Research Methods | AQA A-Level Psychology (7182)

Research Methods

136 questions
6 subtopics
Paper 2: Psychology in context
Paper 2

Research Methods is the third topic of Paper 2, though research methods can be assessed on any of the three papers.

It covers the methods psychologists use to gather data: experiments and where they are run, observation, self-report, correlation, content analysis and case studies, with the strengths and limitations of each.

Sample questions from Research Methods

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Experimental method

Why do laboratory experiments typically have low ecological validity?

Show the answer
Because the artificial setting may not reflect real-world behaviour.
Experimental method

What would happen to internal validity if a researcher cannot randomly allocate participants to conditions?

Show the answer
Internal validity would be reduced because pre-existing differences between groups may act as confounding variables.
Observational techniques

Why might controlled observation lack ecological validity?

Show the answer
Because the artificial setting may not reflect natural behaviour.
Observational techniques

Why must behavioural categories be observable?

Show the answer
So that they can be seen and recorded by the observer rather than inferred.
Self-report techniques

A researcher wants to compare stress levels across 500 participants using numerical scores. Should they use closed or open questions, and why?

Show the answer
Closed questions, because the fixed response options produce quantitative data that can be easily compared and statistically analysed across a large sample.
Self-report techniques

What is a double-barrelled question and why should it be avoided?

Show the answer
A question that asks about two things simultaneously; it should be avoided because respondents cannot give separate answers to each part.
Correlations

In a correlational study, what happens to the variables being studied?

Show the answer
Neither variable is manipulated; both co-variables are simply measured as they naturally occur.
Correlations

How is correlational data typically displayed?

Show the answer
Using a scattergram, with one co-variable on each axis.

The 6 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Experimental method	Laboratory, field, natural and quasi-experiments, and what separates them in terms of setting and control over the independent variable.	27
Observational techniques	Naturalistic and controlled observation, the behavioural categories that make recording possible, and event and time sampling with the drawbacks of each.	30
Self-report techniques	Questionnaires and structured, semi-structured and unstructured interviews, together with the response biases that affect what people report.	26
Correlations	Positive, negative and zero correlations, the third variable problem, and why a correlation cannot establish that one variable causes another.	13
Content analysis	Turning qualitative material into analysable data, the stages of carrying out a content analysis, and its strengths and limitations.	18
Case studies	The in-depth study of a single person or group, the techniques combined within one, and the trade-off between detail and generalisability.	22

Research Methods is 136 of the 2,999 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.