 7
Mode = 5
Exercise 3
2.
1.
Find the mode of the following:
The heights of the teachers at Aquinas 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
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
What are the strengths of the mode?
What are the limitations of the mode?
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 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
1.
Find the range for the following set of scores:
Age at which Pps claim to have first ‘been in love’

2.
21 19 22 18 25 21
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
What are the strengths of the range?
What are the limitations of the range?
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 Mean d d 2
6
8
10
12
14
10
10
10
10
10
-4
-2
0
+2
+4
16
4
0
4
16
Total 40
Mean of 40 = 8 (= variance)
Square root of variance = standard deviation = 2.8
What are the strengths of the standard deviation?
What are the limitations of the standard deviation?

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 sets of scores (interval data)
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
Produce an appropriate graph to display the following data:
1. Results of a study into how age affects types of play:
Play Age (years)
1 2
8
Solitary
Parallel
16
3
Co-operative 1
9
3
3
4
7
9

2. Scores from Pps who were asked to rate speakers on intelligence on a scale
0-5 (where 5 was very intelligent) when speakers had Northern and Southern
English accents.
4
5
2
3
Rating
1
Southern
0
5
12
26
21
Northern
0
6
23
21
10

Hill.G, 1998 Psychology Through Diagrams Oxford University Press

January 2009
A psychologist showed participants 100 different cards, one at a time.
Each card had two unrelated words printed on it, e.g. DOG, HAT.
Participants in one group were instructed to form a mental image to link the words.
Participants in the other group were instructed simply to memorise the words.
After all the word pairs had been presented, each participant was shown a card with the first word of each pair printed on it. Participants were asked to recall the second word.
The following results were found.
Number of words correctly recalled
Mental Image
Group
Memorising Group
Mean Score 80 45
3 (a) What is the independent variable (IV) in this study?
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3 (b) What is the dependent variable (DV) in this study?
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3 (c) What experimental design was used in this study?
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3 (d) Explain one strength of this experimental design in the context of this study.
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3 (e) Explain how a psychologist could find out whether these results are reliable.
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January 2010
A psychologist carried out a field experiment to investigate the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. The participants were pupils and parents attending a school concert. Just before the concert began, two professional actors had an argument on the stage. During the argument, one actor pushed the other actor. Both actors then left the stage. Some of the audience were approached as they left the concert and were asked to take part in an experiment. Those who agreed were taken to a quiet room and were asked some questions about the argument. For some participants, the questions included, “Did you see the man in glasses push the other man?” In fact, neither man was wearing glasses.
The participants were then asked to describe the argument in their own words.
3 (a) What is a field experiment?
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3(b) Other than ethical issues, outline one weakness of using a field experiment in this investigation.
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3 (c) Suggest why the psychologist included the question about the man in glasses.
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(2 marks)
3
(d) The psychologist applied content analysis to each participant’s description of the argument. One behavioural category the psychologist selected was “pushing”.
Suggest one other relevant behavioural category the psychologist could select.
Explain how the content analysis could be carried out.
Behavioural category .......................................................................................................
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Explanation of how the content analysis could be carried out ...................................
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January 2011
Psychologists carried out a laboratory experiment to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive interviews. All participants watched the same film of a robbery. They were randomly allocated to Group One or Group Two . Participants were then asked to recall the robbery. The investigators used a cognitive interview to access recall of participants in Group One and a standard interview to access recall of participants in
Group Two .
The results of this experiment are summarised in Figure 1 below.
3 (a) What experimental design was used in this experiment?
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(1 mark)
3 (b) Explain one limitation of the design that was used in this experiment.
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3 (c) Explain what the results suggest about the effectiveness of the cognitive interview.
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3 (d) Participants in the standard interview were simply asked to describe what happened in the film.
Suggest one way in which participants in the cognitive interview condition could have been asked to recall what happened.
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3 (e) What is meant by the term investigator effects? Explain possible investigator effects in this study.
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3 Some psychology students read about an experiment which suggested that organisation is a useful strategy for improving memory. The students carried out an experiment to investigate the effects of organisation on word recall. They made up a list of 50 items that could be bought in a supermarket. The participants were teachers at their school. One group of participants saw the words organised into categories such as fruit, vegetables, dairy products and cleaning materials. The other group saw the same words presented randomly.
The results are given in Table 1 below.
Table 1 The number of words correctly recalled by participants who saw the organised list and participants who saw the random list

(a) Identify a suitable measure of central tendency that could be used with these data.
Justify your answer.
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3 (b) The psychology students decided to use a volunteer sample. Suggest one way in which this sample could be obtained.
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3 (c) Suggest one possible extraneous variable in this study.
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3 (d) Suggest one way in which the students could control for this extraneous variable.
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