CIE A Level Psychology Research Methods Exam Questions

About CIE A Level Psychology Research Methods

Research methods runs through the whole Cambridge 9990 course. At AS it is examined on its own in Paper 2, which has short-answer and scenario-based questions in Section A and a planning question in Section B, and at A Level it returns in the planning question in Section B of Paper 4. You need to know each method, the methodological concepts that apply to it, and how the twelve core studies use them. Examiners want answers tied to the scenario, so a generic strength of observations scores little unless you link it to the behaviour described. Planning questions reward precise operationalised variables, a named sample and technique, and controls.

What you need to know

• Experiments Laboratory, field and natural experiments, with independent and dependent variables. Know independent measures, repeated measures and matched pairs designs, plus counterbalancing and random allocation. At A Level you also need randomised control trials.
• Self-reports Questionnaires and interviews (structured, semi-structured, unstructured). Know open and closed questions, rating scales and forced choice items, and the problem of social desirability bias. A Level adds postal questionnaires and psychometric tests.
• Observations Overt or covert, participant or non-participant, naturalistic or controlled, structured or unstructured. Behavioural categories must be operationalised, and inter-rater reliability is checked by comparing two observers' records.
• Case studies, correlations and longitudinal studies Case studies give rich, detailed data on one person or small group (e.g. Saavedra and Silverman). Correlations look for a relationship between two co-variables and cannot show cause. Longitudinal studies follow the same participants over time.
• Hypotheses and variables Directional (one-tailed) and non-directional (two-tailed) alternative hypotheses and null hypotheses. Variables must be operationalised; control extraneous variables such as participant variables and situational variables, and watch for demand characteristics.
• Sampling Opportunity, volunteer (self-selected) and random sampling, each with strengths and weaknesses for generalisability. Know what the target population is and why a sample may be biased.
• Ethics For humans: informed consent, protection from harm, right to withdraw, confidentiality, privacy, deception and debriefing. For animals: replacement, species, numbers, procedures and caging, plus pain and distress.
• Validity, reliability and data Internal, ecological, population and (at A Level) temporal validity. Reliability includes test-retest and inter-rater reliability. Data can be quantitative or qualitative, primary or secondary; know mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation, bar charts, histograms and scatter graphs.

Common mistakes in Research Methods

• Writing a vague dependent variable such as 'memory'. Operationalise it, e.g. the number of words correctly recalled out of 20 within two minutes.
• Saying a correlation shows that one variable causes another. A correlation only shows a relationship; a third variable could explain it.
• Confusing reliability with validity. Reliability is consistency of a measure; validity is whether it measures what it claims to.
• Describing a sampling technique without saying how it would be done in the scenario. Say exactly where and how participants would be obtained, e.g. putting names from a school register into a random number generator.
• Giving a generic weakness in planning questions. Link each strength or weakness to the specific study you have planned.

Try three Research Methods exam-style questions