OCR Psychology G544 June 18th 2012

good idea Does anyone know how to structure the G544 essays?

Which essays? The 19marker in section A or the ones in section B?

Oh wait, i thought it said G543. My badddd sorry !.
Im really stuck on G543

Could you help me on the structure for section A and B, im so stuck haven't a clue where to start

Also, do you know what topics are likely to come up?

For G543 essays, they're the description ones and evaluative ones?

For the description one, you simply need to keep relating it back to the question and describe the study.

For the description of the study, follow the pattern; AIM, METHOD, PROCEDURE, RESULTS, CONCLUSION.

HOWEVER, YOU DO NOT NEED TO LEARN ALL THIS DETAIL!!!
YOU SHOULD LEARN THE KEY POINTS AND THE STUDIES TO GO WITH IT..
IE, INTERVIEWING SUSPECTS - INTERROGATION; INBAU, FALSE CONFESSION; GUDJOHNSSON, DETECTING LIES; MANN.

Then if you know an outline of the study, the detail should flow.
You can make up the aim of the study if you know roughly what the study is about, and you can guess the aim and procedure. The results are usually obvious to the study..


FOR THE EVALUATIVE ESSAY...

VERY IMPORTANT - make sure you cross compare ALL three studies in the section for every evaluative point you make. If you don't, you WILL loose marks.

So, if you say that one study is low in reliability because it uses a lab experiment, you must evaluate the other studies, and use words like 'however', 'on the other hand', this study conducted by ........ is high in ecological validity, likewise with this study by ...........

You do not need to include any description here, however you may want to include small descriptions to compare things throughout the essay. For example, when comparing the number of participants, make sure you mention the participants from each study.

For this section, I would go over the main issues like;
-Reliability
-Validity
-Ecological validity
-Reductionism
-Usefulness
-Sample
Etc (can't think of others atm)

Really hope this helps!!!
It's the hardest exam in Psychology, but very much worth the stress if you can get really good!!!

SECTION A;
The 19 marker is the most daunting question and asks you to describe a project you would carry out on one of the question, but it is actually probably the easiest question, as it just brings in stuff you have learnt throughout the whole course.

You need to make sure you read the question, as they sometimes give you specific requirements, such as it needing to be repeated measures or independent measures or that you need to use a specific method for obtaining the sample.

However, follow the simple pattern for the structure of the question;
- SAMPLE (what sample will you use? how will you obtain this sample? what age range will the sample be? male or female? how many people? how many in each group? control group? will you get their consent? will you brief the sample?
- METHOD (lab/quasi/field/observation [REMEMBER IN A CORRELATION YOU DO NOT NEED TO STATE THE EXACT METHOD AS IF YOU USE A TYPE OF EXPERIMENT IT IS CLASSIFIED AS AN EXPERIMENT NOT A CORRELATION]
-PROCEDURE (what's the IV? what's the DV? what controls will you have? where will it be set? will you give them a questionnaire/interview/psychometric test/puzzle to complete? any other things to mention? ie, standardised procedure? what will happen when you first get the participants? will they do the task together or in separate rooms or be divided in a room? [THIS ALL DEPENDS ON THE QUESTION])
-ETHICS (mention if you will brief/debrief them and if you deceive them in any way, make sure you tell the participants at the end the full aim and ask for their consent to use the results)


SOMETHING THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!!

MAKE SURE THAT YOU CONTINUALLY EVALUATE YOUR DESIGN.
For example, if you say you are going to use an opportunity sample, say why you are going to use this sample (ie, participants much more easier to obtain than using a volunteer sample), and mention why you are not going to use other sample collection methods (random - too long-winded)

Tell the examiner why the requirements you have chosen are good, and include strengths and weaknesses.

Ie, I am using a lab experiment, so I can infer high levels of control, and isolate the IV to measure the DV, so I can infer cause and effect. This makes it much more reliable. HOWEVER, lab experiments are low in ecological validity, but this can't be helped as a lab experiment is suitable for my requirements, but I will make sure I apply the findings carefully, etc.

Hope this helps and sorry for the long essay LOL
Any other questions, let me know xx

SECTION A;
The 19 marker is the most daunting question and asks you to describe a project you would carry out on one of the question, but it is actually probably the easiest question, as it just brings in stuff you have learnt throughout the whole course.

You need to make sure you read the question, as they sometimes give you specific requirements, such as it needing to be repeated measures or independent measures or that you need to use a specific method for obtaining the sample.

However, follow the simple pattern for the structure of the question;
- SAMPLE (what sample will you use? how will you obtain this sample? what age range will the sample be? male or female? how many people? how many in each group? control group? will you get their consent? will you brief the sample?
- METHOD (lab/quasi/field/observation [REMEMBER IN A CORRELATION YOU DO NOT NEED TO STATE THE EXACT METHOD AS IF YOU USE A TYPE OF EXPERIMENT IT IS CLASSIFIED AS AN EXPERIMENT NOT A CORRELATION]
-PROCEDURE (what's the IV? what's the DV? what controls will you have? where will it be set? will you give them a questionnaire/interview/psychometric test/puzzle to complete? any other things to mention? ie, standardised procedure? what will happen when you first get the participants? will they do the task together or in separate rooms or be divided in a room? [THIS ALL DEPENDS ON THE QUESTION])
-ETHICS (mention if you will brief/debrief them and if you deceive them in any way, make sure you tell the participants at the end the full aim and ask for their consent to use the results)


SOMETHING THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT!!!!

MAKE SURE THAT YOU CONTINUALLY EVALUATE YOUR DESIGN.
For example, if you say you are going to use an opportunity sample, say why you are going to use this sample (ie, participants much more easier to obtain than using a volunteer sample), and mention why you are not going to use other sample collection methods (random - too long-winded)

Tell the examiner why the requirements you have chosen are good, and include strengths and weaknesses.

Ie, I am using a lab experiment, so I can infer high levels of control, and isolate the IV to measure the DV, so I can infer cause and effect. This makes it much more reliable. HOWEVER, lab experiments are low in ecological validity, but this can't be helped as a lab experiment is suitable for my requirements, but I will make sure I apply the findings carefully, etc.

Hope this helps and sorry for the long essay LOL
Any other questions, let me know xx

Also, I remember my teaching telling me not to evaluate my study when im writing it out because i wont get any marks for it, and also you have a chance to evaluate it on the second part of section A ?

Also! Sorry for the constant replies haha,

How would I go about designing a correlation study? x

For correlation studies, don't mention any type of lab/quasi/field experience.

You can't really mention that you're controlling any variables either because in a correlation no variables are controlled.

Also, remember in a correlation for your hypothesis you need to say 'There will be a significant difference between ....'

And also remember that you cannot infer cause and effect with a correlation, because correlations do not show one variable having an effect on the other, they are just linked lightly.

xxx

Ah, thank you so much!

So I would literally go about designing a study as per usual? So say the exam asked you to 'find the correlation of happiness and popularity'

I could say:

My sample will be opportunity (obviously id explain the sample more)
Put in one condition. (?)
Use of likert scale to measure happiness and self report questionnaire to measure popularity.

this is obviously the absolute minimal backbone of the example study id include more about ethics and more about the sample and where the test would be conducted etc.

How would I end the study? would I say something like

The test results would then be correlated and displayed using Spearman's Rho.



Sorry for the questions, I'm a gap year student and i've completely forgotten how to do this exam!

Many thanks xoxoxox

Haha that's ok, it helps me to revise it too coz it refreshes my memory
How comes you're doing psychology in your gap year?

What do you mean by 'put in one condition'?

And to end it, you can say I would correlate the data, and present it in a graph or something. I don't think you need to mention the type of test you need to use to find it's significance because there should be a question further on like (e) or (f) or (g) that asks you what test you would use and why.

But check the exam paper, and if that question isn't in there, then you might aswell mention what test you'd use!!

How do you remember the different tests? It confuses me xxxxx

It's such a long story! I'm was doing psychology at university, but I've decided I want to do law and I need AAA to get in, last year I was predicted AAA but in the g544 exam, I read question A wrong, and it specified a design method, but I used my own so I didn't get many marks for part A, So I got a D in that exam, and a B overall So i'm going to try and boost my mark!

Psychology only gets more confusing at university, places loads of emphasis on statistics! That's why I left, because maths is not my strongest point.


There's no way to really remember the tests! You just have to learn them, which really sucks!

Here's a table of what test to use if you don't currently have notes to use

Nominal data, Independent measures = Chi- Square
Nominal data, repeated measures = Sign test
Nominal, Matched pairs = Sign test
Nominal, Correlation = No test (But chi-sqaure can be used.)

Ordinal, Independent = Mann Whitney
Ordinal, Repeated = Wilcoxon signed ranks
Ordinal, Matched pairs = Wilcoxon
Ordinal, Correlation = Spearmans Rho

Interval, Independent = Independent T-test
Interval, repeated = Related t-test
interval, matched = related t-test
interval, correlation = pearsons.



But I wouldn't worry too much about the tests I think you only get about 3 marks for mentioning the correct test.

I thought we only needed to know spearmans rank, mann whitney, wilcoxon and chi squared

It's such a long story! I'm was doing psychology at university, but I've decided I want to do law and I need AAA to get in, last year I was predicted AAA but in the g544 exam, I read question A wrong, and it specified a design method, but I used my own so I didn't get many marks for part A, So I got a D in that exam, and a B overall So i'm going to try and boost my mark!

Psychology only gets more confusing at university, places loads of emphasis on statistics! That's why I left, because maths is not my strongest point.


There's no way to really remember the tests! You just have to learn them, which really sucks!

Here's a table of what test to use if you don't currently have notes to use

Nominal data, Independent measures = Chi- Square
Nominal data, repeated measures = Sign test
Nominal, Matched pairs = Sign test
Nominal, Correlation = No test (But chi-sqaure can be used.)

Ordinal, Independent = Mann Whitney
Ordinal, Repeated = Wilcoxon signed ranks
Ordinal, Matched pairs = Wilcoxon
Ordinal, Correlation = Spearmans Rho

Interval, Independent = Independent T-test
Interval, repeated = Related t-test
interval, matched = related t-test
interval, correlation = pearsons.



But I wouldn't worry too much about the tests I think you only get about 3 marks for mentioning the correct test.