There have been recent reports that sleep deprivation among university students is linked to lower resilience and poor stress coping mechanisms. A researcher conducted a study to investigate the relationship between nightly sleep duration and coping capacity.
The researcher obtained an opportunity sample of 10 undergraduate students from a university library. Each student provided self-report data tracking their average nightly sleep duration (in hours) over a one-week period.
Each student also completed an online Coping Capacity Questionnaire. This questionnaire was scored out of 60, where a lower score indicated poorer coping capacity (high vulnerability to stress) and a higher score indicated stronger coping capacity.
The raw data collected in the study are shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1: Average nightly sleep (hours) and coping capacity scores of 10 students
| Student | Average nightly sleep (hours) | Coping capacity score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4.5 | 15 |
| 2 | 5.0 | 18 |
| 3 | 8.0 | 52 |
| 4 | 4.2 | 10 |
| 5 | 3.8 | 8 |
| 6 | 7.2 | 45 |
| 7 | 8.5 | 57 |
| 8 | 6.0 | 30 |
| 9 | 5.5 | 22 |
| 10 | 6.5 | 38 |
The researcher decided to conduct follow-up interviews with the participants whose coping capacity score was below 25. He chose to use a structured interview.
Outline one limitation of using a structured interview in this study.
38 exam-style questions on AQA A Level Psychology Self-report techniques. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.