Scientific Processes | AQA A-Level Psychology (7182)
Scientific Processes
- 310 questions
- 16 subtopics
- Paper 2: Psychology in context
- Paper 2
Scientific Processes covers how an investigation is designed, run and reported: aims and hypotheses, sampling, design and control, ethics, reliability and validity, and what makes psychology a science.
This content sits within research methods and can be assessed on any of the three papers.
Sample questions from Scientific Processes
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Aims and hypotheses
A researcher states: 'This study will explore whether sleep affects memory.' Is this an aim or a hypothesis? Explain why.
Show the answer
This is an aim because it is a general statement of what the researcher intends to investigate, not a specific testable prediction. -
Pilot studies
A researcher discovers during their main experiment that participants misunderstand a key instruction. How could this have been prevented?
Show the answer
By conducting a pilot study beforehand to check that standardised instructions are clear and understood by participants. -
Observational design
Define event sampling as an observational technique.
Show the answer
A technique where the observer records every occurrence of a specified target behaviour during the observation period. -
Variables
Define operationalisation.
Show the answer
The process of clearly defining variables in terms of how they will be measured or manipulated in a study. -
Demand characteristics and investigator effects
Why might a participant underreport their alcohol consumption in a health survey?
Show the answer
Due to social desirability bias—they want to present themselves favourably rather than admit to behaviour that might be judged negatively. -
Peer review
How does peer review contribute to the allocation of research funding?
Show the answer
By assessing the quality of grant applications to help determine which research proposals deserve funding. -
Reliability
What is the first requirement when assessing inter-observer reliability?
Show the answer
Two or more observers must independently code the same behaviour. -
Features of science
What is the final step in theory construction that allows the theory to be evaluated?
Show the answer
The theory generates testable hypotheses that can be empirically investigated.
The 16 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Aims and hypotheses | What an aim states, how a hypothesis differs from it, and the forms a hypothesis takes. | 14 |
| Sampling | Random, stratified, systematic, opportunity and volunteer sampling, how each sample is drawn, and the bias each one carries. | 22 |
| Pilot studies | Why a small trial run is carried out before the main investigation, and what it is used to change. | 11 |
| Experimental designs | Repeated measures, independent groups and matched pairs, what each does about participant variables, and what each costs. | 19 |
| Observational design | Breaking behaviour into clearly defined categories before observing, and the contrast between event sampling and time sampling. | 11 |
| Questionnaire construction and design of interviews | Open and closed questions in a questionnaire, and how structured, semi-structured and unstructured interviews differ. | 27 |
| Variables | The independent and dependent variables, and what separates a confounding variable from an extraneous one. | 22 |
| Control | Randomisation, counterbalancing and standardisation, and the order effects and inconsistencies each is used to prevent. | 20 |
| Demand characteristics and investigator effects | The cues that reveal to participants what is expected, the ways a researcher can unintentionally shape results, and why both threaten internal validity. | 25 |
| Ethics | The ethical issues raised by research, the alternatives used when full informed consent is impossible, and how deception and the right to withdraw are handled. | 21 |
| Peer review | What expert scrutiny achieves before publication, and the main weaknesses of the process. | 20 |
| Implications of psychological research for the economy | How psychological research feeds through into the economy, with examples of the effect. | 13 |
| Reliability | Consistency of measurement, how it is assessed through test-retest and inter-observer methods, and how it can be improved. | 19 |
| Validity | Internal and external validity, the distinction between face and concurrent validity, and the kinds of generalisation external validity covers. | 19 |
| Features of science | Objectivity, empiricism, replicability and falsifiability, Popper's account of what separates science from non-science, and Kuhn's idea of a paradigm shift. | 21 |
| Reporting psychological investigations | The sections of a scientific report, what belongs in each, and the conventions for citing and referencing. | 26 |
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.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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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.
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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.
Nearby topics
AQA A-Level Psychology Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 2,999 questions with their answers.