AQA A Level Psychology Research
Methods with correct answers graded A
Methods are what psychologists use to conduct their research. There are two areas of methods, what
are these? - correct answerExperimental Methods and Non-Experimental Methods
Outline what experimental methods consist of - correct answerLab, natural, field and quasi experiments
Outline what non-experimental methods consist of - correct answerCorrelational analysis, observations,
case studies and self report (interviews and questionnaires)
Outline a lab experiment and evaluate it - correct answerConducted 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 answerTakes 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
, AQA A Level Psychology Research
Methods with correct answers graded A
Outline a natural experiment and evaluate it - correct answerIn 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 answerQuasi 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 answerControlled 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
Methods with correct answers graded A
Methods are what psychologists use to conduct their research. There are two areas of methods, what
are these? - correct answerExperimental Methods and Non-Experimental Methods
Outline what experimental methods consist of - correct answerLab, natural, field and quasi experiments
Outline what non-experimental methods consist of - correct answerCorrelational analysis, observations,
case studies and self report (interviews and questionnaires)
Outline a lab experiment and evaluate it - correct answerConducted 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 answerTakes 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
, AQA A Level Psychology Research
Methods with correct answers graded A
Outline a natural experiment and evaluate it - correct answerIn 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 answerQuasi 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 answerControlled 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
