Marcus conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 adolescents about their likelihood of conforming to peer pressure. He presented several hypothetical scenarios where peers encouraged a specific risky behaviour (such as skipping class or minor shoplifting).
Marcus first asked his participants to rate on a 1–5 scale (1 = Not at all likely, 5 = Extremely likely) whether they would conform to the peers in each scenario. He then asked open-ended follow-up questions to explore the reasons behind their ratings.
Explain one strength and one weakness of Marcus using an interview to investigate participants' likelihood of conforming to peer pressure.
Practise Edexcel A Level Psychology Methods with exam-style questions for A Level Psychology. 638 questions, matched to the Edexcel A Level Psychology (9PS0) specification and written in Paper 1, Paper 2 and Paper 3 style. Every question includes a full worked solution and mark scheme, so you can see where marks are awarded rather than just whether you got the answer right.