A psychologist tells 40 adults that a study is about how quickly people sort statements into categories. The adults agree to take part on this basis. The real aim is to investigate whether being told, 'Most people find these statements straightforward', changes the number of statements attempted in five minutes.
After the task, the psychologist gives each participant a full debrief. Before revealing the real aim, the psychologist asks what the participant thought the study was investigating.
| Response | Number of participants |
|---|---|
| Correctly identified the real aim | 7 |
| Did not identify the real aim | 33 |
One participant claims that, because the real aim was explained during the debrief, their consent to take part was informed. Explain whether this claim is correct.
Explain what the responses collected during the debrief suggest about the validity of the study.
182 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Psychology 7.1 Planning Research, covering 7.1.1 Hypotheses, 7.1.2 Variables, 7.1.3 Experimental Designs, 7.1.4 Populations and Sampling, 7.1.5 Ethical issues, and 7.1.6 Dealing with ethical issues and BPS Code. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.