AQA Psychology for A Level Year 2 - Student Bk

The specification says… practical corner Table 1 @ookx hs @ookx hs Methods: The maths bit 1 1. In Table 1, w at percentage of participants slept for less than 50 hours in the week they recorded data? ( 2 marks ) 2. What percentage of participants exercised for more than 15 hours in the week they recorded data? ( 2 marks ) 3. Which graphical display would be most suitable to show the relationship between number of hours sleep and number of hours exercise in Table 1? Explain your answer. ( 2 marks ) 4. Sketch a suitable graphical display to show the relationship between number of hours sleep and number of hours exercise in Table 1. ( 4 marks ) 5. Referring to Table 1, and the display you have drawn for Q4, explain the relationship between number of hours sleep and number of hours exercise. ( 2 marks ) 6. Explain why, from this investigation, it is not possible to conclude that there is a causal relationship between exercise and sleep. ( 3 marks ) The practical bit It might be possible to test the relationship between levels of exercise and sleep patterns experimentally but this would involve depriving some participants of one or the other in order to manipulate the independent variable . So, we must rule out experiments for ethical reasons. An observation is a possibility too but participants would quickly become irritated by the constant presence of the researcher waiting patiently for them to break into a trot, and their nightly appearance at the end of the bed may well prove distracting! For practical and ethical reasons then, we would recommend that participants keep a record of how much exercise they do, as well as how much sleep they have, over a weekly period. Recording data for each co-variable As part of their involvement within the study, participants will be required to keep a simple diary of the number of hours they sleep and exercise over a weekly period. This may be more complicated than it sounds, though. The definition of what counts as ‘exercise’ may vary greatly from person to person. For some, lifting the remote control may constitute a rare feat of physical prowess. Whereas for others, a six-mile jog to the shops may barely draw a bead of sweat. ‘Number of hours sleep’ may also not be as self-evident as it sounds. Does this include a twenty-minute power nap before dinner at the end of a school day? Or the ten minutes that someone lost consciousness during an A level history video? For these reasons, it would be wise for you as a researcher to fully operationalise the co-variables in this study for the benefit of participants. This will involve drawing up a detailed list of what you define as ‘exercise’ and ‘sleep’ so participants can make accurate recordings at the end of each day. Ethical issues This study should be ethically acceptable as long as it is conducted well, but there are some issues to be aware of. Participants’ data should remain confidential , not least because some may not want their data made public or shared with others. Some participants may be reluctant to report their data for reasons of, say, embarrassment so must be reminded that they have the right to withdraw their participation at any point. Participants may also need reassurance that the data they provide is ‘normal’ and so any debrief that is offered at the end of the study should be carefully worded. Analysing your data You will want to be able to display your results so that the relationship between the number of hours exercise and the number of hours sleep can be clearly seen. You should also use inferential statistics . Knowledge and understanding of ...research methods, practical research skills and maths skills. These should be developed through ... ethical practical research activities. This means you should conduct practical activities wherever possible. On this spread one activity is a correlational analysis to determine whether there is a relationship between the amount of exercise people do and the circadian rhythm of sleep. The other is also correlation, this time to see whether there is a relationship between how fast someone can run and their index finger to ring finger ratio.. Confused? Read on . . . Practical idea 1: The effects of exercise on sleep The aim of this study is to explore whether there is a relationship between the amount of exercise done in a day and the sleep/wake cycle. More specifically we are interested in whether there is a positive correlation between the number of hours exercise people do and the number of hours sleep they have over the course of a week. Ppt Total hours sleep in a week Total hours exercise in a week 1 56 17 2 63 21 3 58 10 4 42 5 5 34 2 6 70 23 7 54 11 8 60 17 9 50 14 10 49 8 Ethics check We suggest strongly that you complete this checklist before starting: 1. Do participants know participation is voluntary? 2. Do participants know what to expect? 3. Do participants know they can withdraw at any time? 4. Are individuals’ results anonymous? 5. Have I minimised the risk of distress to participants? 6. Have I avoided asking sensitive questions? 7. Will I avoid bringing my school/teacher/psychology into disrepute? 8. Have I considered all other ethical issues? 9. Has my teacher approved this? Chapter 2 Biopsychology 52 •