Unit 2 Self and

others
Chapter 7  Research methods 2

Chapter 8  Attitude formation and change

Chapter 9  Social influences on the individual

Chapter 10  Pro-social and anti-social behaviour

Chapter 11  Intelligence

Chapter 12  Personality

7  Research
methods 2
A research method is a particular way of conducting
a research study or investigation to collect data.
In unit 1, we examined experimental research. We
also examined other research methods including case
studies, observational studies, longitudinal and cross-
sectional studies, and twin and adoption studies.
In unit 2, we build on what you have learned
about experimental research; for example, why the
IV and DV are ‘operationalised’, and how extraneous
variables can become ‘confounding’ variables if they
are not controlled. We also consider other research
methods, including ‘self-report’ methods such as
surveys and rating scales. Self-report methods are
covered only generally in this chapter, but they are
described in greater detail in the study of attitudes
when you are likely to use a self-report method for
your own investigation. Finally, we consider a third
category of research called ‘correlational studies’.
Figure 7.1  Does noise have an effect on problem-solving

More on experimental research abilities?

An experiment is used to find out whether one Operationalising the IV and DV

variable (the IV) causes a change in another variable
(the DV). The experimenter deliberately manipulates
an IV in order to observe and measure the effect of
this manipulation on the DV. Manipulation of an IV
typically involves exposing some participants to the
IV (experimental condition) and not exposing other
participants to the IV (control condition). The effect
of the IV is determined by comparing the responses of
participants who were exposed to the IV with those who
were not exposed to the IV. If this comparison shows
that the IV has an effect on the DV, and the experiment
has been carefully controlled, then it can be assumed
that the IV probably caused the change in the DV.
When used for research, an experiment is always
designed to test a hypothesis. The hypothesis is
basically a prediction about what will happen in
the experiment. It must be constructed and worded
in such a way that the results obtained from the
experiment will either support or not support the
prediction. In order to achieve this, the experimenter
must construct and express the hypothesis in a
particular way. The hypothesis must clearly and
precisely state how the IV and DV involved in the
experiment will be observed and measured. This is
called operationalising the IV and DV.
Operationalising the IV and DV involves turning the
IV and DV into procedures or actions (‘operations’)
that can be observed and measured. This is an
important step because many of the thoughts,
feelings and behaviours psychologists investigate
can have different meanings and can therefore be
observed and measured in more than one way.
For example, suppose that a researcher wants to
find out whether noise has an effect on problem-
solving ability. What is meant by ‘noise’ (the IV)
and ‘problem-solving ability’ (the DV) and how will
these variables be observed and measured? Will the
‘noise’ be music? If so, will it be classical music,
rock music or some other type of music? Will the
noise be people talking, whales communicating, an
engine revving, the sound of a plane flying overhead
or a combination of different types of noises? Will
the noise be loud, medium or soft? Will the noise be
heard continuously or irregularly? Similarly, consider
‘problem-solving ability’. What type of problem?
Will it be a personal problem, a problem involving
someone else or an intellectual problem? Will the
problem be simple or complex? Will the problem be
presented orally, in writing or audio-visually? Will
the problem have one solution or several solutions?

Chapter 7  Research methods 2  263

Furthermore, precisely how will ‘ability’ to solve the
problem be observed and measured? Getting the
problem right or wrong? Solving it quickly or slowly?
Both accuracy and speed?
When the IV and DV have been operationalised,
they are usually stated in the hypothesis. When this is
done, the research hypothesis is commonly called an
operational hypothesis. An operational hypothesis is
a research hypothesis that refers to how the variables
being studied will be observed, manipulated and
measured. This means that the IV and DV are stated
in operationalised terms. In addition, an operational
hypothesis refers to the population from which the
sample has been selected and may also refer to, or
suggest how, the experiment will be conducted.
For example, in a study on noise and problem-solving
ability, the operational hypothesis could be stated
as: ‘Year 11 VCE students who continuously listen
to loud rock music when solving previously unseen
written problems will solve fewer problems during a
one hour session than Year 11 VCE students who do not
listen to loud rock music’. This hypothesis has all the Figure 7.2  Does body piercing make a person more or less
characteristics required for an operational hypothesis: attractive? The answer depends on how you operationalise
• the IV is described in operationalised terms: ‘body piercing’ and ‘attractive’.
continuously listening to loud rock music
throughout a one hour session • expressed clearly and precisely (rather than
• the DV is described in operationalised terms: the vaguely and generally)
number of previously unseen written problems that • testable (the IV and DV are capable of being
are solved observed, manipulated and measured)
• the population from which the sample is drawn is • written as a single sentence (although it is possible to
stated: Year 11 VCE students list a number of hypotheses in a single sentence).
• how the experiment will be conducted is stated: Operationalising the IV(s) and DV(s) ensures that
one group will listen to loud rock music when these variables are precisely defined. This has two
problem-solving (experimental group) and another important benefits.
group will not listen to loud rock music when • Firstly, it is only when the experimenter has
problem-solving (control group). precisely defined the variables that the experiment
In addition, like all other research hypotheses, an can actually be carried out.
operational hypothesis is: • Secondly, when the variables are defined in such
• an educated guess (usually based on existing theory a precise way, another researcher interested in the
or previous research findings) results or perhaps even doubting them, will be able
• prepared as a carefully worded statement (rather to repeat the experiment in order to test (‘check’)
than a question) the results obtained.
Table 7.1  Ways in which IVs and DVs can be operationalised
Research question of interest IV example DV example
Do students learn more effectively in early • time of lesson • score on a test of recall (amount of
morning or late afternoon classroom lessons? information remembered)
If a teacher ignores a student’s attention-seeking • teacher not paying attention to • frequency of attention-seeking
behaviour in class, will this strategy reduce the attention-seeking behaviours behaviours
student’s attention-seeking behaviour?
Does playing violent computer games cause • a computer game classified by • number of presses of a button that
aggressive behaviour? the Commonwealth Government administers a shock to another student
censors as violent
Does allowing a child to sleep in the same bed • child sharing bed with both • frequency of separation anxiety
as their parents result in the child being overly parents over a specified behaviours when either or both parents
attached to the parents? period of time leave the child alone with a stranger
What types of jokes are funny to people of • different types of jokes • number of audible laughs detected by
different cultural backgrounds? an audiometer and number of smiles
detected an electromyograph (measures
facial muscle contractions)

264  Unit 2  Self and others

 When a study is replicated using a similar sample
and similar results are obtained, there is greater
confidence in the accuracy of the results. Alternatively,
if replication of a study fails to produce the same basic
findings, researchers have less confidence in the
findings reported for the original research.
LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.1
Review questions
1 Explain the meaning of the phrase ‘operationalising
the IV and DV’ with reference to an example.
2 What is an operational hypothesis?
3 List the key characteristics of an operational
hypothesis.
4 What are two benefits of using an operational
hypothesis for a research study?
5 Write an operational hypothesis for two of the
following research topics:
• Does regular exercise improve psychological
wellbeing?
• Do people drive less safely when feeling stressed?
• Do people talk more after they have eaten than
they do when they are hungry?
• Does perception of time change when in a
relaxed state?
LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.2
Visual presentation — key
characteristics of an operational
hypothesis
Construct an operational hypothesis on a topic of interest
to you. You may wish to check this textbook for ideas.
Write your hypothesis on an A3 sheet of paper or
PowerPoint slide and label all its key characteristics.
Consider using a format such as that in figure 7.24 on
page 287 for describing the referencing style used in
psychology.
Identification of extraneous variables
In an experiment, the researcher will manipulate the
IV while attempting to control all the other variables
that may influence the IV in an unwanted way.
These ‘unwanted variables’ are called extraneous
variables.
An extraneous variable is a variable other than the
IV that can cause a change in the DV. Extraneous
variables are called ‘unwanted’ because they can
make it difficult for the researcher to conclude that
any change in the DV was caused by the presence of
the IV and not some other variable. The researcher
attempts to identify and control relevant extraneous
variables when designing the experiment and does so
before the experiment is conducted.
Sometimes, the researcher does not become aware
of relevant extraneous variables until after the
experiment has commenced; for example, during the
experiment or when evaluating the experiment after
it has been conducted. In some cases, the researcher
remains unaware of relevant extraneous variables
until another researcher points them out after
reading the report on the experiment.
Commonly used categories of extraneous variables
are participant variables, situational variables and
experimenter variables. The name of each of these
three categories indicate the source of each type of
extraneous variables.
Participant variables
The individual characteristics that participants
involved in research bring with them to the
experiment are called participant variables.
Participant variables include biological sex,
intelligence, personality characteristics, motivation,
emotional state, mood, problem-solving ability, self-
esteem, health, cultural background and so on. Each
of these variables and many other specific participant
variables can affect the way participants respond in
an experiment. Thus, the experimenter tries to take
the relevant participant variables into account when
they design their experiment.
For example, a researcher might conduct
an experiment to test whether ignoring the
attention-seeking behaviour of children who
misbehave in class will reduce the frequency of their
attention-seeking behaviour. However, a reduction in
the frequency of attention-seeking behaviour after
a month of ignoring this type of behaviour may not
only be a result of ignoring the misbehaviour.
Factors relating to the children or their respective
personal experiences may have impacted on their
changed behaviour. For example, if a child’s family
situation becomes more or less unsettled, their
behaviour may change, irrespective of the researcher’s
experimental treatment. A child’s health or mood may
also have an impact on whether or not they use attention-
seeking behaviour and how often they may do so.
Researchers attempt to control the effect(s) of
participant variables by ensuring, as far as possible,
that participants in different conditions of the
experiment are as similar as possible in important
personal characteristics and abilities that may
influence the results of the experiment. This is
achieved by using a random allocation procedure
to assign participants to different conditions of the
experiment; that is, the experimental and control
groups. If participants are randomly assigned to
the different conditions, then it may be reasonably
expected that any pre-existing differences among the
participants will even out across the different groups.
Chapter 7 research methods 2 265

LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.3
Identifying participant variables
For each of the following research topics, identify a
relevant participant variable that an experimenter may
need to control.
1 The effect of praise on the frequency of answering
questions in class
2 The effect of alcohol on performance of a memory task
3 The effect of amount of time spent studying on
exam performance
4 The effect of reading books on performance on
crossword puzzles
Situational variables
Important differences in the individual characteristics
of research participants are not the only factors
that can have an unwanted effect on the dependent
variable and therefore the results of an experiment.
All participants in different groups of the experiment
must be tested under the same conditions and in the
same situation in order for the experimenter to more
confidently conclude that any change in the DV is
the result of the IV. Thus, the experimenter needs to
control situational variables.
A situational variable is any variable associated with
the experimental situation itself that may affect the
results of an experiment. Situational variables include
factors such as background noise, time of the day,
testing venues, testing conditions, air temperature
and so on, depending on the IV and DV being
observed and measured in the experiment.
An effective way of avoiding situational variables
is to consider them when planning the experiment
and ensure they are eliminated, minimised or that the
same variables occur in all experimental conditions
if they can’t be adequately controlled. For example,
if background noise is likely to affect the results of an
experiment in an unwanted way, then its potential
effects could be controlled by conducting the
experiment in a soundproof room. This would remove
any unwanted effect the noise may have on the DV.
If unwanted background noise cannot be entirely
eliminated because of the situation in which the
experiment must be conducted, then the researcher
would attempt to ensure that the same kind of
background noise occurred at about the same level and
times in all of the different experimental conditions.
There are potentially many extraneous situational
variables that can affect experiments and it is difficult
for the researcher to predict and control all of them.
Consequently, researchers tend to focus on controlling
those situational variables that are likely to have a
significant effect on the DV in an unwanted way.
For example, in an experiment to determine the
softest noise a person can hear, it would be very
266 Unit 2 Self and others
important to control background noise. However,
in an experiment to test the effect of caffeine on
performance of some physical task, background noise
may not be so critical.
A researcher may also minimise the effects of
situational variables by balancing or equalising their
effects for all groups of participants involved in the
research. For example, suppose that a researcher wanted
to conduct an experiment to test the effectiveness of a
particular reading program on children’s reading skills.
If two different rooms are to be used to test the children,
a way of controlling the possible effects of being in the
different rooms could be to test half the participants in
each group (that is, some using the reading program and
some not using the reading program) in each room.
Another procedure for controlling situational
variables is to test participants in random order,
rather than testing all participants in one condition
first, then all participants in the other condition.
In this way, any variable which may change over
time such as the temperature, time of day, or the
functioning of the apparatus will affect the conditions
approximately equally.
LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.4
Identifying situational variables
For each of the following topics, describe one
situational variable that may affect the outcome of the
experiment in an unwanted way.
1 Whether the presence of passengers results in more
accidents by red P-plate drivers
2 Whether a particular study technique improves
performance on an exam
3 Whether the use of mental imagery improves goal
shooting accuracy in hockey
4 Whether feedback improves performance when
learning a new task
Experimenter variables
Personal characteristics of the experimenter and the
experimenter’s behaviour during the experiment may
also unintentionally affect the results of an experiment
in an unwanted way. These types of extraneous
variables are called experimenter variables.
experimenter variables are variables associated with
the personality characteristics of the experimenter or
the experimenter’s behaviour during the experiment
which may affect the results of an experiment. Factors
such as an experimenter being tired, their expectations
of the outcome of the research, personal issues, health,
their gender, how they dress and their attractiveness
are examples of potential experimenter effects.
Such factors may affect the way the experimenter
relates to the participants which, in turn, may result
in the participants behaving in a manner different
from how they would otherwise behave, thus altering
the outcome of the experiment. Furthermore, an
experimenter may sometimes unknowingly treat
participants in the experimental and control groups
differently and thus may unintentionally influence the
results of the experiment.
Experimenter variables have been studied extensively
by the German-born American psychologist Robert
Rosenthal. He has found experimenter variables to be
present in many areas of research. Rosenthal devised
the term experimenter effect to describe them.
In one study, Rosenthal (1966) used some of his
laboratory assistants as research participants for an
experiment with rats in a maze. The participants Figure 7.3 example of a maze used for ‘maze running’
were asked to place the rats in a maze. Some of the laboratory experiments with rats
laboratory assistants were told that their rats were
specially bred to be ‘maze bright’; the others were 4
told that their rats were ‘maze dull’. However, the rats
had been randomly allocated to each group.

Number of minutes
3

The results showed that the group of apparently ‘maze
bright’ rats learned the maze significantly faster than
the ‘maze dull’ rats. Rosenthal concluded that the speed
with which the rats completed the maze had more to do
with the laboratory assistants than the rats’ abilities. He
suggested that the laboratory assistants’ expectations
about their rats’ capabilities caused them to subtly alter
their training and handling techniques, which, in turn
affected the animals’ learning.
Experimenter-related extraneous variables may
involve not only the personal qualities and actions
of the researchers, but also unintentional biases in
the treatment of data. For example, experimenters
may unknowingly make an error in summarising
or interpreting the data in favour of what they
want to show.
Treatment of
Health
participants
to complete maze
2
1
0
‘Maze bright’ ‘Maze dull’
Kind of rat
Figure 7.4 the rats described as ‘maze bright’ learned to run
the maze much faster than the rats described as ‘maze dull’.
To prevent experimenter biases from affecting
the results, researchers often design experiments so
the person collecting the data and the participants
are unaware of the experimental conditions; nor are
they aware of the results expected from the different
conditions. Only the person in charge of the research,
who has no personal contact with the research
participants, is aware of this information.

EXPERIMENTER Personality
Attractiveness
VARIABLES issues
Mood Motivation

Personality
Expectations Tiredness EXTRANEOUS characteristics Gender
VARIABLES

PARTICIPANT Emotional
VARIABLES state
Air SITUATIONAL Testing
temperature VARIABLES conditions
Cultural
Self-esteem background
Time of Testing
day Background venue
Intelligence Health
noise

Figure 7.5 Categories of extraneous variables

Chapter 7 research methods 2 267


LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.5
Identifying an experimenter effect
Consider the following experiment which was
conducted by Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968), then
answer the questions that follow.
At the beginning of the school year, some teachers
were told that the children in their class had ‘academic
promise’. Other teachers were not given any information
about the academic potential of the children in their
class. At the end of the year, children whose teachers
were told they had ‘academic promise’ showed
significantly greater gains in IQ scores than children
whose teachers were given no information. The children
had in fact been randomly allocated to the classes.
1 What is the IV and DV in this experiment?
2 Explain the results in terms of a specific
experimenter variable that was actually manipulated
by the researchers.
LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.6
Review questions
1 (a) What is an extraneous variable?
(b) Why do researchers attempt to minimise
or control the potential effects of relevant
extraneous variables?
2 (a) What are participant variables? Explain with
references to examples.
(b) Under what circumstances can participant
variables influence the results of an experiment
in an unwanted way?
(c) Describe the most commonly used procedure for
controlling participant variables when designing
an experiment and explain why it is effective.
3 (a) What are situational variables? Explain with
reference to an example.
(b) Describe one way of controlling situational
variables when designing an experiment.
4 (a) What are experimenter variables? Explain with
reference to examples.
(b) Describe two different ways in which experimenter
variables can influence the results of an experiment
in an unwanted way.
(c) Describe two procedures for controlling
experimenter variables in experimental design.
confounding variables
Every experiment used in psychological research is
designed to answer the same basic question: Does
the IV cause the predicted change in the DV? The
experimenter recognises that there are other variables
that can affect participants’ responses (the DV),
such as all those variables collectively referred to as
extraneous variables.
268 Unit 2 Self and others
Extraneous variables are inevitable and do not
pose a problem if controlled in an appropriate
way. For example, suppose that an experimenter
wants to observe the effect of drinking red cordial
(the IV) on concentration levels in children (the DV).
Relevant participant variables that can affect the
experiment’s DV, such as the intelligence, age, whether
they have ADHD, and motivation of participants, may
be controlled by randomly allocating participants to
different experimental conditions. This procedure
would ensure a relatively even spread of participant
characteristics in the experimental group (drink red
cordial) and the control group (do not drink red cordial).
Similarly, the experimenter could also control
situational variables that can affect the DV for this
experiment. For example, both experimental and
control group participants could do the task on which
their concentration will be tested at the same time in
similar rooms or even the same room.
By strictly controlling unwanted effects of
relevant extraneous variables on the DV, the effects
of the IV on the DV can be isolated. If there is a
noticeable (measurable) change in the DV, then the
experimenter can confidently conclude that the IV
caused the change in the DV. If a variable that can
affect the DV is not controlled, then its effect on the
DV may be confused with that of the IV. When this
happens, the uncontrolled variable is referred to a
confounding variable.
A confounding variable is a variable other than
the IV that has had an unwanted affect on the DV,
making it impossible to determine which of the
variables has produced changes in the DV. Basically,
a confounding variable is a second unwanted IV. It
is called a confounding variable because its effects
are confounded or ‘confused’ with those of the IV,
thereby preventing the experimenter from concluding
that the IV caused the predicted (hypothesised)
change in the DV.
The presence of one or more confounding variables
does not necessarily mean that the IV did not cause
the changes in the DV. However, the presence of
a confounding variable suggests that there may be
one or more alternative explanations for the results
obtained in the experiment. The more alternative
explanations there are for the results, the less
confident the experimenter will be that their IV was
responsible for the results.
A confounding variable is different from an
extraneous variable. A confounding variable causes
a measurable change in the IV. This change is
consistent with what was predicted in the hypothesis,
whereas an extraneous variable may or may not
affect the DV. What both types of variables have
in common is that they cause problems for the
researcher undertaking an experiment. However,
each type of variable can also be controlled through
appropriate experimental design.
 A correlational study is a non-experimental research
LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.7 method used to investigate the relationship between
two or more variables; for example, the relationship
Review questions between air temperature and violent crimes, level
1 What is a confounding variable?
of anxiety and health problems, or between the age
of the mother at the time of giving birth and onset of
2 Explain why the presence of confounding variables
post-natal depression following birth.
is problematic for the experimenter.
Correlational research involves assessing the
3 In what way does a confounding variable differ from degree and type of relationship (if one exists)
an extraneous variable? between two or more variables. This is usually
4 Identify the IV(s) and a possible confounding done by applying a statistical technique to data
variable in each of the following experiments. which are available on each variable. For example,
Explain your answers. to study the relationship between air temperature
(a) An experiment was conducted to study whether
and occurrence of violent crimes, the researcher
young adults performed better on maths
problems when working alone or when working
could obtain existing data on both the daily air
in small groups. Two groups of randomly temperature (such as maximum and minimum
selected and allocated participants were used. temperatures) over a period of time and violent
Because of a shortage of rooms, the participants crimes committed over this period of time, then
working alone completed the problems in a determine the number of violent crimes committed
small tutorial room with no windows in the on very hot days.
corner of the school library. The participants
working in small groups completed the problems
in a large classroom with big windows on the
first floor of the building (above the library). As
hypothesised, the groups performed better than
the individuals.
(b) An experiment was conducted to study whether
alcohol consumption increases errors when
driving. Volunteer participants were given a drink
that they were led to believe contained alcohol.
It looked and tasted like an alcoholic drink but
did not contain any alcohol. The participants
were then given a test in a driving simulator
with automatic transmission and the number
of driving errors was recorded. The next day,
at the same time, participants were given an
alcoholic drink that looked and tasted like the
non-alcoholic drink. After allowing sufficient time
for the alcohol to take effect, the participants
were given a test in a driving simulator with
manual transmission and the number of driving
errors was recorded. The results showed that
more driving errors were made after having the
alcoholic drink.

correlational studies
Sometimes, experimental research is impractical
or inappropriate to use. For example, suppose a
researcher wanted to find out how a severe emotional
trauma in childhood affects school performance. It
would be unethical to set up two similar groups of
participants and expose one of these groups to some
kind of traumatic event that would trigger a severe
emotional reaction, so that its effects on a measure of
school performance could be observed. In such cases,
researchers tend to rely on existing information to
assess the ‘co-relationship’, or correlation, between
the variables that are of research interest.
Figure 7.6 a researcher may obtain existing data to study
whether there is a correlation between air temperature and
violent crime.
The term correlation is used to identify and
describe how two (or more) variables are ‘co-related’.
Correlation does not tell us whether one variable,
such as air temperature, causes another, such
as violent crimes. Rather, it tells us whether a
relationship exists between two variables, the direction

Chapter 7 research methods 2 269

of the relationship (that is, positive or negative),
and the strength of the relationship; that is, when
one variable increases or decreases, whether the
other variable likely to increase or decrease. For
example, when air temperature rises, does the
incidence of violent crimes increase (and vice versa)?
For any two variables which are assessed in
a correlational study, there are three possible
relationships between them: positive, negative and
zero (no relationship).
positive and negative correlation
A positive correlation means that two variables
vary, or ‘change’, in the same direction; that is, as
one variable increases, the other variable tends
to increase (and vice versa). For example, as age
increases, vocabulary tends to increase (and as
vocabulary increases, age tends to increase, or
the lower the age, the smaller the vocabulary). A
negative correlation means that two variables vary, or
‘move’, in opposite directions; that is, as one variable
increases, the other variable tends to decrease (and
vice versa). A negative correlation is like a see-saw.
For example, as self-esteem increases, sadness tends
to decrease (and as sadness increases, self-esteem
tends to decrease).
A correlation is usually described by a number
known as a correlation coefficient. A correlation
coefficient is expressed as a decimal number which
can range from +1.00 to −1.00. The plus or minus sign
describes the direction of the relationship between the
two variables; that is, positive or negative.
A correlation coefficient with a plus sign indicates
a positive correlation. This means that high scores
for one variable tend to go with high scores on the
other, middle scores with middle scores, and low
scores with low. For example, if there is a high
positive correlation (for example, +0.75) between
age and problem-solving ability, then older people
would tend to be good problem-solvers (for example,
they would solve many problems in a 20-minute
period) and younger people would tend to be poor
problem-solvers (for example, they would solve
fewer problems in a 20-minute period).
A correlation coefficient preceded by a minus sign
indicates a negative correlation. This means that
when a score on one variable is high, the score on
the other tends to be low, and middle scores tend
to go with middle scores. For example, if there is
a high negative correlation (for example, −0.75)
between age and problem-solving ability, then older
people would tend to be poor problem-solvers and
younger people would tend to be good problem-
solvers. When reporting correlation coefficients
for positive correlations, researchers usually omit
the plus sign from the front of the score. However,
the minus sign is always included for a negative
correlation.
270 Unit 2 Self and others
strength of correlation
The decimal number of the correlation coefficient
describes the strength of the relationship between the
sets of scores for two variables; that is, whether
the relationship is strong, moderate or weak. A
correlation coefficient which is close to +1.00
indicates a very strong positive correlation between
two variables. A correlation coefficient which is close
to −1.00 indicates a very strong negative correlation
between two variables.
Correlation coefficients of 1.00 and −1.00 indicate
perfect correlations but these rarely occur in
psychology. A correlation coefficient which is close
to 0.00 indicates little or no relationship between
two variables. For example, 0.13 and −0.13 would
be considered a weak positive and weak negative
correlation respectively.
correlation and causation
Correlations show the existence and extent of
relationships between variables but they do not
necessarily indicate a cause–effect relationship; that
is, that one variable causes the other. For example,
as the world rotates on its axis, people get older.
There is an extremely strong correlation between
these two factors but it would be incorrect to assume
that the Earth’s rotation causes people to age or that
people’s ageing causes the Earth to rotate.
There are also many instances when high
correlations suggest a logical cause–effect
relationship, and sometimes correlations really
do represent causal relationships. The number
of friends a person has may be closely related to
how happy they are. But a very high correlation
doesn’t necessarily mean that there is a cause–effect
relationship because both variables may be correlated
with a third variable.
For example, there is a high positive correlation
between the number of permanent teeth in children
and their ability to answer increasingly difficult
questions on intelligence tests. It cannot be assumed,
however, that having more teeth causes increased
cognitive ability. The correlation is high because a
third variable — increasing age — accounts for both
new teeth and cognitive development. Similarly,
there is a very high correlation between the number
of years spent in schooling and income as an adult.
Both of these variables, however, have also been found
to correlate not only with each other, but with a third
variable — the parents’ income.
When two variables are correlated, this is not
accepted by psychologists as evidence of causation
in the absence of other research evidence. In such
cases, researchers may test the possible cause–effect
relationship by conducting a controlled experiment.
Weblink — video on correlation
and causation

LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.8
Review questions
1 What is a correlational study? Explain with reference
to an example different from those in the text.
2 What is the main distinction between the
findings of an experiment and those of a
correlational study?
3 What determines the researcher’s choice
of correlational research instead of
experimental research?
4 Name and briefly describe the three possible
general types of relationships found between
This would be represented by a correlation close to
0 (zero). In a zero correlation, individuals with high
scores on one variable may have high, middle or low
scores on the other variable. Figure 7.7 shows that
participants with high scores on attractiveness have
high, medium and low reaction times. Figures 7.8 and
7.9 both show a strong correlation as the dots cluster
close together in a cigar-shaped pattern. Figure 7.8
shows a strong positive correlation and figure 7.9
shows a strong negative correlation.
100
Alex
90
Tran
Jessie Tina
80
70

Attractiveness
variables measured in a correlational study. Give an
example of each type of correlation, different from 60 James Vince
those used in the text. 50
5 What do the terms direction and strength of 40 Paul
correlation refer to and how are they shown? Hamish
30
6 What conclusion could be drawn from the following Mikala
20 Melissa Sarah Kate
correlation coefficients?
(a) length of time spent studying for an exam and 0
2 4 6 8
exam grade achieved: 0.72
Reaction time
(b) consumption of alcohol during pregnancy and
birth weight of the baby: −0.47 Figure 7.7 Scatter plot showing data for 12 participants
(c) colour of socks worn in an exam and grade obtained from a correlational study that investigated the
achieved: 0.06 relationship between physical attractiveness and reaction time
(d) being breast-fed from 0–6 months of age and
level of alertness (0.41) compared with being
bottle-fed (0.28)

scatter plots
Y
Correlational data are often displayed in a scatter
plot (also called a scattergram or scatter diagram). A
scatter plot is a graph of scores (or other values) on
two different variables (or measures). The values of
one variable are shown on the vertical axis (Y axis)
and the values of the other variable on the horizontal X
axis (X axis). Each pair of scores is plotted as a single Figure 7.8 Strong positive correlation
point (a dot) in the scatter plot.
Figure 7.7 shows correlational data for
12 participants obtained from a correlational study on
physical attractiveness and reaction time for a specific
task. The name of each participant is represented
by a dot. For example Tina has a score of 80 on the
Y
attractiveness measure and 6 on the reaction time
measure; Paul has a score of 40 on the attractiveness
measure and 1 on the reaction time measure.
The spread of the dots on a scatter plot gives
an idea of the strength of the correlation; that is,
the extent to which the two variables are related. X
The stronger the correlation, the more likely it Figure 7.9 Strong negative correlation
is that there is a direct relationship between the
two variables. The direction of the correlation, that is, whether
The widely spread dots in the scatter plot the correlation is positive or negative, is indicated
in figure 7.7 suggest that the two variables, by the slope or ‘lean’ of the dots, that is, whether
attractiveness and reaction time, are not related. they slope upwards or downwards (or neither).

Chapter 7 research methods 2 271

 For example, in figures 7.10 and 7.11, a line has been
drawn through the middle of the dots to help identify the LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.10
slope. In figure 7.10, the upward sloping line indicates a
positive correlation, whereas the downward sloping line Interpreting scatter plots
in figure 7.11 indicates a negative correlation. State the direction (positive, negative, zero) and strength
Note that in both figures 7.10 and 7.11, the dots are (strong, moderate, weak) of the relationship between
closely clustered around each line. How closely the variables X and Y in each of the following scatter plots.
dots cluster to a line drawn through them indicates (a) Y (b) Y
the strength of the correlation. For instance, a strong
positive correlation is indicated in figure 7.10 and a
strong negative correlation is indicated figure 7.11.

X X
(c) Y (d) Y
Y

X X
X
(e) Y (f) Y
Figure 7.10 Strong positive correlation

X X
Y (g) Y (h) Y

X
X X
Figure 7.11 Strong negative correlation

LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.9

Data analysis — estimating the Table 7.2

correlation between two variables participant

Level of
self-esteem
Fear of riding on a
roller coaster
Using the data in table 7.2, draw a scatter plot to estimate 1 3 5
the correlation between level of self-esteem (shown by 2 2 6
ratings of 1–10, with 1 representing extremely low and 3 9 1
10 representing extremely high) and fear of riding on a
4 8 1
roller coaster (shown by ratings of 1–10 with 1 representing
5 2 9
extremely low and 10 representing extremely high).
(a) State the strength and direction of the correlation 6 4 9
between the two variables. 7 5 6
(b) Write a conclusion describing the relationship between 8 3 3
level of self-esteem and fear of riding on a roller 9 3 8
coaster, as shown by your scatter plot. 10 5 4
interactivity on correlation 11 7 2
int-1409 12 9 2

272 Unit 2 Self and others

 LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.11
practical activity — estimating the
correlation between heredity
and height
This practical activity involves a correlational study to
investigate whether there is a co-relationship between
the height of parents and the height of their children. An
hypothesis should be constructed prior to conducting
the activity.
You will need to measure your own height in
centimetres (without shoes) and calculate the mean height
of your parents in centimetres (taken without shoes).
If you can obtain data from only one parent, then that
parent’s height should be used as your score. Combine
your data with other class members using the headings in
the data sheet on the right.
DescRIptIVe stAtIstIcs
Descriptive statistics are used by researchers to
organise, summarise and describe the data collected
from a research study so that the data can be more
easily interpreted. Essentially, using descriptive
statistics is one part of the process of ‘making sense’
of raw data.
For example, a researcher who is interested in
finding out whether people’s attitudes towards sexual
harassment change with age gives a questionnaire to
100 people in the age group 10–14 years; 100 people
in the age group 15–19 years; 100 people in the age
group 20–24 years and so on to the age of 84.
Selection of so many participants means that an
enormous amount of data are collected. There are
too many numbers to gain an overall impression
of whether attitudes towards sexual harassment do
change with age by looking at the data in its raw form.
Consequently, researchers need to organise and
summarise the data collected in order to gain a
snapshot or impression of what the results show
about the research question. This is done by using
descriptive statistics. One way of organising and
summarising the data so that it can be interpreted
using a descriptive statistic is to construct a
frequency distribution.
Frequency distribution
A frequency distribution is a way of organising data
to show how often (that is, ‘frequently’) a value or
measure (for example, a score) occurs in a set of
data. Frequency distributions are often shown in a
table. The frequency of different data can also be
represented graphically as a histogram or frequency
polygon (see chapter 2).
report
Write a brief report on the activity to include in your folio
of practical activities. In your report, ensure you include:
• a statement of the aim of this activity
• the research hypothesis
• a scatter plot showing the relationship between the
heights of children and their parent(s)
• a statement on whether a correlation is evident between
the two variables, and if so, the direction and strength
of the correlation
• a possible limitation of the research activity, including
an explanation of why it is a limitation.
Data sheet
Student’s height Mean of parents’
participant (cm) height (cm)
When graphed, a frequency distribution often
shows a particular pattern. Certain patterns are
given particular names, such as normal distribution,
negatively skewed distribution, positively skewed
distribution and bimodal distribution.
normal distribution
If any characteristic of a very large group of
individuals is measured then plotted as a graph, the
data will tend to fall in a bell-shaped pattern called a
normal distribution.
In a normal distribution, most of the data are
located around the centre of the distribution,
tapering to a few extremely high or extremely low
scores either side of the middle, giving the curve
a symmetrical or balanced appearance. A normal
distribution provides information about what
percentage of the population would ‘normally’ fall
within a certain range of scores.
One type of normal distribution is referred
to as a normal distribution curve. The normal
distribution curve is a ‘theoretical ideal’ and is rarely
perfectly achieved in reality. However, most human
characteristics and abilities tend to be normally
distributed if a very large representative group of
participants is studied.
If we plotted enough data (for example, scores
from different individuals on a particular human
characteristic or ability such as weight, height,
reaction time, intelligence or personality), a shape or
pattern representing the normal distribution curve
is likely to be produced. More specifically, suppose
that we measured the number of one-hour driving
lessons required for a large, representative sample
of 17-year-old learner drivers to obtain their driver’s
licence, we might find that a few learners would be
Chapter 7 research methods 2 273
competent drivers after one or two lessons, while a disproportionate number of high scores. The ‘tail’ of
few learners may need 25 or more lessons. However, the graph tapers in a negative direction, towards the
most would fall around the mid-point of these lower scores.
extremes at about 11–15 lessons.

(number of six-month-old
(number of 17-year-old

Frequency

children)
learner drivers)
Frequency

Low High
Number of words spoken
1 5 9 13 17 21 25
Figure 7.13 positive skew — a curve skewed to the left,
Number of one-hour driving lessons
indicating that there is a clustering of a relatively large
Figure 7.12 example of an ideal normal distribution curve number of low ‘scores’

positively and negatively skewed

(number of 16-year-olds)
distributions
Sometimes the scores in a frequency distribution
graph are unevenly distributed and cluster to the Frequency
left or the right ends of the graph. In such cases, the
distribution is called a skewed distribution as there is a
lack of balance or symmetry in the distribution.
For example, if the number of words twelve-
month-old children spoke were plotted, many
Low High
of the scores would cluster towards the lower Number of words spoken
end (left) of the graph producing a positively
skewed distribution (figure 7.13). The skew of Figure 7.14 negative skew — a curve skewed to the right,
indicating that there is a clustering of a relatively large
the graph is linked to the direction of its ‘tail’. number of high ‘scores’
On a positively skewed distribution, there is a
disproportionate number of low scores. The ‘tail’ of
the graph tapers in a positive direction towards the Bimodal distribution
higher scores. In a set of scores collected during an experiment, if
Alternatively, if the number of words 16-year olds two particular scores occur equally often, the data
know were plotted, many of the scores would cluster have two modes or are bimodal. If the data were
at the higher end (right) of the graph producing represented in a frequency distribution graph, the
a negatively skewed distribution (figure 7.14). graph would have two ‘peaks’ (one for each mode) as
On a negatively skewed distribution, there is a shown in figure 7.15.

LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.12

Identifying frequency distributions
For each of the following research topics, identify
the type of frequency distribution (normal, positive
skew or negative skew) you might expect if data from
5000 individuals were collected.
1 Score on a general knowledge quiz by adults aged
over 21 years
2 Results of a year 10 maths test undertaken by year
7 students
3 The number of year 11 students in metropolitan
schools who ride a bike to school on a daily basis
4 The amount of homework completed by year
12 students
5 The number of hours spent on Facebook each week
by year 11 students
6 The amount of sleep each day of newborn infants
7 The amount of sleep each day of 16-year olds
8 The age at which infants first speak a
recognisable word
9 Scores obtained by VCE students on an anxiety scale
one hour before their first exam
10 Grades obtained for a VCE Psychology exam

274 Unit 2 Self and others

 A bimodal distribution such as that in figure 7.15
would be likely to be obtained, for example, if an
English vocabulary test was given to two groups of
students — one group of students who had spoken
English all their lives and the other group of students
who were newly arrived migrants from a non-English
speaking background.
High
Frequency of scores
Mode 1 Mode 2
Low
Low High
Scores on an English vocabulary test
Figure 7.15 in the example described above, which group of
students would you expect to be represented by mode 1 and
which group of students would you expect to be represented
by mode 2?
LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.13
Review questions
1 (a) What are the distinguishing features of a graph
showing a normal distribution?
(b) List three characteristics, different from those
described in the text, that would probably show
a normal distribution if data on a large enough
group of participants were collected.
2 What is a normal distribution curve?
3 What is a skewed distribution?
4 (a) In what main way is a positively skewed
distribution different from a normal distribution?
(b) Give an example, different from those described
in the text, that would probably show a
positively skewed distribution if data on a large
enough group of participants were collected.
5 (a) In what main way is a negatively skewed
distribution different from a normal distribution?
(b) Give an example, different from those described
in the text, that would probably show a
negatively skewed distribution if data on a large
enough group of participants were collected.
6 (a) When is a frequency distribution graph
called bimodal?
(b) Give an example, different from those described
in the text, that would probably show a bimodal
distribution if data on a large enough group of
participants were collected.
eLesson on statistics
eles-0247
Measures of central tendency
An important feature of a frequency distribution is
that it presents a complete summary of the scores
(or other measures) of participants on a particular
characteristic or task. However, if different groups
of participants are being assessed under different
conditions or they are being measured on several
characteristics, summarising the data as a frequency
distribution can make it difficult to compare the
performance of the different groups. Therefore,
data are often summarised by calculating a single
numerical score that can be used to describe the
data for the whole group(s). This score, called a
measure of central tendency, is a descriptive statistic
that indicates the ‘central’ or ‘average’ value of a set
of scores. When a measure of central tendency is
calculated, it often provides a ‘typical’ score for a set
of scores.
Suppose you collected data for a practical activity
which involved comparing males and females on
a memory test. The research participants are in
five year 7 classes, each of which has 25 students.
Data for each of the 125 students — 65 girls
and 60 boys — are obtained. To help determine
which group performed best, a measure of central
tendency could be calculated. This would provide
a single score for girls and a single score for boys.
Scores could then be compared to estimate which
group of participants, boys or girls, performed best
on the memory test.
The most commonly used measures of central
tendency are the mean, median and mode.
Mean
The mean is the arithmetical average of all the
individual scores (or measures) in a set of scores.
It is calculated by adding all the scores together
and dividing the total by the number of scores. For
example, 10 4-year olds were required to complete
a seven-piece jigsaw puzzle. The length of time (in
seconds) it took each child to complete the puzzle is
listed below:
26, 17, 21, 18, 12, 17, 18, 24, 25, 17
The mean for the group is calculated by adding the
scores together (195), then dividing the total by
the number of scores (10). The mean is 19.5 seconds.
The formula for calculating the mean is shown as
∑ (sum or total of all scores)
Χ (mean) =
N (number of scores)
In this example, the mean provides the most
exact measure of central tendency. However, in
other sets of data, the mean may not always provide
the most accurate measure of central tendency of
a set of scores, especially if the scores cluster at
Chapter 7 research methods 2 275
Figure 7.16 the mean does not always give a completely accurate
picture of scores.
the extreme ends of the set of possible scores. For
example, if a set of scores consisted of 140, 140,
140, 140, 180, 180, 180, 180, the mean would be 160.
Suppose that these data referred to height (in
centimetres) of a netball team. A manufacturer of
netball skirts would be surprised when the players
attended for a fitting of their skirts, having been
informed that the mean height is 160 centimetres.
Thus, when a mean is provided for a set of data, it
doesn’t necessarily follow that any of the individual
scores will be the same value as the mean or even
approximate it.
Often the mean is calculated to several decimal
places. In many instances this does not create a
problem; however, sometimes the mean score may
become meaningless in real life. For example, if the
mean number of children per family in Australia
is 1.75, it is difficult to imagine what 0.75 of a
child means.
276 Unit 2 Self and others
© Creator’s Syndicate distributed by Auspac Media
When scores in a set of data cluster closely around
a central score, the mean is a fairly accurate indicator
of the ‘typical’ score; that is, it is representative of
the scores. If, however, the scores are very widely
spread, unevenly distributed or cluster around
extreme values, then the mean can be misleading.
For example, a few high values within a relatively
small set of data may inflate (increase) the mean.
In such cases, another measure of central tendency
will be a more accurate measure of the ‘typical’ score
and would therefore be used. Two other measures of
central tendency which can be considered are the
median and the mode.
Median
Another way of obtaining a score that may represent
the central point in a set of scores is to arrange the
scores in order of size and select the score that falls
in the middle as being typical of the whole set of
scores. This middle score is called the median.
The median is the middle score (or mid-point)
of a set of scores. If the scores were represented
as a frequency distribution, the median is the
point that divides the distribution into two equal
halves when the scores are arranged from lowest
to highest (or highest to lowest). For example, the
time taken (in seconds) for each child to complete
the jigsaw puzzle in rank order (from lowest to
highest) is:
12, 12, 17, 17, 17, 18, 18, 21, 24, 25, 26.
In this example the median is 18. When there is an
even number of scores, the median is the average of
the two middle scores. For example, if the two middle
scores are 20 and 21, the median would be 20.5.
The median is a particularly useful descriptive
statistic if there are limited data, but if there are a
large amount of data, determining the median can be
time consuming and often impractical.
The median is also a useful statistic when many
very high or very low scores occur in the set of
scores (for example, if there is a skewed distribution)
because the median is not affected by extreme
scores. For example, the test results shown in
table 7.3 were obtained when a psychology teacher
gave her class of 10 students a test on research
methods in psychology.
Table 7.3  Test results
Rank % indicator of a typical score; that is, it is a useful
 1  98
 2  91
 3  91
 4  60
 5  59
 6  57
in contrast to the median, and to a lesser extent the
mean, where individual score changes tend to have
less of an effect.
When to use the mean, median and mode
Generally, when most of the scores in a set of data
cluster around a central value (that is, there tends to
be a normal distribution), the mean is a fairly reliable
representation of the data.
When extreme scores occur in a set of data (that
is, a skewed distribution), a more representative
measure of central tendency is the median.
The mode provides a useful indicator of a ‘common’
or ‘usual’ score because it is the most frequently
occurring score. It describes what happens most often
in a set of scores; that is, what is the ‘typical’ score
for that group.

 7  57 (a) High

 8  57

Frequency
 9  56

10  54

Total 680
Low
Mean  68
Low Median High
Mean
Median  58
Mode
Scores
The calculation of the mean score on the test does
not provide an accurate impression of the average (b) High
score on the test, because the inclusion of three very
high scores inflates the mean figure. In situations
Frequency

such as this, the median is a more accurate reflection

of the ‘typical’ score on the test as it is closer to the
majority of scores in the set of data.

Mode Low
A third measure of central tendency is the mode. Low Mean Median Mode High
In everyday language, the word mode means Scores
‘common’. This term accurately describes what the
statistical mode is; that is, the mode is the most (c) High
frequently occurring score in a set of scores. Using
the scores again for the children completing the
Frequency

jigsaw puzzle:
26, 25, 24, 21, 18, 18, 17, 17, 17, 12, 12
the mode would be 17 because it occurs three times.
The mode is infrequently used in statistics because
it is often not typical or representative of a complete
set of data. For example, if a set of scores is 1, 1,
6, 7, 8, 10, the mode would be 1, which is not a
representative scores of the complete group. If one
of the scores of 1 is changed to 10, the mode shifts
completely to the opposite end of the scale. Thus, a
single score can alter the mode dramatically, which is
Low
Low Mode Median Mean High
Scores
Figure 7.17  In a normal distribution curve, (a) the mean,
median and mode all have the same value and are at the
exact centre of the curve at the top of the ‘bell’ shape.
In (b) negatively and (c) positively skewed distributions, the
median is often a more accurate measure of central tendency.

Chapter 7  Research methods 2  277


LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.14
Review questions
1 (a) What is a measure of central tendency and what
does it indicate?
(b) When would a researcher use a measure of
central tendency to describe data in preference
to a summary of the data in a table or graph?
2 (a) How is the mean calculated?
(b) When is the mean most useful as a descriptive
statistic?
(c) Give an example that indicates when the mean
is not a particularly useful descriptive statistic.
Briefly explain your choice of example.
3 (a) What is the median and how is it calculated?
(b) When is the median a particularly useful
descriptive statistic and why?
4 (a) What is the mode?
(b) When should the mode not be used in
preference to the mean or median and why?
LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.15
calculating measures of
central tendency
1 A researcher studied the effects of stress during
pregnancy on the birth weight of babies. The
following data on the birth weight (in kilograms) of
babies whose mothers stated they were stressed for
the majority of their pregnancy were obtained:
2.8, 3.3, 2.5, 3.0, 2.9, 4.4, 3.5, 2.7, 3.2, 4.4.
(a) What is the mean weight of the sample of babies?
(b) Is the mean weight an accurate representation of
the babies’ weights? Explain your answer.
(c) What is the median weight of the babies?
(d) What is the mode for the data?
(e) Which measure of central tendency best
describes the data? Explain your answer.
2 The birth weight (in kilograms) of babies whose
Frequency
mothers stated they were not stressed during
their pregnancy were also obtained. These
data were:
3.8, 5.4, 4.3, 4.2, 3.5, 4.1, 4.0, 4.4, 3.9, 5.4.
(a) What is the mean weight of the sample of babies?
(b) Is the mean weight an accurate representation of
the babies’ weights? Explain your answer.
(c) What is the median weight of the babies?
(d) What is the mode of this set of data?
(e) Which measure of central tendency best
describes the data? Explain your answer.
Variability
If you collected data on the ages of a sample of
year 8 students, there would be very little variability.
However, if you collected data on the heights or
278 Unit 2 Self and others
other physical characteristics of the same students
there would be much greater variability. Most
research data are made up of measures or values
(for example, scores) where there is some variability;
that is, there is a spread of scores and not all scores
are the same.
Suppose that two year 11 psychology teachers
discussed the abilities of their respective classes.
Teacher A explained that in the mid-year exam, the
mean of her students’ results was 78%. Teacher B
replied that the mean of his students’ results in the
same exam was 68% and that his students must
therefore be less capable than his colleague’s. ‘But
how do you know I’m not just an easy marker?
One of my students got 97%. Then again, another
student got 18%’ responded teacher A. Teacher B
was surprised: ‘The lowest mark in my class was
53%, but my highest mark was only 81%,’ he said,
‘so how do we know which class has the better
abilities?’
The discussion between the teachers indicates
that a mean, on its own, doesn’t provide the
complete description of the data. The mean and
other measures of central tendency describe the
‘central’ value of a frequency distribution.
In order to more accurately represent the data,
a second kind of descriptive statistic is often
used — a measure of variability. A measure of
variability, or dispersion, indicates how widely
the scores are spread or scattered around the
central point. The two distributions in figure 7.18
are both normal distributions and have the same
mean, but they differ in their variability; that
is, how far the scores are spread either side
of the mean.
High Mean
Normal distribution
with low variability
A
Normal distribution
with high variability
B
Low
Low Score High
Figure 7.18 Both graphs are normal distributions with the
same mean. Graph a shows low variability indicated by
the clustering of scores around the mean. Graph B shows
high variability indicated by a greater spread of scores
from the mean.
In distribution A, the scores are tightly packed
around the mean, indicating low variability. For
example, if you graphed data collected on the
length of newborn infants, it is likely that the graph
would be a normal distribution with very low
variability. Most scores would cluster around the
mean with very little spread of scores either side
of the mean.
In distribution B, the scores are more widely
spread from the mean, indicating high variability. For
example, if you plotted data on the heights of year 8
students at a school, it is likely that the graph would
be a normal distribution with very high variability.
The scores are likely to be spread further from the
mean, as some students will be quite short and others
quite tall.
LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.16
predicting high and low variability
For each of the following examples, indicate whether
you believe there is likely to be high or low variability
among the data.
1 The amount of alcohol consumed to reach a blood
alcohol content of 0.05%
2 The amount of alcohol consumed by adolescents
on a weekly basis
3 The age at which adolescents go to their first party
4 The age at which children speak their
twentieth word
5 The amount of bullying incidents in
secondary schools
6 The amount of nightly sleep obtained by people
of all ages
7 The number of people with a phobia
8 The number of people aged 70+ years who have
experienced the death of a friend
9 The reaction times of adult participants to a visual
stimulus presented on a computer screen
10 The ability to recall a recently learned list of
10 words in their correct order on the first attempt
Measures of variability
Suppose a researcher is interested in testing a
hypothesis that ‘texting’ when studying produces
lower performance in a test of the material being
studied than does studying the same information
without any distraction. Two groups of students
participate in the research — one group study while
‘texting’ with 5 friends over a 30-minute period
(experimental group) and the other group study
without any distraction (control group). Calculating a
mean score on the test for each group of participants
will assist the researchers in deciding whether their
hypothesis is supported. So why do we need to know
about the variability of the scores?
Measuring the variability of the scores provides
researchers with information about how reliable
any difference between two means is (for example,
the difference between the experimental and control
group). If the sets of scores are highly variable
(widely spread) then any difference between the
means of the two groups is less reliable and is more
likely to have occurred by chance. However, if
each set of scores has a low variability (with scores
clustered around the mean), any difference between
the means of the two groups is more likely to be due
to the effects of the independent variable (rather than
chance), in this case, whether ‘texting’.
There are several different ways of measuring
variability, including the range, variance and standard
deviation.
Range
The simplest measure of variability in a set of scores
is provided by the range. The range is a numerical
score that describes the difference between the
highest and lowest score in a set of scores. The range
is obtained by subtracting the smallest or lowest score
from the highest score in a set of scores. It gives
a very general measure of the variability of a set
of scores.
Note how the range is calculated for each set
of scores below. These scores were obtained
from a study that compared the number of social
interactions of males and females during a 30-minute
observation period at a party.
Males: 17, 18, 18, 19, 19, 20, 20, 20, 21
Range: 21 − 17 = 4
Females: 17, 18, 18, 19, 19, 20, 20, 20, 27
Range: 27 − 17 = 10
The range can be a useful measure of variability
when all the scores are clustered together and
variability is low, as in the example of the number of
social interactions for males. However, because the
range is based only on the two extreme scores, it may
give a wrong impression of the spread of scores in a
set of data.
For example, the number of social interactions for
females has a range of 10. This gives the impression of
an evenly spread distribution of scores across 10 scores
when, in fact, the breadth of the range is due largely to
one extreme score. That is, most scores are clustered
together and it is only one extreme score that makes
the range high. Therefore, although the range adds
information about differences in behaviour (and
hence, scores) for a group of participants, because it is
only based on two figures, does not often accurately
represent variability.
Variance
Another measure of variability in a set of scores
is the variance. Variance is a better measure of
variability than the range because it is based on
every score in the set of scores, not just the two
extreme scores as is the range.
Chapter 7 research methods 2 279
 The variance represents the spread of scores
around the mean. While calculation of the variance
includes every individual score in a set of scores, the
variance score which results provides a very general
impression of the spread of those scores.
Determining the variance initially involves
identifying whether an individual score is higher or
lower than the mean. When the individual score is
higher than the mean, the difference is said to be a
positive difference. When the individual score is lower
than the mean, the difference is said to be a negative
difference. For example, in a set of scores such as 15,
10, 5, the mean would be 10. The individual score of
15 is five points higher than the mean and therefore
a positive difference. However, the individual score
of 5 is five points lower than the mean, so it is a
negative difference.
Because some scores are positive and other scores
are negative, when the overall difference of the
scores from the mean is calculated, the positive and
negative scores cancel each other. This problem is
overcome mathematically by squaring each score
to eliminate the positive and negative signs. The
squared score is the variance. Therefore, when the
variance is calculated, the result obtained is in square
units rather than in original units such as IQ points
or test scores and so on.
Variance is useful in that it can provide a
comparison between two sets of data. For example,
if one set of scores has a variance that is double
Frequency of scores
that of another set of scores, we can say that it has
twice the variance or spread. In addition, if all the
scores in a set of data are the same, the variance is
zero; that is, there is no variability among the set
of scores.
Although variance does reflect the spread
of scores in a set of scores, it is not an easily
interpreted number. In itself, the number that
indicates the variance has little meaning — it
merely provides an indication of how individual
scores differ from the mean. For example, a
variance of four does not mean that the score is
four points different from the mean.
Variance is seldom used as a measure of variability
on its own, because it provides only general
information about the spread of scores from the
mean. A more precise and therefore widely used
measure of variability is standard deviation.
Standard deviation
The standard deviation of a set of scores takes every
score in the distribution into account. The standard
deviation summarises how far, on average, a score
differs (that is, ‘deviates’) from the mean in the
same units of measurement as the original data, for
example, in IQ points, test scores and so on.
The mathematical calculations involved in
determining the variance and standard deviation
280  Unit 2  Self and others
are similar. Calculating standard deviation, however,
involves one additional step — taking the square root
of the variance score. In so doing, the standard
deviation is a more useful statistic because it is
then measured in the same units as the original data.
For example, if you were measuring IQ, the
standard deviation for a set of data would be in IQ
points, or if you were measuring reaction time on a
task, the standard deviation for a set of data would be
measured in milliseconds or seconds. The variance
in both of these examples would be measured in
IQ points squared and seconds squared — units of
measurement which have little meaning.
Standard deviation provides information about the
variability, or spread, of a set of scores in relation
to the mean. If all the scores in a set of scores were
the same, there would be no variability and the
standard deviation would be zero because none of
the scores would be spread out from the mean. A
low standard deviation indicates that there is little
variability in the set of scores and that most scores
are clustered around the mean. In this case, the mean
is a representative descriptive statistic (figure 7.19,
curve C). The higher the standard deviation, the
greater the variability there is among the scores
(figure 7.19, curve A).
Mean
High C
B
A
Low
Low Scores High
Figure 7.19  This graph shows three normal distributions,
each with a different standard deviation. The purple curve
has the highest standard deviation and the orange curve has
the lowest standard deviation.
The standard deviation is a particularly useful
descriptive statistic in that it provides a point of
comparison between two different sets of scores.
For example, suppose a replacement teacher
comes to a new school hoping for an easy day’s
work. The replacement teacher is offered either of
two classes, both of which have a mean IQ score
of 100. There appears to be no difference between the
two classes. The teacher is then informed that
the standard deviation of IQs in one class is 1 and the
standard deviation in the other is 3. Since a higher
standard deviation means more variability, the class
with the standard deviation of three may take more
effort to teach because students vary more in ability.
 BOX 7.1  Graphs and standard deviation
Standard deviations can also be shown on a graph that
illustrates the variability of a distribution from the mean
(figure 7.20). When standard deviations are represented
on the X axis of a normal distribution curve, the
percentage of scores falling between the mean and any
given point on the horizontal axis is always the same.
For example, 68.26% of the scores will fall within one
standard deviation either side of the mean; 95.44% of the
scores will fall within two standard deviations either side
of the mean. These percentages apply consistently in a
normal distribution curve, irrespective of the size of the
standard deviation.

99.74%
95.44%
Number of scores or individuals

68.26%

2.14% 2.14%

0.13% 0.13%
13.59% 34.13% 34.13% 13.59%
–3 –2 –1 Mean +1 +2 +3
Standard deviations from the mean

Figure 7.20  When standard deviations are represented on the X axis of a normal distribution curve, certain fixed
percentages of scores fall between the mean and any given point. Most scores fall in the middle range within one
standard deviation either side of the mean.

Figure 7.21  A class of students with a low standard deviation of IQ scores may take less effort to teach because students
are likely to be less variable in their ability.

Chapter 7  Research methods 2  281


LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.17
Review questions
1 (a) What does a measure of variability indicate?
(b) Why do researchers use measures of variability
when summarising their data?
2 (a) What is the range and how is it calculated?
(b) What effect do extreme scores have on the range?
3 What specific information about variability of scores
is provided by variance?
4 (a) What information does the standard deviation
provide about the distribution of scores?
(b) One set of data (A) produced a standard
deviation of 1 and another set of data (B)
produced a standard deviation of 2. What
conclusions could be made about (A) and (B)?
LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.18
Interpreting data using the mean
and standard deviation
1 Two classes sat the same Psychology exam. The
following descriptive statistics were calculated from
the students’ results in each class:
Class A: mean 70%.
Class B: mean 70%.
On the basis of the mean scores alone, what might
teachers of these classes conclude about the
knowledge of students in each Psychology class?
Explain your answer.
2 Suppose the teachers then calculated the standard
deviations for their respective classes and obtained
the following results:
Class A: mean 70%; standard deviation: 0.5
Class B: mean 70%; standard deviation: 2.3.
On the basis of this additional information, what
conclusions might the teachers now draw about
the knowledge of the students in each Psychology
class? Explain your answer.
Reliability and validity
in research
An important goal of research is to obtain results that
are both reliable and valid. This will mean that the
results are consistent and accurate.
Reliability
reliability refers to the consistency, dependability and
stability of the results obtained from a research study.
For example, if you measured your blood alcohol
level on a breathalyser and then decided to double-
check it, you should expect to get the same result.
Similarly, if you conducted an experiment on a group
282 Unit 2 Self and others
of participants and repeated it again with a similar
group of participants under the same conditions, you
should expect the results to be very similar on each
occasion the experiment is conducted.
Because conducting an experiment is a more
complicated process than measuring your blood alcohol
level, it is not expected that the results will be identical
each time the experiment is conducted. However, if the
results are to be considered reliable, then they should
be similar each time the experiment is repeated.
Of course, a researcher always sets out to
obtain reliable results. However, when their study
is repeated, it may be found that the results are not
reliable. This is more likely to occur if the study is
not repeated in exactly the same way in which it was
first conducted; for example, if there are differences
in important personal characteristics of participants
or if the conditions under which the study was first
conducted are significantly different in some way.
Validity
Validity means that the research study has produced
results that accurately measure the behaviour or
event that it claims to have measured. For example, if
you measured your biceps with a cloth tape measure
that had been left outside in the open weather for
a long time and had become inaccurate through
stretching, the result would not be a valid measure
of your true bicep size. The inaccurate cloth tape
measure, however, is reliable as it will give you the
same result each time it is used. In other words, a
measure can be reliable even though it is not valid,
but a measure cannot be valid unless it is reliable.
Another type of validity relates to the conclusions
the researcher makes about a study. In this case, the
results are valid if the conclusion(s) drawn by
the researcher is (are) correct. This means that
the conclusion is specifically based on those
variables that the study was investigating and the
data obtained from the study. For example, if a
researcher concludes that a new drug they tested in
an experiment reduces symptoms of depression, or
that participants in a taste-preference study preferred
Coca-Cola over Pepsi, the research is valid only if the
new drug really works or if the participants really did
prefer Coca-Cola (Stangor, 1998).
As with seeking reliability, researchers always
attempt to conduct valid research; that is,
they attempt to draw accurate conclusions from
their data. Yet often, despite a researcher’s best
intentions, their research is invalid or not as valid as
it could have been. This can occur for a number of
different reasons.
Sometimes a researcher may draw a conclusion from
their data that cannot actually be drawn; that is, the
data do not actually justify, support or ‘back up’ the
conclusion. Another reason that research and its results
may be invalid is because one or more extraneous
variables have not been adequately controlled, have
become confounding variables, and have therefore
influenced the results in an important way.
For example, in an experiment, a confounding
variable and the IV will both affect the results. When this
happens, the researcher will find it difficult to separate
the effects of the IV and the confounding variable and
therefore cannot be certain whether it was the IV or the
confounding variable that caused the change in the DV.
Figure 7.22  If you measured your blood alcohol level on a
breathalyser, you would expect the result to be reliable.
Internal and external validity
Researchers often distinguish between the internal
and external validity of their studies. They consider
both internal and external validity in judging the
overall validity of a study.
Internal validity refers to the design of the research
and the procedures used to conduct the study. For
example, researchers need to be confident that the
specific method used to conduct a study actually
tests the hypothesis and that the hypothesis has been
tested in a ‘convincing’ way.
If a study has gaps or ‘flaws’, such as using
a sampling procedure that resulted in an
unrepresentative sample when it was important to
have a representative sample, then the study may be
considered as lacking in internal validity.
External validity means that the conclusions can
be generalised (‘applied’) to the population from
which the sample used in the study was drawn.
For example, a researcher conducted a laboratory
experiment on the effects of stress on behaviour
using a relatively small sample of participants. If the
experiment has external validity, this means that the
conclusions can be generalised to apply to situations
outside, or ‘external’ to, the laboratory.
Often, researchers must strike a balance between
internal and external validity, because the more strictly
a researcher controls what participants experience,
the less the situation may resemble life outside the
laboratory (Westen, Burton & Kowalski, 2006).
Reporting conventions
The final and very important stage in conducting
research involves writing a report on the research
and its findings. This is done for two main reasons:
• to communicate or ‘share’ the results with others,
particularly other researchers interested in what
was studied, and
• to enable replication of the study to test the validity
and reliability of its results.
When reporting research, psychologists provide a
detailed description of the study and its findings. The
report has two important characteristics:
• there is enough information to enable close
examination of all stages of the investigation
(including the results), and, if required, to replicate
the study; and
• reporting conventions are used.
Reporting conventions are well-established and
widely-recognised standards, or ‘rules’, about how a
report is written and presented. Reporting conventions
determine aspects of the report such as writing style,
structure of the report, headings, presentation of tables
and graphs, and formats for referencing.
For example, the writing style, or language used in a
psychological research report is like that of all scientific
reports. The language is formal, clear, concise, written
in the past tense, in the third person and using the
passive voice. Appropriate phrases that meet these
language standards are: ‘An experiment was conducted
to test .  .  .’, ‘Each participant was .  .  .’, ‘The results
show .  .  .’, ‘It can be concluded that .  .  .’. Scientific reports
are not written using the first person, for example,
‘I did  .  .  .’, ‘We asked .  .  .’, ‘In my opinion  .  .  .’, ‘I believe
that  .  .  .’, ‘  .  .  . and then we asked the participants to  .  .  .’.
Conventions for psychological research reports
are based on those described in the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association,
Sixth Edition (2009). This manual is commonly called
‘the APA manual’ and its conventions are commonly
referred to as ‘APA format’. The APA format is widely
recognised and used by psychologists throughout the
world to guide their preparation and presentation of
research reports. These conventions are also used
by psychology students for writing research reports
conducted as part of their studies.
The following guidelines for writing a research
report and referencing are based on the APA format.
Chapter 7  Research methods 2  283

Figure 7.23  The cover of the APA manual
Research report
A research report is presented in sections that follow
a set order. However, the structure of the report
and organisation of the sections may sometimes be
modified to suit the particular investigation that was
conducted.
Generally, the report is presented in a logical
sequence that describes:
• what was done
• why it was done
• how it was done
• what was found
• what the findings probably mean.
Although the different sections of the report described
below are usually presented in the order shown, they do
not have to be prepared in that order. For example, the
abstract which summarises the investigation appears
first in the report but is usually easier to write last.
Title
This should be brief (usually one sentence) and
indicate clearly what the investigation was about.
Quite often, researchers use a statement based on the
hypothesis for a title.
Abstract
This is a brief summary (about 120 words) of the
investigation, usually presented as a single paragraph.
It should include a statement of the purpose (that is,
aim) of the investigation, the main features of the
284  Unit 2  Self and others
method (information about the participants and an
overview of the procedures used), the results (main
findings) and the conclusion(s).
Introduction
This section gives the background of the investigation.
It often summarises theory and results of other research
related to the research investigation. If you are unable
to find relevant background information, or it is not
required by your teacher, then you should explain the
rationale (‘reasoning’) for conducting the investigation.
The introduction is often written in a way that
leads the reader to a statement of the aim (‘purpose’)
of the investigation and the hypothesis which was
tested. The hypothesis is usually included in the last
paragraph of the introduction and should be expressed
as a specific statement which is operationalised and
refers to the independent and dependent variables.
In formal journal articles, the introduction does not
have a heading because it is clearly identified by its
position in a report.
Method
This section clearly describes how the investigation
was conducted. There should be enough details for
the reader to know exactly what was done so that the
investigation could be replicated exactly in order to
test the results.
The method is often divided into three sections —
participants (or subjects), materials (or apparatus)
and procedure.
Participants. This section includes details on how
many participants were used, important characteristics
that might have influenced the results (such as age, sex,
educational background), the population (that is, the
larger group) from which they were drawn, and how
the participants were selected (that is, the sampling
procedure) and allocated to groups. Details of the
participants are often presented as a table.
Apparatus. A list of the equipment and other materials
used. A diagram(s) can be used, if appropriate. A
description of word lists, questionnaires, observation
checklists, test items, data sheets and so on which
were used in conducting the research should be
included. These should be referred to in this section
by listing them and examples should be included in an
appendix at the end of the report.
Procedure. A detailed description of the steps
involved in conducting the investigation. This
information should be presented in a logical sequence
(for example, step-by-step). Information about the
roles of the experimenter and specific instructions
given to participants (where appropriate) should
be included. (If you used a procedure described
elsewhere, your teacher may permit you to cite the
source instead of writing all the information.)
Results
This section has a summary of the main results. These
should be accurate and displayed clearly. Tables,
graphs, charts and other figures are used, depending
on the type of data collected. Each of these should be
numbered and have a descriptive title (in italics); for
example, Table 1 Age differences in  .  .  . and Figure 1
Number of correctly recalled .  .  .
The title of a table is placed at the top of the table and
the title of a figure is placed at the bottom of the figure.
The reader should be able to understand any table or
figure without referring to another section of the report.
Only summary data should be presented in the
results section. Raw data should be included only
in an appendix. Generally, detailed comments (that
is, interpretation) on the results are included in the
discussion.
Discussion
In this section, the results are interpreted and
explained. The section usually starts with a statement
about whether the hypothesis is supported or rejected
on the basis of the results obtained. The general
relevance of the results to the population from which
the sample was drawn, and to the theory or other
research (referred to in the introduction), should also
be described.
BOX 7.2  Referencing in psychology
The APA manual also describes conventions for citing
and referencing sources of information used in a
research report, essay or other psychological document.
The conventions described in the APA manual are based
on referencing styles commonly known as the ‘author–
date’ or ‘Harvard’ system. There are numerous examples
of the APA method, in the references at the back of
this text.
Citations
Whenever another source is used to present evidence,
give an example, develop an argument and so on, the
source must be cited. This procedure helps the reader
distinguish between your ‘ideas’ and ‘work’ and those of
another person(s).
When writing a research report or essay, it is sometimes
necessary to cite within a sentence, and at other times at
the end of a sentence (or paragraph).
Examples of how this is done are:
Within a sentence
One author:  In a study by Trotter (2001), participants were
required .  .  .
Two authors :  A similar result was reported by Trinh and
Jones (2010), who found that .  .  .
Three or more authors:  Black, White and Yellow (2012)
studied the effects of   .  .  .
Three or more authors cited again :  Black et al., (2012)
concluded that .  .  .
In drawing conclusions, variables other than the
IV and their possible impact on the results should be
considered and explained. It may also be appropriate
to suggest ways of effectively controlling such
variables if the experiment were to be replicated.
References
This section has a list of all sources cited in the report
(but no others). Every quotation or summary of
information from another source which is used in the
report must be substantiated with a reference.
The list of references should be presented in
alphabetical order based on the surname of the first
named author of a source. The formats for writing
references which are commonly used in psychology
are described in box 7.2.
Appendices (if any)
This is where materials which do not fit into the
other sections of the report are placed. There should
be a different appendix for each set or category of
materials. Each appendix should be numbered and
have a title (for example, Appendix 1. Test items for
visual perception skills).
Materials included in an appendix should be referred
to in the body of the report (for example, Test items for
visual perception skills (see Appendix 1)).
  Note that ‘et al.,’ is a short form of ‘et alia’, which is
Latin for ‘and others’. In this text we prefer to use and
others for citations from journal articles or texts with four
or more authors.
At the end of a sentence
One author : The sex of the person in need of help was
a factor that influenced whether or not the research
participants would provide help (Willow, 2005).
Two authors : Our attitudes do not always match our
behaviour (Pine & Chan, 2004).
Three or more authors : This behaviour is not unique to
humans. It has also been observed in primates such as
apes and gorillas (Cole, Voulos, Schnell & Koumaki, 2005).
Or, if the study has been cited previously  .  .  . apes and
gorillas (Cole et al., 2004).
Citing references within sources
Sometimes you need to cite a source that was referred to by
another author; for example, when you read about a study
or research finding that was summarised and cited in a
textbook. In this case, you would cite the source as follows:
Watson (as cited in White, 2010) replicated the study
using .  .  .
Quoting from a source
If you copy (word for word) information from another
source instead of summarising the information using your
own words, you should use quotation marks at the start
(continued)
Chapter 7  Research methods 2  285
 and end of the quotation, use an ellipsis (  .  .  .) when you
omit words, and provide the reference and page number.
For example:
Tanaka and Young (2001) explained the observation in
terms of ‘  .  .  . the inability of a three-month-old child to
recognise themself’ (p. 18).
References
The reference list includes all references used in
compiling the report or essay. The references are listed
in alphabetical order based on the surname of the first
author (if there is more than one) using the formats in the
following chart.

Type of
publication Format
Book 1. Author.  (The surname of an author and their initials. If there is
more than one author, the names are presented
in the order they appear on the title page of the book.)
2. Year of publication.  (Enclosed in brackets, followed by a
full stop)
3. Title of the book.  (Underlined or italicised and followed
by a full stop)
4. City of publication and state (if city is not well known). 
(Followed by a colon)
5. Name of the publisher.  (Followed by a full stop)
Article 1. Author. (The surname of an author and their initials. If there is
in journal more than one author, the names are presented in the order
they appear in the article.)
2. Year of publication.  (Enclosed in brackets, followed by
a full stop)
3. Title of the article. (Followed by a full stop)
4. Title of the journal. (Underlined or italicised and followed
by a comma)
5. Volume number of the journal. (Underlined or italicised and
followed by a comma)
6. Page numbers. (Followed by a full stop)
Newspaper 1. Author.  (The surname of an author and their initials. If there is
or magazine more than one author, the names are presented in the order
they appear in the article.)
2. Date of publication.  (Enclosed in brackets, with the year
before the date, followed by a full stop)
3. Title of the newspaper or magazine.  (Underlined or italicised
and followed by a comma)
4. Page numbers.  (Followed by a full stop)
Internet sites 1. Author. (The surname of the author and their initials or the
organisation followed by a full stop)
2. Date of webpage publication.  (If available and enclosed in
brackets, followed by a full stop)
3. Title of article. (If specified)
4. When (month, date, year) information was retrieved. (Followed
by a comma and the word from)
5. Full http address. (Not followed by a full stop)
Motion picture 1. Main contributors.  (The surname, and, in brackets, the role of the
(movie), TV, main contributors, usually the producer, director and/or writer)
DVD, audio 2. Year or date released.  (Enclosed in brackets and followed by
a full stop)
3. Title.  (Underlined or italicised)
4. Motion Picture.  (Identify as a motion picture or other media
type, in brackets and followed by a full stop.)
5. Origin.  (Give the motion picture’s country of origin, where it
was primarily made and the name of the production company)
Personal 1. Personal communications or quotes from interview are cited
communication within the text. They are not listed in the References.
or interview 2. At the end of the quoted information, provide the initial(s) and
surname of the source of the information followed by the date,
month and year the information was obtained.
3. Enclose the source and date of the information in brackets,
followed by a full stop.
Example
Book with one author: Carr-Gregg, M.
(2005). Surviving Adolescence.
Camberwell, Vic: Penguin.
Book with two or more authors: Plomin, R.,
DeFries, J.C., McClearn, G.E. & Rutter, M.
(2012). Behavioural Genetics. New York:
W.M. Freeman & Company.
One author : Caughy, M.O. (2010).
Health and environmental effects on the
academic readiness of school age children.
Developmental Psychology, 32, 515–522.
Two or more authors : Bushman, B.J.
& Huesmann, L.R. (2006). Short-term
and long-term effects of violent media
on aggression in children and adults.
Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine,
160(4), 348–352.
If you know the author : Benson, K. (2013,
July 15). Study shows busy minds good for
the what’s-its-name. The Age, p. 13.
If you do not know the author : Mother
pleads guilty to attack on teen. (2009,
August 12). Herald Sun, p. 32.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2008).
Population by Age and Sex, Australian
States and Territories. Retrieved January 26,
2009, from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/
abs@nsf/primarymainfeatures
Elissa Down (Director). (2007). The Black
Balloon (Motion picture). Australia: Black
Balloon Productions.
L. Cosgrave (interview, 23 May, 2013).

286  Unit 2  Self and others

 Authors’ names: Year of publication Title of article
last name
followed by initials

Carr-Gregg, M. R. C., Enderby, K. C. & Grover, S. R. (2003). Risk-taking behaviour

of young women in Australia: screening for health-risk behaviours.
Australian Journal of Psychology, 178 (12), 601–604.

Name of Journal volume Page numbers

journal in numbers in in the journal
italics italics

Figure 7.24 example of the conventions used by psychologists for referencing

LeARnInG ActIVItY 7.19

Review questions
1 Explain the meaning of the term reporting convention.
2 What is a potential benefit of following conventions
when reporting research?
3 List, in their correct order, the main sections of a report
on psychological research.
4 Consider box 7.2 on referencing in psychology. Rewrite
the following references correctly for inclusion in the
reference list for a psychological research report or essay.
(a) Joseph Santana, Psychology of the adolescent
– 2006, John Wiley & Sons, Milton, Queensland
pages 73–5.
(b) Maria Kotsakidas, Henry J Smith and William Tan.
Prosocial behavior in Eastern cultures, page 26
of 4th Edition. Published in 2009 by Cougar
Publishers Incorporated in Tokyo Japan.
(c) Reports on death row and bereavement of
friends and relatives by people aged 80+. Journal
article by Peter William Tobin, Susan Willow and
Chester Willis McFadden in 2006 Volume 27 of
the Australian Journal of Social Psychology on
pages 34–41.
(d) An article called Violence Reigns Supreme in
King Street on page 22 of the Age on Wednesday
20th July 2009; written by Felicity Mohammad.

chApteR sUMMARY Experimental research

– Operationalising the IV and DV
– Identification of extraneous variables
– Participant variables
– Situational variables
– Experimenter variables
– Confounding variables

Correlational studies
– Positive and negative correlation
– Strength of correlation
– Correlation and causation
– Scatter plots

RESEARCH
Descriptive statistics
METHODS 2
– Frequency distributions
– Measures of central tendency
– Variability
– Range
– Variance
– Standard deviation

Reliability and validity in research

Reporting conventions (APA)

Chapter 7 research methods 2 287

Chapter 7 Test
SECTION A — Multiple-choice questions
Choose the response that is correct or that best answers the question. A correct answer scores 1, an
incorrect answer scores 0. Marks will not be deducted for incorrect answers. No marks will be given if
more than one answer is completed for any question.

Question 1 Question 6
An operational hypothesis for an experiment states Which of the following values is most affected by
A. whether the results are valid and reliable. extreme scores?
B. the key characteristics of the hypothesis. A. mean
C. whether the IV and DV can be controlled. B. median
D. how the IV and DV will be manipulated C. mode
and measured. D. variance

Question 2 Question 7
Descriptive statistics are used to If you know that your height is the median height for
your age, then your height is
A. organise and summarise results.
B. operationalise a hypothesis. A. higher and lower than half of the
C. draw conclusions from results. people your age.
D. identify the IV and DV in a hypothesis. B. the average for everyone your age.
C. the most common height for your age.
Question 3 D. at the extreme end for people of your age.
A confounding variable is best described as Question 8
A. an IV that causes the predicted change in the DV. The number of times that a value or measure occurs in a
B. a variable that may have caused a change in set of data is shown by
the DV, making it difficult to isolate the effect(s)
A. standard deviation.
of the DV.
B. frequency distribution.
C. a DV that has an unwanted effect(s) on the IV.
C. mean.
D. a variable that has not been operationalised causing
D. variance.
the experimenter to become confused.
Question 9
Question 4
An extraneous variable is linked to the motivation
Reporting conventions refer to of the participants in an experiment. This type
A. standards for writing a research report. of extraneous variable is best described as a/an
B. the validity and reliability of a research report. variable.
C. standards for replicating research. A. situational
D. ‘rules’ that must be followed when B. participant
conducting research. C. confounding
D. experimenter
Question 5
What are the reporting conventions used in psychology Question 10
commonly called? Measures of variability are used to find out the
A. National Statement A. frequency distribution of a set of scores.
B. Code of Conduct B. average or middle point of a set of scores.
C. APA format C. most commonly occurring score(s) in a set of scores.
D. APA manual D. spread of scores from the mean for the set of scores.

288  Unit 2  Self and others

The following information relates to questions 11, 12, The following information relates to Questions 17 and 18.
13 and 14. A Y B Y
Question 11
In an experiment on memory, a psychologist collected
the data shown below from 10 different participants. The
data were scores on a test of the number of items in a list
of 10 words that could be remembered one month after
first learning the words.
X X
1, 4, 7, 5, 7, 2, 3, 7, 1, 3
The mean of the scores is C Y D Y
A. 30.
B. 3.8.
C. 7.
D. 4.

Question 12
The range for the scores is X X
A. 10.
B. 6. Question 17
C. 7. Which scatter plot shows a strong negative correlation?
D. 4. A. Plot A
Question 13 B. Plot B
C. Plot C
The median for the scores is D. Plot D
A. 4.
B. 3. Question 18
C. 3.5. Which scatter plot shows a strong positive correlation?
D. 3.8.
A. Plot A
Question 14 B. Plot B
The mode for the scores is C. Plot C
D. Plot D
A. 10.
B. 7.
C. 3.8. Question 19
D. 6. A researcher is interested in studying the extent to
which education level can be used to predict political
preferences. The researcher would most likely conduct
Question 15 A. a participant observational study.
The direction of a correlation refers to B. a non-participant observational study.
A. whether the correlation is positive or negative. C. correlational research.
B. whether one variable is likely to have caused a change D. experimental research.
in another variable.
C. the degree to which the two variables are co-related. Question 20
D. the extent of the spread of a set of data on a scatter plot. The standard deviation is used to find out the
A. difference between the highest and lowest scores in a
Question 16
set of scores.
A difference between a confounding variable and an B. spread of scores from the mean and therefore the
extraneous variable is that variability of individual scores.
A. a confounding variable may or may not affect the IV. C. spread of scores from the mean but not the
B. a confounding variable may or may not affect the DV. variability, as the lowest score is not subtracted from
C. an extraneous variable may or may not affect the IV. the highest score.
D. an extraneous variable may or may not affect the DV. D. most commonly occurring scores in a set of scores.

Chapter 7  Research methods 2  289

SECTION B — Short-answer questions
Answer all questions in the spaces provided.

Question 1  (1 mark)
In a normal distribution, most of the data are located toward the of the
distribution.

Question 2  (1 mark)
When can it be said that a confounding variable may have been present in an experiment?

Question 3  (2 marks)
Explain the difference between a conclusion that can be drawn from a study that uses an experimental design and a
study that measures the correlation between variables.

Question 4  (2 marks)
A psychologist plans to conduct an experiment on whether children and young adolescents who cannot recall their
dreams have a low level of attention. Explain two ethical standards relevant to this study.

Question 5  (4 marks)
Distinguish between positive and negative correlation with reference to a relevant example(s).

SECTION C — Research scenario

Answer the questions in the spaces provided. Write using black or blue pen. Your responses may include
diagrams, charts and tables.
A psychologist conducted an experiment to investigate a new online method of teaching Algebra called
Algebratics. She wanted to find out whether teaching young children using Algebratics is more effective than the
standard text book approach to teaching Algebra in many schools. The psychologist predicts that children who use
Algebratics will score higher on an Algebra test.
  To test her hypothesis, one class of Year 6 students in a local primary school was taught a new Algebra topic
through Algebratics. This took place for one hour at 9 am on the first four days of the school week. Their teacher was
trained in Algebratics to ensure the method was used correctly. Another Year 6 class at the same school was taught
the same topic, at the same time by their teacher through the standard approach. Both classes had 24 students, each
with 11 males and 13 females. Informed consent was obtained for all participants.

290  Unit 2  Self and others

 On Friday at 9 am, all participants were given 30-minute test on the topic. Their classroom teacher administered
the test under strictly controlled test conditions. The results are shown in figure 1 below.
80
Males
70
Females
60

50

Mean test score

40

30

20

10

0
Algebratics Standard
Figure 1 test scores for algebra teaching methods

Question 1 (1 mark)
What is the population used for the experiment?

Question 2 (2 marks)
Operationalise the independent and dependent variables in the experiment.

independent variable

dependent variable

Question 3 (2 marks)
Construct an operational hypothesis for the experiment.

Question 4 (10 marks)

Construct a discussion containing
• a description and analysis of the results
• the conclusion(s) based on the hypothesis
• whether the results can be generalised with reference to external validity
• a description of the limitations or weaknesses of the experiment.

the answers to the multiple-choice questions are in the answer

section at the back of this book and in eBookpLUS.

the answers to the short-answer and research scenario questions are

in eBookpLUS.

note that you can complete Section a of the chapter test online
through eBookpLUS and get automatic feedback.

Chapter 7 research methods 2 291