The following passage was read to children aged five years and to children aged nine years.
'Firefighters are brave people. Their job is to put out fires and rescue people. Here are some pictures of people. Which of these people do you think might be a firefighter? Is it the woman or is it the man, or could both of them be firefighters?'
The child was shown two pictures, one picture of a woman and one picture of a man. The response given by each child was recorded.
Each child was interviewed individually.
Table 1: Responses of the children who were shown the pictures of a woman and of a man
| Response to question | Children aged 5 | Children aged 9 |
|---|---|---|
| 'Woman' | 3 | 4 |
| 'Man' | 21 | 11 |
| 'Both' | 6 | 15 |
Outline one methodological problem that might have occurred when asking the five-year-old children in the study the questions about the firefighters.
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