AQA A LEVEL PSYCHOLOGY PAPER 2:
RESEARCH METHODS {Questions With 100%
Correct Answers} ()(Verified by Expert)
Methods are what psychologists use to conduct their research. There are two areas of methods,
what are these? - CORRECT ANSWER>>Experimental Methods and Non-Experimental Methods
Outline what experimental methods consist of - CORRECT ANSWER>>Lab, natural, field and
quasi experiments
Outline what non-experimental methods consist of - CORRECT ANSWER>>Correlational
analysis, observations, case studies and self report (interviews and questionnaires)
Outline a lab experiment and evaluate it - CORRECT ANSWER>>Conducted within a lab which
has high control over the environment.
:) - High level of control over variables meaning that extraneous variables are likely to be
controlled and thus a cause and effect relationship can be established between IV and DV
:) - High reliability of results due to the tight control over variables meaning that it can be
repeated and findings can be checked for consistency
:( - It lacks ecological validity as it takes place in a very fake setting, with possibly a fake task,
therefore making it hard to generalise the results to other environments or settings
:( - It can encourage demand characteristics as participants know they are being
watched/recorded and thus they change their behaviour based on clues on what the aim is, to
suit what the researcher wants to see, this affects the accuracy of the results
Outline a field experiment and evaluate it - CORRECT ANSWER>>Takes place in a real
environment such as a school, and there is then an IV that is manipulated to effect the DV.
:) - Less prone to demand characteristics as people may not know they are taking part is an
experiment and thus will display natural behaviour
:) - High ecological validity as the setting is real life meaning the findings can then be generalised
to other settings beyond the study
:( - It lacks reliability in the findings as it is done in a setting where there is little control over
confounding variables meaning it is difficult to replicate it and get consistency in results
:( - Ethical issues can arise when conducting a field experiment as people are not aware they are
taking part and thus there is no informed consent that they are giving to be able to study them,
therefore there is risk that the participants will not want their results used and thus must be
removed
,Outline a natural experiment and evaluate it - CORRECT ANSWER>>In a real setting with a
naturally occurring IV, for example looking at the effect of stress after an earthquake hits a city.
:) - Participants show no demand characteristics at all as at the time of the IV occurring they did
not know about the study as this will show natural behaviour
:) - Very high ecological validity as it is set in a real environment and nothing is controlled, so
therefore you are able to generalise the findings beyond the setting of the study
:( - It lacks reliability as there is zero control over variables meaning that it is difficult to replicate
the experiment and get consistent results
:( - Due to the lack of control over extraneous variables it is very difficult to establish a cause
and effect relationship and thus this reduces the internal validity
Outline a quasi experiment and evaluate it - CORRECT ANSWER>>Quasi experiments have an IV
that is based on an existing difference between people such as age, no one has manipulated this
variable and it exists on its own, for example comparing achievement level of first-born children
with that of later-born children.
:) - They are often carried out in controlled conditions and therefore they share similar strengths
to that of a lab experiment
:( - Like natural experiments participants cant be randomly allocated to experimental conditions
so there may be confounding variables such as individual differences
Outline the 7 types of observations and for each evaluate them - CORRECT
ANSWER>>Controlled observation - this is where the conditions are manipulated by the
researcher and may be carried out in a laboratory
:) - High level of control over variables meaning that extraneous variables are likely to be
controlled and thus a cause and effect relationship can be established between IV and DV
:( - It can encourage demand characteristics as participants know they are being
watched/recorded and thus they change their behaviour based on clues on what the aim is, to
suit what the researcher wants to see, this affects the accuracy of the results
Naturalistic observation - Simply watching a natural behaviour in a natural environment, no
intervention occurs at all
:) - No room for demand characteristics as people do not know they are being watched and thus
wont change their behaviour
:( - They are almost impossible to replicate and this makes it lack reliability as ow level of control
over extraneous variables therefore it is hard to check for consistency
, Covert observation - This is where the participants are not aware they are being observed (one
way mirror/CCTV)
:) - No room for demand characteristics as people do not know they are being watched and thus
wont change their behaviour
:( - Ethical issues can arise as people are not aware they are taking part and thus there is no
informed consent that they are giving to be able to study them, therefore there is risk that the
participants will not want their results used and thus must be removed
Overt observation - Participants are aware they are being observed
:) - This avoids ethical issues arising
:( - It can encourage demand characteristics as participants know they are being
watched/recorded and thus they change their behaviour based on clues on what the aim is, to
suit what the researcher wants to see, this affects the accuracy of the results
Participan
Outline what an interview is and what types of interviews there are and evaluate each -
CORRECT ANSWER>>An interview is a method for asking people questions in a face to face
nature which sometimes may be over the phone/computer and is good for collecting qualitative
information
:) - Detailed quality information can be obtained which is better than quantitative data which
lacks human meaning, and thus we get a better insight into human behaviour
:) - Participants freely express themselves allowing them to be honest in their answers
:( - Social desirability can occur where participants lie to present themselves in the best possible
light, this is more likely if the topic is of high sensitivity
:( - Extremely time consuming to conduct hundreds of interviews unlike a questionnaire that can
just be sent to thousands of people
Structured interview - This is where questions are designed in advance with the aim of
structuring participants responses, the interviewer would follow a script.
:) - Less likely to deviate from the topic and thus easier to analyse the results
:( - No follow up questions if a new line of enquiry appears
Unstructured interview - May contain a topic area for discussion but no set questions. Provides
highly detailed data but is hard to analyse
:) - Effective for when the interview can adapt the questions based on the answers
:( - More affected by interviewer bias as the interviewer will be coming up with questions on the
spot which may be less objective/leading
RESEARCH METHODS {Questions With 100%
Correct Answers} ()(Verified by Expert)
Methods are what psychologists use to conduct their research. There are two areas of methods,
what are these? - CORRECT ANSWER>>Experimental Methods and Non-Experimental Methods
Outline what experimental methods consist of - CORRECT ANSWER>>Lab, natural, field and
quasi experiments
Outline what non-experimental methods consist of - CORRECT ANSWER>>Correlational
analysis, observations, case studies and self report (interviews and questionnaires)
Outline a lab experiment and evaluate it - CORRECT ANSWER>>Conducted within a lab which
has high control over the environment.
:) - High level of control over variables meaning that extraneous variables are likely to be
controlled and thus a cause and effect relationship can be established between IV and DV
:) - High reliability of results due to the tight control over variables meaning that it can be
repeated and findings can be checked for consistency
:( - It lacks ecological validity as it takes place in a very fake setting, with possibly a fake task,
therefore making it hard to generalise the results to other environments or settings
:( - It can encourage demand characteristics as participants know they are being
watched/recorded and thus they change their behaviour based on clues on what the aim is, to
suit what the researcher wants to see, this affects the accuracy of the results
Outline a field experiment and evaluate it - CORRECT ANSWER>>Takes place in a real
environment such as a school, and there is then an IV that is manipulated to effect the DV.
:) - Less prone to demand characteristics as people may not know they are taking part is an
experiment and thus will display natural behaviour
:) - High ecological validity as the setting is real life meaning the findings can then be generalised
to other settings beyond the study
:( - It lacks reliability in the findings as it is done in a setting where there is little control over
confounding variables meaning it is difficult to replicate it and get consistency in results
:( - Ethical issues can arise when conducting a field experiment as people are not aware they are
taking part and thus there is no informed consent that they are giving to be able to study them,
therefore there is risk that the participants will not want their results used and thus must be
removed
,Outline a natural experiment and evaluate it - CORRECT ANSWER>>In a real setting with a
naturally occurring IV, for example looking at the effect of stress after an earthquake hits a city.
:) - Participants show no demand characteristics at all as at the time of the IV occurring they did
not know about the study as this will show natural behaviour
:) - Very high ecological validity as it is set in a real environment and nothing is controlled, so
therefore you are able to generalise the findings beyond the setting of the study
:( - It lacks reliability as there is zero control over variables meaning that it is difficult to replicate
the experiment and get consistent results
:( - Due to the lack of control over extraneous variables it is very difficult to establish a cause
and effect relationship and thus this reduces the internal validity
Outline a quasi experiment and evaluate it - CORRECT ANSWER>>Quasi experiments have an IV
that is based on an existing difference between people such as age, no one has manipulated this
variable and it exists on its own, for example comparing achievement level of first-born children
with that of later-born children.
:) - They are often carried out in controlled conditions and therefore they share similar strengths
to that of a lab experiment
:( - Like natural experiments participants cant be randomly allocated to experimental conditions
so there may be confounding variables such as individual differences
Outline the 7 types of observations and for each evaluate them - CORRECT
ANSWER>>Controlled observation - this is where the conditions are manipulated by the
researcher and may be carried out in a laboratory
:) - High level of control over variables meaning that extraneous variables are likely to be
controlled and thus a cause and effect relationship can be established between IV and DV
:( - It can encourage demand characteristics as participants know they are being
watched/recorded and thus they change their behaviour based on clues on what the aim is, to
suit what the researcher wants to see, this affects the accuracy of the results
Naturalistic observation - Simply watching a natural behaviour in a natural environment, no
intervention occurs at all
:) - No room for demand characteristics as people do not know they are being watched and thus
wont change their behaviour
:( - They are almost impossible to replicate and this makes it lack reliability as ow level of control
over extraneous variables therefore it is hard to check for consistency
, Covert observation - This is where the participants are not aware they are being observed (one
way mirror/CCTV)
:) - No room for demand characteristics as people do not know they are being watched and thus
wont change their behaviour
:( - Ethical issues can arise as people are not aware they are taking part and thus there is no
informed consent that they are giving to be able to study them, therefore there is risk that the
participants will not want their results used and thus must be removed
Overt observation - Participants are aware they are being observed
:) - This avoids ethical issues arising
:( - It can encourage demand characteristics as participants know they are being
watched/recorded and thus they change their behaviour based on clues on what the aim is, to
suit what the researcher wants to see, this affects the accuracy of the results
Participan
Outline what an interview is and what types of interviews there are and evaluate each -
CORRECT ANSWER>>An interview is a method for asking people questions in a face to face
nature which sometimes may be over the phone/computer and is good for collecting qualitative
information
:) - Detailed quality information can be obtained which is better than quantitative data which
lacks human meaning, and thus we get a better insight into human behaviour
:) - Participants freely express themselves allowing them to be honest in their answers
:( - Social desirability can occur where participants lie to present themselves in the best possible
light, this is more likely if the topic is of high sensitivity
:( - Extremely time consuming to conduct hundreds of interviews unlike a questionnaire that can
just be sent to thousands of people
Structured interview - This is where questions are designed in advance with the aim of
structuring participants responses, the interviewer would follow a script.
:) - Less likely to deviate from the topic and thus easier to analyse the results
:( - No follow up questions if a new line of enquiry appears
Unstructured interview - May contain a topic area for discussion but no set questions. Provides
highly detailed data but is hard to analyse
:) - Effective for when the interview can adapt the questions based on the answers
:( - More affected by interviewer bias as the interviewer will be coming up with questions on the
spot which may be less objective/leading
