AS Level Psychology Example Answer for G541 (OCR) AS Level

G541: Psychological Investigations Describe / Evaluate Question (10 mark example) A researcher wants to conduct observations to find out gender differences in clothes shopping. Describe and evaluate a procedure for this investigation. [10] Describe The researcher would need to set up a covert observation in either a gender neutral clothes shop, or conduct two observations: one in a men’s and one in a women’s clothes shop. A second observer could also observe the shoppers. The observers could use event sampling to record specific aspects of behaviour, including how long each participant stays in the shop, whether they use the changing rooms, whether they make a purchase, whether they are alone or accompanied and their general state of mind (how much they appear to be enjoying the experience). The observers should also focus on specific indivuals, ideally choosing the same amount of each gender (for example 10 males and 10 females). The observers should record the information on behaviours as they occur using a tally chart. Evaluate Covert observations are unethical as they do not allow for consent, withdrawal and debriefing. To address this a notice could be placed in store, or those observed could be asked on entry, but this would possibly affect their behaviour (demand characteristics) and reduce validity. A second observer increases inter-rater reliability, as both observers can compare the data they collect afterwards. They can check they have recorded the same information. Use of categories of behaviour makes it easier to record and compare quantitatively males and females. However it may not be valid, as it only records what the researcher thinks is important. An improvement could be to use an unstructured observation, but this would be harder to analyse and difficult to conduct. As the gender of shoppers is naturally occurring it is possible that there may be an unequal number of males to females. This may mean conducting more than one observation, which would be time-consuming and does not control for extraneous variables, such as the weather, the general busy-ness of the shop etc. Also ‘state of mind’ is difficult to measure via observation – use of a self report would be more valid for this. Recording behaviours as they occur may reduce validity, as some shoppers may notice the observers and change their behaviour. An alternative would be to use CCTV footage, although this carries ethical problems relating to invasion of privacy. D.McGowan 2009