Research Methods 12-Marker Revision – Textbook Pages 143-150
Research AO1 (key features/knowledge about the research method) A02 (apply this feature to the context in the scenario/question) A03 (strength/weakness of this feature)
Method A03 (weakness of this feature)
Task: Write down four key features of the research method Task: Highlight the appropriate AO2 that can be linked to each feature.
It might be useful to number it, so it is clear which AO1 feature it Task: Write the relevant strength or weakness for each AO1.
relates to! Remember! In the essay you must write the strength or weakness in
context of the scenario!
Laboratory Takes place in a controlled/artificial environment. Asch (1951) conducted an experiment to investigate whether social Participants are invited to take part in the experiment so they
Experiment pressure from a majority group could affect conformity rates of others. may display demand characteristics. So, Asch’s participants
Has an IV and a DV, and the aim is to establish cause may have changed their answer to reflect the aims of the
and effect between these. Asch sampled 50 male students to participate in a ‘vision test’ using a research.
line judgement task shown in Figure 4. Considered reductionist because it isolates only the variables
Controls/eliminates extraneous variables. under consideration, ignoring other variables that may be
Seven confederates to the study had already been told to give the involved. It is reductionist to state that conformity rates are only
Useful for studying behaviour that may not be affected by same response, some accurate and some inaccurate. affected by group majority as there may be other factors
the artificial environment e.g., memory. involved such as personality.
Asch then put a participant in a room with these seven confederates. Cause and effect can be established due to levels of control,
this increases internal validity. By ensuring that the participant’s
Each person in the room had to say which line (A, B or C) was most response was always given last, this ensures that effect of
like the target line. The accurate answer was always obvious. The group majority on conformity can be confirmed.
participant always gave their response last. Lacks ecological validity so findings may not be applicable to
the real world outside the laboratory.
The number of times that each participant conformed to the majority
view, when it was incorrect, was recorded by Asch.
Field Godden and Baddeley (1975) conducted a field experiment to test
Experiment memory. They used lists of words that were learned and then recalled
in either the same or different environments to learning.
They used scuba divers as participants who learned and recalled the
words either underwater or on dry land. These environments were
familiar to the divers.
The scuba divers were allocated into the following different conditions:
Words learned underwater, recalled underwater.
Words learned underwater, recalled on dry land.
Words learned on dry land, recalled on dry land. Words learned on dry
land, recalled underwater.
The word lists were prerecorded and presented to the scuba divers
twice when they were in their learning environment. The words were
read at two-second intervals in the recording.
Godden and Baddeley (1975) found that more words were recalled
when the divers were in the same environment in which they had
learned the words, compared to when learning and recall took place in
different environments.
Natural Becker et al. (2002) conducted a natural experiment in Fiji to investigate the
Experiment impact of television on eating behaviours.
They assessed attitudes to eating in 1995, just as television was being
introduced to the native population. They returned in 1998 to assess eating
behaviours after three years of television exposure.
63 girls with a mean age of 17.3 years took part in 1995. A second sample of
65 girls with a mean age of 16.9 years took part in 1998.
To score eating behaviours, the two samples of girls completed a
standardised EAT-26 questionnaire. They also answered questions about
television viewing. Their weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) were also
Research Methods 12-Marker Revision – Textbook Pages 143-150
recorded.
Comparisons between 1995 and 1998 data indicated that, after exposure to
western imagery on television, the reports of disordered eating such as self-
induced vomiting to lose weight had increased.
Interview* Juliet investigated whether there was a relationship between the
number of hours spent using social media and self-rated body image
scores.
Firstly, Juliet interviewed a sample of 17-year-old students using a
structured interview method, where she asked them to state the length
of time they spent on social media per day.
Juliet then asked the same participants to complete a questionnaire to
rate how happy they were with their appearance, with a score of 0
being 'very unhappy' and 10 being 'very happy'.
Questionnaire The BPAQ can be administered online or on paper and has continued
to be used to measure aggression levels in the adult population.
Some researchers have also adapted the questionnaire for different
countries and cultures.
Participants completing the questionnaire select how far they agree
with each of the 29 statements using a five-point scale. The scores for
each statement are then totalled to determine aggression levels.
Case Study H.M. underwent an experimental brain operation in 1953 where
doctors removed most of his hippocampus and amygdala. It became
clear that as a result of the operation H.M. had an impaired long-term
memory, but his short-term memory and some other skills were largely
intact.
H.M. was studied from the day of his operation until he died in 2008.
He took part in experimental tasks, some of these he repeated
regularly. H.M. was observed by multiple researchers over his lifetime,
and his amnesia was compared to that of other amnesiac patients to
see if memory loss was similar.
His case provided psychologists with a range of information about
memory processes that may otherwise not have been understood.
