Research Methods (AQA A Level Psychology)

A psychologist decided to conduct an experiment to investigate the effect of watching horror films before going to bed. A volunteer sample of 50 university students consented to take part in the experiment. The 50 students were randomly split into two groups. Group 1 watched a horror film before going to bed each night for the first week then a romantic comedy before going to bed each night for the second week. Group 2 watched the romantic comedy in the first week and the horror film in the second week. When the students woke up each morning, each student received a text message that asked if they had had a nightmare during the night. They could respond ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

The psychologist used a repeated measures design in this experiment. Explain why it was important to use a repeated measures design in this case.

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.

Identify the type of experiment used in this study. Shade one box only.

People’s perception of how they spend their time at the gym is often not very accurate. Some spend more time chatting than on the treadmill. A psychologist decides to observe the actual behaviour of an opportunity sample of gym users at a local gym.

Explain why it is more appropriate for the psychologist to use an observation than a questionnaire in this case.

Design an observational study to investigate how people spend their time at the gym.

In your answer you will be awarded credit for providing appropriate details of: 

• type of observation with justification
• operationalised behavioural categories
• use of time and/or event sampling with justification
• how reliability of data collection could be assessed.

A psychologist wanted to test whether listening to music while walking increases the number of miles walked in a week. She obtained a volunteer sample of 20 adults and asked 10 of them to walk for 3 days during one week while listening to music and the other half to walk for 3 days during one week not listening to music. At the end of the week each participant self-reported the number of miles they had walked.

Explain one problem with the method used to determine the number of miles walked in the week. Suggest an alternative measure that would overcome this problem.

A psychologist was interested in finding out whether dream themes differed between males and females, particularly in terms of social interaction. She decided to conduct a pilot study. Twenty undergraduate students (8 male and 12 female) volunteered for the study. For a six-week period the students were interviewed at 9 am each morning when they arrived at university. Interviewers, who did not know the purpose of the study, carried out and recorded the dream interviews.

Explain how the psychologist could continue her investigation by carrying out thematic analysis of the interview recordings.

A psychologist was interested in finding out whether dream themes differed between males and females, particularly in terms of social interaction. She decided to conduct a pilot study. Twenty undergraduate students (8 male and 12 female) volunteered for the study. For a six-week period the students were interviewed at 9 am each morning when they arrived at university. Interviewers, who did not know the purpose of the study, carried out and recorded the dream interviews.

What is meant by a pilot study? Explain one possible reason why the psychologist decided to conduct a pilot study for this investigation.

A psychologist was interested in finding out whether dream themes differed between males and females, particularly in terms of social interaction. She decided to conduct a pilot study. Twenty undergraduate students (8 male and 12 female) volunteered for the study. For a six-week period the students were interviewed at 9 am each morning when they arrived at university. Interviewers, who did not know the purpose of the study, carried out and recorded the dream interviews.

The interviews produced qualitative data. What is meant by qualitative data? Give one strength of collecting qualitative data in this study

A researcher wanted to investigate agoraphobia by studying Patient X. The researcher designed a questionnaire to find out about Patient X’s experiences. However, a colleague suggested that the researcher might do better to conduct a case study.

Explain one or more reasons why it might be better to conduct a case study than a questionnaire.

Which of the following is correct?
Shade one circle only.