Model Answers Research methods

Q1 A) One problem with using a volunteer sample is that volunteer sample can be a biased samples. In this study the volunteers may have been very motivated to reduce their anger levels which may have affected how they responded to the therapy sessions. This means they are not representative of young offenders in general.

b) The researchers could give each of the 50 participants a number between 1 and 50. These numbers could then be put into a large box. The researcher could pull out the numbers allocating the first number to therapy A and the second to therapy B and go through the whole 50 alternating which therapy they go into.

c) There will a difference in the reduction in the anger scores of offenders who complete therapy A and those who complete therapy B

d) Both of therapies seem to be effective because the post therapy anger scores are lower in both conditions. Which means the therapies are effective in reducing anger in offenders. Therapy A shows a reduction of 20 and therapy B a reduction of 25, suggesting therapy B is more effective than therapy A. The pre anger scores are greater in therapy A suggesting these participants were more angry to start with.

e) Using a matched pairs design will reduce participant variables and the researcher wants to be sure that any reduction in anger scores is due to the therapy and not individual differences between the two groups. The lower anger scores in therapy b may have been caused by the characteristics of the participants in group B such as pre anger scores, gender or family background. Matching for these variables would improve the study as the researcher could be sure it is the therapy and not other factors that are causing the difference in the two conditions.

f) One ethical issue is the right to withdraw. As the participants are in a young offenders institution they may feel they have to stay in the study programme and feel they cannot withdraw. The researchers could deal with this by informing them of their right to withdraw at the begininng of the study, during the study and also informing them that they have the right to withdraw their data at the end of the study should they not wish for it to be used.

g) The median only uses the middle value of a data set. Therefore it does not use all the scores in the set. This makes it a less sensitive measure of central tendency than the mean.

h) As the participants complete the questionnaire twice they may think that the researcher is expecting a different set of answers and may assume they are expecting a reduction in anger. They may then answer in a way that gives them a lower score because they feel this is what they are expected to do. This will reduce the validity of the study.

i) One strength of using questionnaires in psychological research is that the questionnaires can be given out to a large number of participants at the same time. This means you can collect a large amount of data in a relatively small amount of time. This is much more economical than conducting other methods such as interviews.

Q2 A) Independent groups design. One advantage of this design is there will be no order effects as people are only taking part in one of the conditions – working alone or working in group. The researcher can use the same task for each condition. This means the task does not become a confounding variable as some tasks may be easier than others and therefore generate more ideas. Demand characteristics are less likely in IGD as the participants are exposed to only one condition and therefore are less likely to guess the aims of the study and respond in a way to support or go against the expectations of the researcher.

b) Another design is repeated measures. This is when the same participants take part in both conditions of an experiment.

C) The researcher could ensure the participants in each condition were given the same standardised instructions that were delivered by the same the researcher The participants could have been tested in the exactly the same environment such as the same room, lighting, temperature. The participants could have been tested at the exact same time of day such as after lunch in the afternoon.

d) There will be a difference in the number of ideas generated when participants work alone and when participants work in groups.

e) 3

f) Standard deviation

h) Allocate each participant a number between 1 and 15. Put these numbers in a box. Pull out the first three numbers for group 1 Next three numbers for group 2 Continue this until you have used up the 15 numbers and have five groups.

i) Divide the number in each condition by the total number of ideas. E.g. 110/185 75/185 Then times each number by 100. This would give you the percentage of ideas generated in each condition.

j) Thank you for taking part in my research. In this study I was looking at creativity and the presence of others and I did this by seeing if people generate more ideas when they are alone or when they are in groups. I had two conditions and you were in condition A – working alone. In the other groups there were 5 groups of 3 participants. Can I remind you that all the data will be confidential and your personal details will not be disclosed. You also have the right to withdraw your data should you wish to not have it included in the study. You will be notified of the results of the study and should contact me if you feel you would like to discuss the study further. Thank you again for your participation

Question 3 A) Sign test is carried out on nominal data. The investigation has nominal data because participants have been categorised into improved or deteriorated. Sign test looks for a difference between conditions. In this investigation they are looking for a difference between days off work before and after treatment. Sign test is used on repeated measures design. This investigation is repeated measures because the data has been taken from the same participants before and after treatment

b) There are 12 + signs and 5 – signs. In the sign test the ‘no difference or neither’ is not counted. S is the total of the signs that occurs less frequently. This is 5 so S=5

C) The critical value when N=17 and P<0.05 for a two tailed test is 4. The calculated value of S is 5. To be significant the calculated value of S must be equal to or less than the tabled value. In this case 5 is greater than 4 so the results are not significant.

d) Primary data is first hand data collected directly from the participants. In this case the researcher are trying to find out if CBT is effective as a treatment of depression. By using the secondary data of time of work they do not really know if this is a good measurement of depression symptoms. Therefore it may not be a valid measurement of improvement in depression symptoms. Whereas asking the participants to rate their own symptoms might give a more valid measurement.

e) Psychological research can have important implications for the economy as the results of research can influence where taxpayers money is spent and can influence funding of services. In this study, if we find CBT is an effective way of reducing absences from work it could mean extra NHS funding could be given for CBT in depression and this could even reduce the need to rely on drugs companies and the drugs they develop for depression. Also it can have a positive effect on the economy as days off work cost companies millions of pounds every year. Also days off work in public services such as doctors, nurses and teachers will cost the tax payers millions each year. By reducing this the money can be spent elsewhere.

Q4 A) If the participants have OCD or do not have OCD B) You cannot randomly allocate the participants to the OCD or no OCD group as this is a naturally occurring variable. C) weight, health, IQ, gender, age D)One advantage is that any difference in the accuracy of estimating the heart beat can be put down to the presence or absence of OCD rather than another variables such as gender or intelligence.