As AQA PSYA1 Research Methods Booklet

Exam: PSYA1 Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology and Research
Methods
Research
Methods
PSYA1: Cognitive Psychology,
Developmental Psychology and Research
Methods
This booklet contains descriptions and evaluations of anything to do with
research methods, alongside guidance on how to put things into practice.
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Contents
What the specification says: 2
Research in psychology; aims, sampling, ethical issues, validity, 4
reliability, pilot studies
Methods in Psychology:
Experiments 12
Correlations 21
Self-reports (questionnaires and interviews) 25
Observations 30
Content analysis 37
Case studies 39
Analysing and presenting data: quantitative and qualitative data, 40
central tendency, dispersion, presenting quantitative and qualitative
data
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What the specification says:

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 a correlational analysis
 Observational techniques
 Self-report techniques including questionnaire and interview
 Case studies
Knowledge and understanding of Research Methodsshould be developed through:

 Direct study of Research Methods
 Undertaking practical research activities involvingcollection, analysis and
interpretation of qualitativeand quantitative data
 Analysis and evaluation of studies relevant to theCognitive and
Developmental Psychology content of this unit
Investigation design Candidates should be familiar with the following features of

investigation design:
 Aims
 Hypotheses, including directional and non-directional
 Experimental design (independent groups, repeated measures and
matchedpairs)
 Design of naturalistic observations, including the development and use
ofbehavioural 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
 Ethical issues and ways in which psychologists deal with them
 Selection of participants and sampling techniques, including
random,opportunity and volunteer sampling
 Demand characteristics and investigator effects
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Data analysis andpresentation

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
tendencyincluding median, mean, mode and measures of dispersion including
ranges andstandard deviation
 Analysis and interpretation of correlational data. Positive and
negativecorrelations and the interpretation of correlation coefficients
 Presentation of qualitative data
 Processes involved in content analysis
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Research in psychology
All research will begin with an aim. This is written as a formal statement of what
you intend to investigate. Sometimes researchers will have one specific aim other
times there may be several aims linked to the overall aim.
Having stated your aim(s), you will also need to select a sample, ensure your
research is ethical, valid and reliable and that you have piloted your study to
make sure it works.
Sampling
Your sample refers to the participants who take part in your study. Your sample
should be made up of people who are representative of your target population –
the whole group of people you want to apply your results to. If your sample is
representative, you can generalise your findings, but if it is not representative, it
is biased and you cannot generalise results.
When evaluating a sample, you also need to consider whether it is restricted in

some way (e.g. if it’s only a small selection of people, or if it's only testing one
type of person) - causing generalisation problems.
Self-selecting sampling
Participants volunteer themselves to take part.
This can arise as a consequence of many different methods – e.g. response to a
newspaper advertisement, poster placed in a public place or announcement on a
radio station etc.
Strengths Weaknesses
The participants are giving consent by Could be biased as the same type of
volunteering; therefore it reduces any people are likely to apply to take part -
ethical issues e.g. may all read the same newspaper.
Participants are more likely to display
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demand characteristics because they

have volunteered to take part.
Random sampling
The researcher has access to all members of the identified target population-
e.g. via a sampling frame such as the electoral register, college list etc. Selection
of participants is then based on:
 manual selection (names from a hat)
 the use of random number tables
 computer-generated selection
Strengths of Weaknesses of
There’s a much better likelihood of The sample may still be biased –
obtaining a representative sample as all especially if it’s a small sample
members of the target population have
an equal chance of taking part It’s more time consuming than
opportunity sampling
It’s relatively easy for a small target
population
Opportunity sampling
Participants are selected depending on their availability at the time of carrying
out the study. At university, researchers often use the undergraduate students
as they are available and often around the department.
Quick, easy, inexpensive and May not be representative of the wider
convenient as all the participants are target population because the people
gathered in one place at the same time. who are available at the time/place of
the study may differ from those who
are unavailable.
The researcher has no direct control

over what type of people participate.
The sample is limited (in number and
variety etc.) to who is available for the
study
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Ethical issues
These are the guidelines set out by the BPS British Psychological Society which
tell psychologists how they can and can’t treat participants in research.
When designing practicals, you need to be able to:
 Identify possible ethical issues/problems with the research
 Explain how you would deal with these issues to make your study ethical
Ethical issues can, where appropriate, include:
 lack of consent from participants/informed consent,
 age of participants [over 16]
 confidentiality of the data
 withdrawal, debriefing
 avoiding stress, distress, harm or embarrassment to participants
 invasion of privacy; (observations are allowed in public places where people
would expect others to be watching them)
Validity
Validity refers to the extent to which a study or test measures what it intends
to. One way to test validity is to look at whether it gives similar results to other
studies that have gone before or other measures of the same variable – this is
called concurrent validity (concur means to agree). Studies with a lot of demand
characteristics or confounding variables often have low validity.
Assessing validity
Predictive validity:
Predictive validity refers to whether the test will predict future performance
indicated by its results.
For example, high scorers on an I.Q. test at a young age should he predicted to
later perform better in studies or jobs requiring intelligence.
Face validity:
Involves examining the content of the test to see if it looks like it measures what
it is supposed to measure. This is generally done by asking other academics to
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look over your work and access it in terms of validity. The idea is that “two heads
are better than one”
Concurrent validity:
Involves comparing a new method or test with an already well-established one
that claims to measure the same variable(s). A high positive correlation should he
gained between the results of the two tests. For example, correlating the results
from the same people tested by a new intelligence test and an older established
one.
Internal validity: the extent to which a study is free of bias

Controls: reduce the impact of extraneous variables. Enables us to say the IV in
an experiment (rather than something else) caused a change in the DV. Controls
often include matching participants, randomising or standardising some part of
the study.
Researcher bias: the extent to which the researcher can influence/distort the
outcomes of a study. When attempting to eliminate/evaluating researcher bias,
consider the use of double blind testing (when the participants do not know the
aim of the research and you use independent researchers to carry out the study
who also know nothing about what you are aiming to find out), type of data
collected (qualitative or quantitative – which involves more subjective
interpretation?)
Participant bias: the extent to which the participant can influence/distort the
outcomes of a study. When attempting to eliminate/evaluating participant bias
consider the effect of double and single blind testing, demand characteristics,
social desirability, distractor tasks
Task: to what extent does the task itself accurately measure the behaviour
being studied?
Internal validity can be checked through testing for concurrent validity (by
checking the results of one test against the results of another similar test), face
validity (assessing whether you are measuring what you intended to measure),
checking by other academics
External validity: the extent to which a study and its findings can be applied
beyond the research situation
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Ecological validity: does the task and setting reflect real life situations. Can we
generalise and say similar results would be found in the real world?
Population validity: does the sample of participants represent the type of people
we’d apply the results to in the real world. Can we generalise and say other people
would produce similar results?
Reliability
Reliability refers to the extent to which a study or measure is consistent/would
produce similar results when repeated/carried out by others. To be reliable a
study will have to be replicable. If reliability is low, validity also tends to be low –
but not always!
When you assess the reliability of a measure, you should consider the
following:
 Were standardised procedures used?
 Were standardised instructions used?
 Were the tasks standardised?
 Was the scoring/measurement standardised?
 Were there any problems or biases in the way that the tests were
administered that prevented them being standardised?
 Would you get the same results again with a similar group of participants?
 Was there any test of inter-rater reliability* (for observational measures)
 Are there any problems interpreting the results of the test or measure?
*Inter-rater reliability (inter-observer reliability): whether 2 independent

observers agree in how they have recorded and categorised behaviours. Achieved
by using precise checklists, pilot studies and training of observers. Checked by
comparing/correlating observations to see how closely they agree
Test re-test reliability: whether a test can be repeated and produce similar
results. . It is particularly important when developing and making sure a
questionnaire is reliable. This is done by repetition of the original research,
identical in every way, and analysing the results to see if they are the same as
the original study
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Achieved through standardised procedures and questioning, use of closed

questions
Split halves reliability: where answers to a self-report or psychometric test are
correlated with each other – e.g. to see if participants get similar scores on the
first 10 questions as they do on the second 10
Pilot studies
These are practice studies carried out on a small scale to see if your research
will work as you want it to. It enables you to identify problems that you can put
right before carrying the research out fully. They are useful to check things like:
 Do your participants understand your instructions?
 Can they do your tasks in the time allowed?
 Are the tasks too easy/difficult?
 Do they understand your questions?
 Do you need to rephrase/add/remove questions?
 Do you need to alter your behaviour categories?
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Methods in Psychology
Experiments
Aim to see if a change in the dependent variable (measured behaviour) was caused
by an independent variable
 IV is the thing we think is the cause of a behaviour/change in
behaviour
 DV is the behaviour we are interested in studying
Control extraneous variables so we can be confident they haven’t affected the
DV
Usually compare different conditions (with/without the IV)
Test a hypothesis/a number of hypotheses
Laboratory experiments
IV is manipulated by the researcher whilst the DV is measured and extraneous
variables are controlled so that we can identify cause and effect
Structured and standardised procedures – increasing replicability
Carried out in an artificial setting which is controlled by the researcher
Allows cause and effect to be Low ecological validity in a controlled
identified i.e. we can say the DV environment or using unrealistic tasks
change was caused by the IV because
we can rule out the influence of Possibility of participant bias such as
extraneous variables. demand characteristics and social
desirability influencing results
High level of control and Reductionist – only consider how the

standardisation allows study to be IV affects behaviour and ignore other
replicated. factors and how they could also have
an influence on the DV
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Quasi-experimental method (natural experiments)

The researcher does not directly manipulate the IV
The conditions (IVs) already exist e.g. the researcher wants to compare right
handed and left handed people. These groups cannot be manipulated because
they already exist – the participants will be either left or right handed.
Participants are not randomly allocated to conditions
The DV is still measured
More ethical way to study and IV Lower researcher control over
because it’s naturally occurring participant variables so it may be harder
to show cause and effect
Groups occur naturally so we get more
population validity because the groups Participants may realise what’s being
really exist studied and display demand
characteristics
Harder to replicate making it difficult to

show the study is reliable
Field experiments
Have an IV which is usually manipulated by the researcher, but sometimes is
naturally occurring
DV is measured
This is a study carried out in surroundings which are relatively natural/familiar
for the participants but may be controlled in some way.
Higher ecological validity so we may be Harder to replicate so it’s difficult to
more able to generalise findings to real show the study is reliable
life
Lower researcher control so it’s
Low demand characteristics if harder to show cause and effect
participants don’t know they are being
studied Possible ethical problems (consent,
deception, debriefing)
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Hypotheses for experiments

Whenever psychologists carry out an experiment, they must start with a
hypothesis a prediction of what will happen in the experiment – in other words,
whether the IV will affect the DV, and in what way.
All experiments have both an experimental and a null hypothesis – the
experimental predicts that the IV will affect the DV, whereas the null predicts
that the IV will make no difference to the DV. By collecting and analysing data in
their study, a researcher is able to decide which hypothesis to accept and which
to reject.
How to write hypotheses

Experimental hypothesis: this predicts the IV will affect the DV
One tailed/directional
This predicts how the IV will affect the DV by stating which condition will get
the higher (or lower) scores:
Participants who [do something] will be significantly [faster/better/quicker

etc] at [something] than participants who [do something else].
Two tailed/non-directional
This predicts that the IV will affect the DV but does not say how – therefore it
only predicts a difference between conditions
There will be a significant difference between participants who [do something]

and those who [do something else].
Null hypothesis: this predicts that there will be no difference between

conditions. It is always 2 tailed:
There will be no significant difference between participants who [do

something] and those who [do something else]. Any difference will be down to
chance.
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Operationalising variables
Any hypothesis you write must refer to both variables and how they were
operationalised:
E.g. if you were carrying out an experiment to test whether chewing gum affects
concentration, a possible experimental hypothesis could be:
‘there is a difference in the number of differences found in a spot the
difference puzzle between those chewing gum and those not chewing gum’.
Experimental Designs
Experiments usually involve comparing performance under different conditions.
There are different ways of allocating participants to conditions known as
experimental designs.
Independent measures design

Independent measures design - where participants only take part in one condition
of the experiment.
So each condition of the independent variable is experienced by one group of
participants.
In a quasi-experiment, the groups/conditions occur naturally, but in true
laboratory experiments the researcher should randomly allocate participants to
conditions – e.g. by taking names out of a hat
avoids order (or carry over) effects participant variables are not fully
when participants are only involved in controlled
one condition
need more participants overall
The aim of the research is less likely to
be assumed by participants (lowering
demand characteristics).
The task can remain the same across
conditions controlling for complexity
etc.
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Repeated measures design

Where participants take part in both (or all) conditions of an experiment.
Although participants are tested in all conditions, researchers will often
counterbalance so that some do task A first followed by task B etc. whilst others
will begin with task B. this aims to reduce the impact of order effects.
controlling for individual differences there may be carry-over/order effects
in the behaviour being studied that affect performance in the second
between the ps; condition (such as practice gained from
having done a similar task already or
Fewer participants required overall. fatigue)
the tasks need to be different in each

condition
participants may gain an insight into aim

of research increasing demand
characteristics.
more time consuming for participants.
Matched pairs design

A matched pairs design involves using different but similar participants in each
condition.
If there are any important characteristics that might affect performance,
researchers will try to match participants on those characteristics in each
condition.
To do this, you would need to identify the characteristic(s you thought important
and measure/test participants before they take part.
You would only use those who you could ‘partner’ with someone similar in the
different conditions.
extraneous participant variables are less It can be hard finding people who
likely to interfere with the experimental match, so you may waste a lot of
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effect. potential participants because you

cannot find another person like them
To control for individual differences in a
More time consuming as it can
behaviour/factor that may be an
involve pre-testing participants
extraneous variable that could affect
beforehand, so we know how to
the DV match them
Makes it a fair test so we don’t end up

with all of one type of participant in the
same group.
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Extraneous and confounding variables:

A general term for any variable other than the IV that might affect the DV,
therefore threatening the internal validity of a study
Extraneous variables are identified before the study is carried out, and are
controlled so they don’t affect the DV
Confounding variables are extraneous variables which haven’t been controlled, so
may have affected the DV unintentionally
Participant variables:
Variables that are connected with any characteristic of participants which could
affect their performance on the DV, i.e.age, intelligence, motivation, experience,
gender and personality
Solutions:
Matched pairs design
Randomly assigning participants to conditions
Single blind design
Situational variables:
Variables connected with the research situation that could affect participants’
performance on the DV, i.e. temperature, instructions, time of day, lighting, noise,
materials used in the investigation, order effects, demand characteristics and
investigator effects
Solutions:
Use of standardised procedures and standardised instructions
Demand characteristics: cues in the environment that invite or encourage

participants to behave in a particular way
Investigator effects: aspects of the researcher's behaviour or appearance that
lead participants to think that they should act in a particular way
Solution:
Single or double blind techniques: where the participants or participants and
researcher don’t know the hypotheses being tested or which condition the
participants have been allocate to.
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Correlations
Correlations describe a relationship between two measured co-variables
(sometimes called independent measures). Correlations may be positive or
negative:
Negative correlation
A negative correlation is where as the values of one variable increase the values
of the other tend to decrease, although not necessarily at the same rate
Positive correlation
A positive correlation is where as the values of one variable increase, related
values of the second variable also tend to increase (although not necessarily at
the same rate)
provides information about does not inform us about cause-and-
patterns/trends that can then be effect
investigated more experimentally if
desired
the relationship revealed can be
misleading
can be plotted visually in a scattergraph
to see relationship clearly
some variables cannot be correlated
enables us to make predictions based on (only variables generating continuous
the relationship between variables data can be correlated)
when unethical or impractical to carry

out an experiment
Hypotheses for correlations

Whenever psychologists carry out a correlation, they must start with a
hypothesis a prediction of what will happen in the study – in other words,
whether the two co-variables are related, and in what way.
All correlations have both an alternate and a null hypothesis.
How to write correlational hypotheses

Alternate hypothesis: this predicts the two co-variables are related/correlated
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One tailed/directional
This predicts how the co-variables are related by identifying the type of
correlation (positive or negative) you expect to find:
There will be a significant [direction] correlation between [variable 1] (measured

by [something]) and [variable 2] (measured by [something])
Two tailed/non-directional
This predicts that the co-variables are related but does not say how:
There will be a significant correlation between [variable 1] (measured by

[something]) and [variable 2] (measured by [something])
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Null hypothesis: this predicts that there will be correlation/relationship

between co-variables. It is always 2 tailed
There will be no significant correlation between [variable 1] (measured by

[something]) and [variable 2] (measured by [something])
Operationalising variables
Any hypothesis you write must refer to both variables and how they were
operationalised:
E.g. if you were carrying out a correlation to test whether self-rating of
concentration is correlated with actual concentration, a possible alternate
hypothesis could be:
‘There is a correlation between self-rating of concentration measured on a five
point scale (5 = fully concentrating) and actual concentration measured by number
of differences found in a spot the difference puzzle between’.
Presenting data for a correlation

The relationshipbetween the two variables in a correlation is usually plotted on a
scattergram as below. It is important to be able to interpret what these
scattergrams show. WARNING: negative correlations are not the same asno
correlation
If you are to describe how one measure relates to another you talk about the
strength of correlation between them. The strength of a relationship is measured
on a scale from using a statistic called a correlation co-efficient. + or – shows the
correlation is positive or negative, and the value shows the strength of the
relationship e.g. -.79 would be a strong negative correlation, but +.3 would be a
weak positive correlation
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Self- Reports: Questionnaires and interviews
Both questionnaires and interviews are types of self-report method. This is

because the participant reports their own thoughts and feelings about a
particular matter. A questionnaire is where the responses are written down by
the participant, and an interview is where the participant gives a verbal response
which is then recorded by the interviewer.
Interviews
An interview is similar to a questionnaire, except that the questions are asked
face to face (or over the phone) rather than on paper.
A structured interview is where all respondents are asked the same questions.
An unstructured interview has an overall aim/topic but the questions flow as part
of a conversation.
A semi structured interview combines both structured and unstructured
interviews. The interviewer might have a series of prepared questions, but will
alter the interview as it goes along, adding new questions as information arises.
It’s rather like the interview you have when you go see a doctor, and as such, is
often called a clinical interview.
More detailed information can be Interviewer bias may be a particular
obtained from each respondent issue as the interviewer is making up
questions on the spot
Information can be accessed that
might not be revealed by using The interviewer’s own opinions may
predetermined questions. influence the interviewee. This is
called interviewer bias
Reliability may be affected by the

same interviewer behaving differently
on different occasions
Reliability may be affected by

different interviewers asking
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different questions, or asking the

same questions in different ways.
Questionnaires
A questionnaire is a set of questions that participants fill in themselves. The
researcher may be present or the questionnaire may be posted out to people for
them to return. It is designed to collect information about a topic or topics.
You can collect the same information The social desirability bias means that
from a large number of people respondents may deliberately answer
relatively easily. in a way which is socially acceptable
You can access what people think - Because only certain types of people
observations and experiments rely on fill in and return questionnaires, there
“guessing” what people think based on may be a sample bias
their behaviour. With a questionnaire
you can ask people directly. Questionnaires rely on a respondent’s
ability to report accurately. An
An advantage of questionnaires over individual may not have sufficient
interviews is that respondents may insight into their own behaviour to be
feel more able to reveal personal able to record it accurately.
information in a questionnaire than
face to face. Different questions may be
interpreted differently by different
participants.
Types of self-report question

Open question
An open question is one in which individuals can respond in any way they like and
are not restricted in any way
Responses are not restricted – Responses may be difficult to
participants can refer to any aspects interpret/analyse
of the topic being asked about Harder to compare with other peoples’
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responses
More likely to generate rich
qualitative data - allows elaboration of
how/why people gave their particular
response
Less chance of ambiguity because

respondents can say what they like
Closed question
A closed question is one in which individuals select their response from a choice
of predetermined options
Forced choice questions are a specific type of closed question which literally
force participants to choose a definite answer – there is no option to say
sometimes/undecided etc
easy to interpret/analyse and present Does not allow elaboration on how/why
people answered the way they did
Can compare participants’ responses
directly Forced choice response may not reveal
full extent of people’s
Tends to produce quantitative data beliefs/attitudes
which is easier to interpret and analyse
Options for responses may be limited
and may not reflect what the
participant really wants to say
Rating scale
These give respondents questions or statements and allow them to say to what
degree the statement applies to them/they agree or disagree.
E.g. A likert scale (statement plus labelled numerical scale)
I get bored quickly: 5 strongly agree
4 agree
3 undecided
2 disagree
1 strongly disagree
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Ability to quantify responses and Respondents may not interpret the

compare across different individuals scale in the same way as each other.
Making questionnaires and interviews ethical

 Participants are not asked for personal information about themselves or
their behaviour but are asked for their attitudes.
 Give participants the right to withdraw, not answer particular questions
 Don’t include embarrassing questions.
 Obtain informed consent to participate.
 Confidentiality – use numbers or initials to represent participants instead
of using full name
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Observations
This involves the researcher watching participants and recording their behaviour
in either a natural or manipulated setting. Observations are rarely used as a
research method in their own right in psychology, but are often used as a data
collecting technique in experiments and correlations.
The researcher may be a participant or non-participant observer:

Participant observation: This involves the observer actually being part of the
group they are observing but the extent to which they “join the group” can vary
between observations. Non-participant observation: involves the researcher
observing but not joining in with the participants
The researcher can watch participantsovertly or covertly:

Overt = open, participants are aware they’re being watched, covert = hidden,
participants are unaware they’re being watched
They can record behaviour in a structured observation:

This involves using a standardised observation checklist, or they may simply write
notes describing what you have seen
Researchers may manipulate the setting – by staging events in natural
environments or creating artificial environments for participants
Natural settings – with no manipulation – simply recording what happens
Strengths of conducting observational Weaknesses of conducting

research: observational research
sampling natural, genuine behaviour reactivity if participants become aware

they are being observed
high validity
may be difficult for the researcher to
un-restricted response categories interpret behaviour accurately
ethical issues (e.g. lack of consent)
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researchers may miss key behaviours

due to people obscuring their view.
Evaluation of participant observation

Participant observations are largely a However, the data might be harder to
qualitative approach with thoughts and record, especially in a covert
feelings of the participants being taken observation.
into account.
Furthermore, the researcher may lack
Researchers often gain a better objectivity – they can become too
understanding of behaviour from taking involved in the group and their findings
part in the study, and therefore their may be biased by this.
findings are often more valid.
Evaluation of Structured Observations:

The observation has been shaped to If the environment is structured
make sure you have the greatest chance (controlled) the assumption may be
of observing the type of behaviour you that is unlike the participants’ real life
wished to study. and experience and it is therefore low
in ecological validity.
Data is usually quantitative, which
makes it easier to make comparisons If the environment is controlled the
between participants and conditions participants will be aware of being
observed and therefore exhibit
The structure/control makes the study demand characteristics.
easier to replicate, which can help to
establish reliability If the observation has been structured
in terms of a checklist it is likely to
miss interesting or revealing
behaviours that were not accounted
for in the checklist.
Behaviours may be incorrectly placed in

the wrong category by the observer,
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especially if it is the researcher

carrying out to observation as there
may be chance of experimenter bias.
Behaviour sampling
As it’s difficult to observe and record everything that is going on, researchers
use behaviour sampling techniques to determine what they will focus on and how
they will do it
Time sampling
Time sampling involves observations at set lengths of time at set intervals
 e.g. in a traffic survey 3 hourly observations between 08.00-09.00, 12.00-
13.00 and 17.00-18.00
 eg three hourly observations between 08.00-09.00, 12.00-13.00 and 17.00-
18.00
 every 5 minutes for a certain period (eg 1 hour)
 greater chance of sampling the  more time consuming;
behaviour of how a variety of  may decrease reliability as it
different people behave in a may be harder to be consistent
specific situation thus increasing if recording behaviour during
representativeness; many different time intervals
 ability to ascertain the influence of
time of day on how people behave
in a specific situation
Event sampling
Event sampling involves observations of a specific event each time it occurs
throughout the duration of the observation period
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less likely to miss things as behaviour is might get difficult to record all
monitored/recorded continuously and all specified behaviours at times and may
occurrences of the behaviours being miss some behaviours whilst
studied are noted, thereby potentially recording other things
increasing the overall validity of the
research, as well as the reliability of its Although there is a lot of data it is
findings often limited in detail, as data has to
be collected and categorised rapidly
Provides you with lots of data, which is

generally quantitative.
Sample is often large
Behaviour checklists/categories
Psychologists often use checklists when observing participants. These identify
the categories of behaviours the researcher is looking for and enable the
researcher to quickly record what is happening and to make comparisons across
participants. Categories are often quite general, with some explanation/examples
of what to include as in the example below.
Problems occur when the categories are too narrow or too general or when they
are ambiguous.
This is an example of the type of behaviour checklist used in research to

investigate whether children imitate aggression after watching an aggressive role
model.
Child’s initials Sex
behaviour category 5 secs 10 secs 15 secs etc 240

secs
30
Methods
Imitation of physical
aggressione.g. hit with mallet,
punching the doll in the nose
Imitative verbal aggressione.g.

repeating aggressive phrases
such as "Pow!" or "Sock him in
the nose"
Imitative nonaggressive verbal

responsese.g. “he keeps coming
back for more!”
Inter-rater reliability in observational research.

This refers to the extent to which different observers are able to observe and
rate (or code) the same behaviour in the same way.
How researchers could ensure an observation has inter-rater reliability.

 Training observers beforehand in the use of the coding scheme,
 Clarifying what the behavioural categories being used refer to
 Conducting a pilot study to test for agreement amongst observers etc.
Ethics and observations

Observations raise ethical issues, especially if they are conducted in public places
without the participants knowing about it:
Consent is difficult to gain though you could put up notices around the site
informing people of the research
Deception is a problem if events are staged
Debriefing is rarely possible if the research takes place in a busy
For these reasons the BPS has a different approach to observational research
the main guideline focuses on privacy:
Respect privacy – only observe people in public settings where they expect to be
observed, and with the permission from the person in charge of that environment
31
Methods
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.
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.
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.
Coding System/behavioural categories: Similarly to an observation, the

researcher has to create a coding system, which breaks down the information
into categories. The researcher would then tally each time they found an item
from the category in the content they were analysing. This would be a
quantitative analysis.
Begin by identifying appropriate behavioural categories or themes
Then go through each artefact looking for examples of the categories/themes –
maybe identifying different categories in different colours
The number in each category would be counted.
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.
Results: the researcher then looks at the data collected, and draws conclusions.
Content analyses tend to have high Observer bias: can affect both the
ecological validity because it is based objectivity and validity of findings as
on observations of what people different observers might interpret
actually do; real communications that the meanings of the categories in the
32
Methods
are current and relevant such as coding system differently.

recent newspapers or children’s books.
Therefore, it also has high mundane culture bias: as the interpretation of
realism. verbal or written content will be
affected by the language and culture
As the artefacts that are being of the observer and the coding system
analysed already exist, there is no used.
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.
33
Methods
Case studies
In-depth studies of individuals or small groups who are often unusual cases
Often collects data from a variety of sources, or using a variety of research
methods
Often longitudinal – studying the same participants over time
Allows us to find out about the impact Cases are often unique so it’s hard to
of events and situations it would be replicate and establish their reliability
unethical to manipulate and study
experimentally The researchers may become
emotionally attached to the participant
They allow psychologists to look at -become less objective reducing
exceptional cases in order to test or validity.
establish a general rule
Because only a small number of

participants are studied a tremendous
amount of detail could be gathered
Small sample so participants could form
a close relationship with researchers
more willing to reveal things about
themselves
34
Methods
Analysing and Presenting Data
Quantitative data
Quantitative data is data that can be expressed numerically in some way
(measurement in numbers).
Quantitative data is data where behaviour is measured in numbers or quantities.
Numbers allow statistics to be applied Lack of descriptive, in depth data
(e.g. averages and dispersion) and means quantitative data may not fully
comparisons of participants in different reveal the reasons behind why
conditions can be made someone chose an answer
Data is ‘objective’ and more ‘scientific’ - Reductionist because it reduces the

less open to bias and misinterpretation opportunity to explain why the
than qualitative data tends to be more behaviour occurred: numbers lack
‘richness’, and are fairly superficial;
reliable as there is no subjective
interpretation involved
Qualitative data
It is descriptive, in-depth and rich data providing insight into the participants’
thoughts and beliefs.
Data left in its original form of meaning, such as speech or text.
It is the recording of something in terms of its ‘kind’ (nature), rather than
‘degree’ (or amount).
Qualitative data is data that cannot be quantified but it expresses a complete
account of what people think or feel.
Strengths of Weaknesses of
Represents the true complexities of Time consuming to collect and analyse
human behaviour and gives access to
thoughts and feelings that are not Impossible to statistically analyse,
present in other kinds of data. therefore you are unable to produce
35
Methods
Allow participants to give explanations identify an effect.

for behaviour, and is detailed and
descriptive Involves subjective interpretation
which increases the possibility of bias
and reduces reliability
Central tendency:
This indicates the typical average value of a set of data.
Mean
The mean is the arithmetic average that indicates the typical score in a data set.
The mean is obtained by summing all the scores in a data set and dividing by the
number of entries constituting the data set.
Median
The median is a more representative form of a measure of central tendency
(average) when there is anomalous data, or ‘outliers’.
This is because any ‘extreme’ or ‘unusual’ scores that would otherwise artificially
inflate or deflate the average if the mean was calculated are marginalised and do
not feature in the calculation
Mode
This is the most frequently occurring number in a set of data
Dispersion:
This shows how much participants varied in their scores
Range
This is the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a data set. It
tells us about how dispersed or spread out the results are.
A big range means the scores are widely spread suggesting there is a lot of
variation in participants’ ability
A smaller range suggests participants were consistent and got fairly similar
scores.
36
Methods
The range can be distorted by outliers and suggest a large variation, when really
it’s only one participant that is unusual.
Standard Deviation
Standard deviation measures the average difference (deviation) between scores
and means. So it shows the average spread of scores.
A big standard deviation means the scores are widely spread suggesting there is a
lot of variation in participants’ ability, whilst a smaller standard deviation would
mean participants got very similar scores.
It is therefore less distorted by outliers than the range

But it’s harder to work out.
Presenting quantitative data
You can present data in several different ways. It is important to be able to

create visually clear, raw score tables, that are well labelled and show what you
have found. It is also important to be able to draw visual summaries of results
based on raw score tables.
Summary table of results for an investigation into ...............................................
Put the names of your
Title: A table to show…. conditions in here.
No. of words recalled out Condition 1 (number of Condition 2 (number of
of (or whatever your items recalled on a items recalled on awords and long
E.g. short
dependent variable was) memory test) memory test) words
Mean 45 30
Median
Mode
Range
Standard deviation
Only use those that are relevant
37
Methods
You also need to be able to interpret data that has been given to you in a table.
This involves summarising, in words what a table shows. There are some common
things to think about when doing this:
1. Does the table show raw score and descriptive statistics or only one of
these?
2. Does the data seem to suggest what the hypothesis stated the relationship
to be?
3. Are there any anomalies? These are stand out results, that don’t seem to
fit with the general pattern
4. Are there some clear numbers that can be compared across conditions to
show the experiments effect (only for an experiment)
After presenting data in a table, you need to be able to show that you can
present it in a graphical form:
Bar charts are most

commonly used as a
visual summary for
experiment and
observations. They
can also be used to
summarise results
for self-reports
(interviews and
questionnaires). The
only major method
they are absolutely
NOT used for is to
visually represent a
correlation. The easiest way to create a bar chart that actually has meaning is to
compare the mean result from two conditions in the case of an experiment
38
Methods
Frequency graphs can also be used to tell us about patterns of performance

across different groups/conditions. Look at each condition and comment on the
overall
shape:
Wide spread of results:

4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Results concentrated together:

12
10
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
No clear pattern:
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Look at each condition and comment on the overall position:
Most participants getting low scores:

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Most participants getting high scores:

9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Most participants in the middle – a

9
8
7
6
normal distribution of scores:

5
4
3
2
1
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
39
Methods
A scattergram is used to visually

illustrate the relationship between
two independent measures,
otherwise known as a correlation.
It doesn’t show a direct effect of
one measure on another, but simply
the relationship. You should always
label up both the axes and give a
clear title to your scattergram.
Another thing you should always remember to add is a line of best fit.
General information:
You should always make sure any graphical illustration you produce accurately
represents the raw table you are using to produce it. This includes making sure all
the axes are labelled correctly and you graph having a clear and accurate title,
explaining what it shows
Presentation of qualitative data

This would be used with some types of content analysis, observations or
interviews – usually where there is a written or filmed recording (diary, tape
recorders, transcripts).
This would involve grouping of common items, quotations to highlight points
40

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Exam: PSYA1 Cognitive Psychology, Developmental Psychology and Research

What the specification says:

Knowledge and understanding of Research Methodsshould be developed through:

Investigation design Candidates should be familiar with the following features of

Data analysis andpresentation

When evaluating a sample, you also need to consider whether it is restricted in

Participants are more likely to display

demand characteristics because they

The researcher has no direct control

Internal validity: the extent to which a study is free of bias

*Inter-rater reliability (inter-observer reliability): whether 2 independent

Achieved through standardised procedures and questioning, use of closed

High level of control and Reductionist – only consider how the

Quasi-experimental method (natural experiments)

Harder to replicate making it difficult to

Hypotheses for experiments

How to write hypotheses

Participants who [do something] will be significantly [faster/better/quicker

There will be a significant difference between participants who [do something]

Null hypothesis: this predicts that there will be no difference between

There will be no significant difference between participants who [do

Independent measures design

Repeated measures design

the tasks need to be different in each

participants may gain an insight into aim

more time consuming for participants.

Matched pairs design

effect. potential participants because you

Makes it a fair test so we don’t end up

Extraneous and confounding variables:

Demand characteristics: cues in the environment that invite or encourage

when unethical or impractical to carry

Hypotheses for correlations

How to write correlational hypotheses

There will be a significant [direction] correlation between [variable 1] (measured

There will be a significant correlation between [variable 1] (measured by

Null hypothesis: this predicts that there will be correlation/relationship

There will be no significant correlation between [variable 1] (measured by

Presenting data for a correlation

Self- Reports: Questionnaires and interviews

Both questionnaires and interviews are types of self-report method. This is

Reliability may be affected by the

Reliability may be affected by

different questions, or asking the

Types of self-report question

Less chance of ambiguity because

Ability to quantify responses and Respondents may not interpret the

Making questionnaires and interviews ethical

The researcher may be a participant or non-participant observer:

The researcher can watch participantsovertly or covertly:

They can record behaviour in a structured observation:

Strengths of conducting observational Weaknesses of conducting

sampling natural, genuine behaviour reactivity if participants become aware

ethical issues (e.g. lack of consent)

researchers may miss key behaviours

Evaluation of participant observation

Evaluation of Structured Observations:

Behaviours may be incorrectly placed in

especially if it is the researcher

Provides you with lots of data, which is

Sample is often large

This is an example of the type of behaviour checklist used in research to

Child’s initials Sex

behaviour category 5 secs 10 secs 15 secs etc 240