Research Methods

What Research Methods covers

Research Methods is examined in Paper 1, Cognition and behaviour. It covers hypotheses and variables, sampling methods, experimental designs and types of experiment, interviews, questionnaires, case studies and observations, research procedures, reliability and validity, ethical issues in psychological research, types of data, calculations and averages and correlation, graphs and the normal distribution.

The 8 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Hypotheses and variablesAlternative and null hypotheses, operationalising variables, independent, dependent and extraneous variables, and how extraneous variables are controlled.Open →
• Sampling methodsTarget populations and representative samples, random, opportunity, systematic and stratified sampling with their strengths and weaknesses, and sampling bias.Open →
• Experimental designs and types of experimentIndependent groups, repeated measures and matched pairs designs, and laboratory, field and natural experiments with a strength and a weakness of each.Open →
• Interviews, questionnaires, case studies and observationsStructured and unstructured interviews, open and closed questions, case studies, observation with behavioural categories, and inter-observer reliability.Open →
• Research procedures, reliability and validityStandardised procedures and instructions, random allocation, order effects and counterbalancing, reliability, validity, ecological validity and demand characteristics.Open →
• Ethical issues in psychological researchInformed consent, deception, the right to withdraw, protection from harm, confidentiality and privacy, debriefing, and the role of an ethics committee.Open →
• Types of data, calculations and averagesQuantitative and qualitative, primary and secondary data, the mean, median, mode and range, and fractions, percentages, ratios, standard form and significant figures.Open →
• Correlation, graphs and the normal distributionFrequency tables, bar charts, histograms and scatter diagrams, positive, negative and zero correlations, and the shape of a normal distribution.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Research Methods further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Independent variable vs Dependent variable

  Independent variable: the factor a researcher deliberately changes between conditions. Dependent variable: the factor a researcher records to see whether the manipulation had an effect.

• Null hypothesis vs Alternative hypothesis

  Null hypothesis: a prediction that the manipulated factor will have no effect, with any difference put down to chance. Alternative hypothesis: a prediction that the manipulated factor will produce a real difference.

• Reliability vs Validity

  Reliability: consistency, so that a repeated measure gives similar results. Validity: the extent to which a study measures what it set out to measure.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What is a hypothesis?

   Model answer

   A hypothesis is a precise, testable prediction of what a researcher expects a study to find.

2. 2

   What does an alternative hypothesis predict?

   Model answer

   An alternative hypothesis predicts that the independent variable will affect the dependent variable. The researcher expects a real difference to be found.

3. 3

   What does a null hypothesis predict?

   Model answer

   A null hypothesis predicts that the independent variable will have no effect on the dependent variable. Any difference that is found is put down to chance.

4. 4

   Why must a hypothesis be testable?

   Model answer

   A testable hypothesis can be checked against data and either supported or not supported. A vague prediction cannot be tested with evidence.

5. 5

   A researcher thinks that revising with music playing affects how many words people remember. Write a suitable alternative hypothesis.

   Model answer

   Participants who revise with music will recall a different number of words from participants who revise in silence.

6. 6

   A researcher predicts that eating breakfast improves pupils' test scores. Write a null hypothesis for this study.

   Model answer

   Eating breakfast will have no effect on pupils' test scores. Any difference in scores will be due to chance.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Research Methods revision questions

What does Research Methods cover in AQA GCSE Psychology?

8 subtopics: hypotheses and variables, sampling methods, experimental designs and types of experiment, interviews, questionnaires, case studies and observations, research procedures, reliability and validity, ethical issues in psychological research, types of data, calculations and averages and correlation, graphs and the normal distribution. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Research Methods organised?

By the AQA 8182 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.