A researcher adapts Tandoc et al.'s investigation to study adults who belong to eight community music groups. A link sent by email invites members to take part, and 180 volunteers join the study.
For 14 days, software on each participant's phone records the number of minutes spent viewing performance posts by other musicians on a video-sharing app. At the end of every day, participants rate their envy and their low mood, each on a 0–10 scale. A higher score indicates greater envy or lower mood.
The researcher groups participants by their mean daily viewing time.
| Mean daily viewing time | Number of participants | Mean envy score | Mean low-mood score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–19 minutes | 54 | 2.2 | 2.4 |
| 20–39 minutes | 68 | 4.0 | 3.9 |
| 40 minutes or more | 58 | 6.3 | 5.7 |
The researcher concludes that viewing other musicians' performances causes adults to become envious and clinically depressed.
Evaluate the researcher's method and conclusion. Refer to the data in your answer.
144 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Psychology 3.2 Theories/Explanations, covering 3.2.1 Clinical characteristics of schizophrenia, 3.2.2 Key statistics of schizophrenia, 3.2.3 Dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia, 3.2.4 Brain structure and function in schizophrenia; criticisms, 3.2.5 Social drift theory of schizophrenia, 3.2.6 Schizophrenia research study: Daniel et al. (1991), 3.2.7 Clinical characteristics of clinical depression, 3.2.8 Key statistics of clinical depression, 3.2.9 Social rank theory of clinical depression, 3.2.10 ABC Model of clinical depression, and 3.2.11 Clinical Depression research study: Tandoc et al. (2015). Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.