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Research Methods EQs (PMS)
Research Methods EQs (PMS)
Module
Psychology
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University of Cambridge
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Research findings indicate an improvement in memory if the locations of learning and recall are
the same. To test these findings, an experiment was conducted under the following conditions:
Condition 1: 20 people learned and recalled Word list A in the same location.
Condition 2: The same 20 people learned Word list B in one location and recalled Word list B
in a different location.
The experiment was counterbalanced and the two conditions were completed in a single day.
1.
(a) Identify the type of experiment used in this study.
A Independent groups
B Laboratory
C Matched pairs
D Natural
E Quasi
F Repeated measures
(1)
(b) Identify the experimental design used in this study.
A Independent groups
B Laboratory
C Matched pairs
D Natural
E Quasi
F Repeated measures
(1)
(c) Identify the operationalised dependent variable in this study.
(2)
(d) In order to produce the two word lists, a set of 50 words was identified. These were
allocated to two word lists of equal length by a process of randomisation.
Explain how randomisation could be used to produce Word list A and Word list B.
(3)
(e) Explain the benefit of using randomisation to produce the word lists for this study.
(2)
(f) The 50 words used to make Word list A and Word list B were not standardised in any
way.
Explain how the words that were used to make the two lists should be matched in order to
improve the study.
(2)
The results of the study are given in the table below.
Mean number of words recalled in the two conditions and the standard
deviation for both conditions
Condition 1
(same location)
Condition 2
(different locations)
Mean number of words
recalled
19 14.
Standard deviation 2 2.
(g) What conclusions might be drawn from the data in the table above? Refer to the means
and standard deviations in your answer.
(4)
(h) Initially, the researcher had calculated the ranges for both conditions. However, one
participant in Condition 1 had remembered all of the words when recalling Word list A.
Given the information above, explain why it was more appropriate to use the standard
deviation rather than the range.
(3)
(i) Name an appropriate graph that could be used to display the means shown in the table
above.
Suggest appropriate X and Y axis labels for your choice of graph.
(3)
(j) The participants all gave their consent before taking part in the study.
Identify one other ethical issue that should have been addressed in this study.
Explain why it should have been addressed and how it could have been dealt with.
(3)
(Total 24 marks)
At the end of the 20-week therapy courses the median ratings for each group are as follows:
Median satisfaction with life ratings for Therapy A and Therapy B
at the beginning and the end of the 20-week courses
Median satisfaction
with life ratings for
Therapy A
Median satisfaction
with life ratings for
Therapy B
At the beginning of the
course
12 13
At the end of the
course
17 22.
(c) What do the median values in the table above suggest?
Justify your answer.
(4)
(d) Explain why collecting qualitative data in this study might have been a more useful way of
assessing the effectiveness of the two therapies.
(2)
(Total 10 marks)
A psychologist studying obedience conducted the following experiment.
A confederate (stooge) approached people in the street and instructed them to pick up a piece of
litter and put it in a nearby bin. None of the people approached had dropped the litter.
There were two groups in the experiment.
Group A The confederate (stooge) was dressed in everyday clothing.
Group B The confederate (stooge) was dressed in a uniform.
The psychologist recorded how many people in each group obeyed the instruction of the
confederate (stooge).
4.
(a) Identify the experimental design that was used in this study. Briefly explain one advantage
of using this experimental design in this study.
(3)
(b) Identify the independent variable and the dependent variable in this experiment.
(2)
(c) Use your knowledge of research into obedience to explain the likely outcome of this
experiment.
(3)
(d) Briefly outline one ethical issue that might have arisen in this experiment.
(2)
(Total 10 marks)
A researcher investigated whether people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are more
aware of their own heartbeat than people who do not have OCD. A matched pairs design was
used. This involved 10 people with OCD and 10 people without OCD. The researcher asked
each participant to estimate how fast his or her heart was beating (in beats per minute) and this
was compared to his or her actual heartbeat. It was found that people with OCD were more
accurate at estimating their own heartbeat than people without OCD.
(a) Identify the independent variable in this study.
(1)
5.
(b) This study is a quasi-experiment. Explain why this study is a quasi-experiment.
(2)
(c) The researcher used a matched pairs design. Identify one relevant variable that could have
been used to match participants in this study.
(1)
(d) Outline one advantage of using a matched pairs design in this study.
(2)
(Total 6 marks)
A researcher investigated whether memory for words presented with pictures was better than
memory for words presented without pictures. The researcher used an independent groups
design.
In Condition 1, participants were given a limited time to learn a list of 20 words. They were then
asked to recall the 20 words in any order.
In Condition 2, participants were given the same time to learn the same 20 words, but this time
each word was presented with a picture. For example, the word ‘apple’ was presented alongside
a picture of an apple. They were then asked to recall the 20 words in any order.
6.
(a) A pilot study is a small-scale investigation carried out before the main study.
Explain why it would be appropriate for this researcher to use a pilot study. In your answer
you must refer to details of the experiment given above.
(4)
(b) State a non-directional hypothesis for this experiment.
(2)
(c) Explain two reasons why it was more appropriate to use an independent groups design
than a repeated measures design.
(4)
(c) Apart from using random allocation, suggest one way in which the psychologist might have
improved this study by controlling for the effects of extraneous variables. Justify your
answer.
(2)
(d) Write a suitable hypothesis for this study.
(3)
(e) From the information given in the description, calculate the number of participants in each
group in Condition B.
(1)
Read the item and then answer the questions that follow.
The psychologist noticed that the number of ideas generated by each of the
individual participants in Condition A varied enormously whereas there was
little variation in performance between the 5 groups in Condition B. He
decided to calculate a measure of dispersion for each condition.
(f) Name a measure of dispersion the psychologist could use.
(1)
(g) The psychologist uses the measure of dispersion you have named in your answer to
question (f). State how the result for each condition would differ.
(1)
(h) Explain how the psychologist could have used random allocation to assign the 15
participants in Condition B into the 5 groups.
(3)
(i) Using the information given in the table above, explain how the psychologist could further
analyse the data using percentages.
(2)
(j) At the end of the study the psychologist debriefed each participant. Write a debriefing that
the psychologist could read out to the participants in Condition A.
(6)
(Total 24 marks)
A psychologist wanted to test whether listening to music improves running performance.
The psychologist conducted a study using 10 volunteers from a local gym. The psychologist used
a repeated measures design. Half of the participants were assigned to condition A (without
music) and half to condition B (with music).
All participants were asked to run 400 metres as fast as they could on a treadmill in the
psychology department. All participants were given standardised instructions. All participants
wore headphones in both conditions. The psychologist recorded their running times in seconds.
The participants returned to the psychology department the following week and repeated the test
in the other condition.
(a) Identify the type of experiment used in this study.
A Laboratory
B Natural
C Quasi
D Research
(1)
8.
(b) Identify the operationalised dependent variable in this study.
(2)
(c) The results of the study are given in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Mean number of seconds taken to complete the 400m run and the standard
deviation for both conditions
Condition A
(without music)
Condition B
(with music)
Mean 400m time (s) 123 117
Standard deviation 9 14.
Explain why a histogram would not be an appropriate way of displaying the means shown
in Table 1.
(2)
(d) Name a more appropriate graph to display the means shown in Table 1. Suggest
appropriate X (horizontal) and Y (vertical) axis labels for your graph choice.
Name of graph: ______________________________________________________
X axis label:_________________________________________________________
Y axis label:_________________________________________________________
(3)
Give three reasons why the researcher used a related t-test in this study and, using
Table 2, explain whether or not the results are significant.
(5)
(h) What is meant by a Type II error? Explain why psychologists normally use the 5% level of
significance in their research.
(3)
(i) Identify one extraneous variable that could have affected the results of this study. Suggest
why it would have been important to control this extraneous variable and how it could have
been controlled in this study.
(3)
(j) The report was submitted for peer review and a number of recommendations were advised.
Describe the process and purposes of peer review.
(6)
(Total 33 marks)
Read the item and then answer the questions that follow.
Twenty primary school teachers were sent by their individual head teachers to attend a training
course in classroom behaviour management run by educational psychologists at a local
university. Before the training course, and again after training, the teachers were asked to say
how confident they were in managing difficult classroom behaviour.
The researchers compared the before and after answers to see how many teachers rated their
confidence as ‘better’, ‘worse’, or ‘the same’ as it had been at the start of the course.
The results are shown in the table below:
Confidence
Better
Confidence
Worse
Confidence
Same
Number of
teachers
16 2 2
9.
(a) Which of A, B, C or D best describes this study?
A laboratory experiment
B pilot experiment
C natural experiment
D controlled experiment
(1)
(b) What fraction of the teachers thought that their confidence was better after the course?
Show your workings.
(2)
(c) What might the researchers conclude about the training course on the basis of the data in
the table? Explain your answer.
(2)
(d) What is the operationalised dependent variable in this study?
(2)
(e) Which experimental design is being used in this study and why would it be an appropriate
design in this case?
(3)
(f) The psychologists conducting the training decided to use the Sign Test to see whether
there was a significant difference in confidence in managing difficult classroom behaviour
before and after the course.
Give the calculated value of S in this study and explain how you arrived at this figure.
(3)
(g) Explain why statistical testing is used in psychological research.
(2)
(h) Following the training course, one of the researchers carried out an overt classroom
observation of each teacher’s primary school class. The researcher wanted to record the
frequency of difficult classroom behaviours shown by the pupils during a normal lesson.
He identified six categories of disruptive behaviour and decided to record the frequency of
each of the six behaviours during the first ten minutes and the last ten minutes of the
lesson.
Suggest two behavioural categories that the researcher could record during his
observation.
(2)
As the different year groups had lunch at different times, the teacher was able to present her
results as three year groups, as shown in the table below.
The number of items each year group recycled
Year group Cardboard Plastic Food
7-9 20 35 10
10-11 18 25 7
12-13 12 15 5
(c) What do the results in the table suggest about the recycling initiative?
Refer to the data in the table above in your answer.
(4)
(d) Explain one way in which the design of this observation could have been improved.
(2)
(Total 10 marks)
Briefly discuss how observational research might be improved by conducting observations in a
controlled environment.
(Total 4 marks)
11.
A researcher carried out an overt observation study of social learning. For one week the helping
behaviour of children in a playgroup was recorded. All the children then saw a short film in which
a child was praised for tidying up toys. For the following week the helping behaviour of the same
children in the playgroup was recorded.
(a) Which of the following statements is the best description of an overt observation study?
A The researcher becomes a member of the group
whose behaviour is being observed.
B The researcher uses a structured procedure in
which behaviour is watched and recorded.
C The researcher watches and records behaviour in
the setting it would normally occur.
D The researcher watches and records behaviour of a
group that knows it is being observed.
(1)
12.
(b) Briefly discuss one way in which a covert observation of children might be more beneficial
than an overt observation.
(3)
(c) At the end of the observation study the researcher used a sign test to see if the behaviour
of the children was more helpful, less helpful or the same after seeing the film than it was
before they had seen the film.
Explain why the researcher decided the sign test would be an appropriate statistical test to
use on the data from this study.
(4)
(Total 8 marks)
A researcher wants to investigate the effectiveness of physiotherapy in the recovery of stroke
patients with brain damage. Carers of stroke patients will be sent questionnaires to produce
quantitative data.
(a) Explain one disadvantage of obtaining quantitative data in this study.
(2)
13.
(b) Write one question that could be used in the researcher’s questionnaire to produce
quantitative data and one question that could be used in the researcher’s questionnaire to
produce qualitative data.
Quantitative question:
Qualitative question:
(2)
(Total 4 marks)
Researchers wanted to see if there was a difference in the number of students choosing to use
various work spaces in the college library. Previous research findings on this topic were
inconsistent.
There were three types of work space available in the library:
• single desks with a chair
• large tables with chairs
• settees with low tables.
The researchers used CCTV camera recordings of the different work space areas taken over
three days. From each day, they analysed two hours’ worth of recordings from the morning and
two hours’ worth of recordings from the afternoon. They noted down the number of students seen
working at each of the three work spaces.
14.
A psychologist carried out a research study to investigate the effects of institutional care. To do
this, she constructed a questionnaire to use with 100 adults who had spent some time in an
institution when they were children.
She also carried out interviews with ten of the adults.
(a) For this study, explain one advantage of collecting information using a questionnaire.
(3)
15.
(b) In this study, the psychologist collected some qualitative data. Explain what is meant by
qualitative data.
(2)
(c) Write one suitable question that could be used in the interviews to produce qualitative data.
(2)
(d) Identify two ethical issues that the psychologist would need to consider in this research.
Explain how the psychologist could deal with one of these issues.
(5)
(Total 12 marks)
A group of researchers conducted a survey about helping behaviour. They asked an opportunity
sample of 200 university students to complete a questionnaire. The questionnaire contained
open and closed questions. The following are examples of questions used in the questionnaire:
A Do you think that you are generally a helpful person? Yes No
B What do you think most people would do if they were driving in the rain and saw a woman
standing alone next to her broken-down car?
C How would you react if someone walking in front of you slipped and fell over?
16.
(a) Identify an open question from A, B or C above. Give one advantage of using open
questions.
Example of open question (write A, B or C) ________
(1)
(1)
The researchers then categorised the responses given to question C above.
The results are shown in Table 1.
Table 1: The number of participants who gave the following responses to question C
Help the person Ignore the person Laugh at the person Other reactions
137 23 31 9
(b) What conclusion might the researchers draw from the responses given in Table 1 above?
Justify your answer.
(2)
On the basis of the responses to question C, the researchers decided to conduct a further
investigation. The aim was to see whether an individual’s helping behaviour might be affected by
the presence of other people.
The participants were an opportunity sample of 40 first-year students. The students were told
that they would be interviewed about university life. Each student was met by an interviewer and
asked to wait. The interviewer then went into the next room. After two minutes there was a loud
noise and a cry of pain from the next room.
Twenty participants took part in Condition 1 and the other 20 participants took part in
Condition 2.
Condition 1 Each participant waited alone.
Condition 2 Each participant waited with another person who had previously been told by the
researchers not to react to the sounds from the next room.
The researchers counted the number of participants in each condition who went to help the
interviewer in the next room.
(c) Write a suitable experimental hypothesis for the further investigation.
(2)
(d) Suggest one extraneous variable that might be present in the further investigation.
Explain why this variable should be controlled and how it could be controlled.
(3)
(e) Identify the experimental design used in the further investigation. Explain why this is a
suitable experimental design for this study.
(3)
(f) Explain how random sampling might have been used to select the participants in the further
investigation.
(2)
The results of the further investigation are given below.
Table 2: Number of participants who went to help the interviewer in Condition 1 and
Condition 2
Condition 1
(Participant waiting alone)
Condition 2
(Participant waiting with another person)
20 9
(g) Suggest a suitable graphical display that could be used to represent the data in Table 2.
Justify your choice.
(2)
Psychologists sometimes use case studies to study children. One example was of a boy who
was discovered at the age of six. He had been kept in a darkened room and had had almost no
social contact with people.
(a) How could a psychologist maintain confidentiality when reporting a case study?
(2)
20.
(b) Psychologists use a range of techniques to gather information in case studies.
Outline one technique which the psychologist could use in this case study.
(2)
(c) Apart from ethical issues, explain one or more limitations of using case studies.
(4)
(Total 8 marks)
Case studies are a commonly used method of investigating abnormality.
(a) What is meant by a case study?
(2)
21.
(b) Outline one weakness of using a case study as a method of investigation.
(2)
(Total 4 marks)
Researchers wanted to see if there was a difference in the number of students choosing to use
various work spaces in the college library. Previous research findings on this topic were
inconsistent.
There were three types of work space available in the library:
• single desks with a chair
• large tables with chairs
• settees with low tables.
The researchers used CCTV camera recordings of the different work space areas taken over
three days. From each day, they analysed two hours’ worth of recordings from the morning and
two hours’ worth of recordings from the afternoon. They noted down the number of students seen
working at each of the three work spaces.
22.
The results of the library study are shown in the table below.
Total number of students working in each work space
Single desks
with a chair
Large tables
with chairs
Settees with low
tables
Morning 34 22 120
Afternoon 37 23 183
Summarise the findings of this study using the data in the table above.
(Total 4 marks)
A researcher investigated coding in short-term memory using the same participants in both
conditions.
• In the first condition, he read out a list of 10 different sounding words.
• In the second condition, he read out a list of 10 similar sounding words.
The researcher recorded how many words participants recalled correctly in each condition.
The table below shows the results of his study.
Mean number of words recalled and standard deviations
Different sounding words Similar sounding words
Mean 7 4.
Standard
deviation
1 0.
23.
(a) What do the mean values in the table suggest about coding in short-term memory? Justify
your answer.
(2)
(b) What do the standard deviation values in the table above suggest? Justify your answer.
(2)
(c) Explain how using counterbalancing might improve the design of the study.
(2)
(Total 6 marks)
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Research Methods EQs (PMS)
Module: Psychology
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Research findings indicate an improvement in memory if the locations of learning and recall are
the same. To test these findings, an experiment was conducted under the following conditions:
Condition 1:
20 people learned and recalled
Word list A
in the same location.
Condition 2:
The same 20 people learned
Word list B
in one location and recalled
Word list B
in a different location.
The experiment was counterbalanced and the two conditions were completed in a single day.
1.
(a) Identify the type of experiment used in this study.
A
Independent groups
B
Laboratory
C
Matched pairs
D
Natural
E
Quasi
F
Repeated measures
(1)
(b) Identify the experimental design used in this study.
A
Independent groups
B
Laboratory
C
Matched pairs
D
Natural
E
Quasi
F
Repeated measures
(1)
(c) Identify the operationalised dependent variable in this study.
(2)
(d) In order to produce the two word lists, a set of 50 words was identified. These were
allocated to two word lists of equal length by a process of randomisation.
Explain how randomisation could be used to produce
Word list A
and
Word list B
.
(3)
(e) Explain the benefit of using randomisation to produce the word lists for this study.
(2)
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