Two psychological investigations are summarised below.
| Investigation | Sample | Procedure | Finding and conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|
| A: developmental psychology | 48 girls aged 10 from one school in England | The researcher predicted that competitive play would increase aggressive behaviour. She spoke enthusiastically when introducing the competitive game but used a neutral tone for the cooperative game. She then recorded each occasion when a child "behaved badly", without defining this category. | The mean was 7.2 recorded incidents during each 15-minute competitive game and 3.4 during each cooperative game. The researcher concluded that competitive play increases aggression in all children. |
| B: criminal psychology | 160 adults from four regions of the UK: 80 women and 80 men, aged between 18 and 75 | Each participant gave their name before being interviewed face to face. The interviewer asked, "Responsible citizens obey the law. How many times in the past month have you broken a minor law?" | 82% reported that they had not broken a minor law. The researcher concluded that most adults do not break minor laws. |
Explain how far you agree with the following viewpoint:
"Bias in how a study is run is a greater threat to its conclusions than bias in who is studied."
Use evidence from both investigations in your answer.
173 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Psychology 7.3 Analysing Research, covering 7.3.1 Types of Data, 7.3.2 Measures of central tendency, 7.3.3 Other descriptive statistics, 7.3.4 Tables, Charts and Graphs, 7.3.5 Reliability, 7.3.6 Validity and effects on validity, and 7.3.7 Sources of bias. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.