How to Answer a 12 Mark Design a Study Question (AQA A Level Psychology) : Revision Note
How do I answer an AQA A Level Psychology 12-mark design a study question?
Design a study questions typically appear in the research methods section of Paper 2, and they assess your ability to:
apply knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, processes, techniques and procedures in a practical context (AO2)
analyse, interpret and evaluate scientific information, ideas and evidence, including in relation to issues, to develop and refine practical design and procedures (AO3)
These questions test your overall knowledge and understanding of research methods, as they require you to design a practical study and justify your choices
The question usually provides bullet points detailing the information to include
E.g., In your answer, you will be awarded credit for providing appropriate details of:
the type of observation with justification
operationalised behavioural categories
use of time and/or event sampling with justification
how reliability of data collection could be assessed
How can I improve my performance on design a study questions?
Carry out practical research, e.g., mini studies or classroom experiments
This way you’ll have a more concrete grasp of how to conduct research, e.g., how to recruit participants and handle ethical considerations
You could try simple observations or experiments, conduct a questionnaire with classmates, or replicate a mini version of a known psychology study
This will help you gain first-hand experience, so when you’re designing a study in an exam, you’ll talk from practical knowledge rather than just repeating textbook terminology
Practice design a study questions
Many students rely on rote learning of theoretical concepts without knowing how to apply them
When practicing design a study questions think, “If I had to measure aggression in a playground, how specifically would I do it?” or “How would I record data if I’m testing memory in a classroom?”
This helps you provide practical, contextual answers rather than generic, memorised statements
Use key terms appropriately
When using a research method term, justify how and why it applies
E.g., don’t just write, “I would use stratified sampling,” but add, “...to ensure the sample reflects the class’s proportions of male/female students”
This demonstrates true understanding and shows the examiner you aren’t just memorising psychology terminology
Give practical details, not just generic justifications
Examiner’s feedback says many students only provide generic answers without explaining exactly how they will do it in this study
E.g., if you say “time sampling,” add the precise interval in the context of the study, e.g., “I will record each social interaction every 30 seconds for 10 minutes”
Concrete examples are crucial for full marks because they show you can apply concepts to real scenarios
Develop a structured approach to your answer
A short, logical sequence of headings or bullet points makes your answer clearer to the examiner
Use subheadings like "type of observation", "behavioural categories", "type of sampling," and "assessing reliability" and bullet point your answers
This ensures you address all of the requirements of the question and that you don't include details you haven't been asked for
Worked Example
Here is an example of how to answer a design a study question:
The psychologist focused on fluency in spoken communication in her study. Other research has investigated sex differences in non-verbal behaviours such as body language and gestures.
Q. Design an observation study to investigate sex differences in non-verbal behaviour of males and females when they are giving a presentation to an audience.
In your answer, you should provide details of:
the task for the participants
the behavioural categories to be used and how the data will be recorded
how reliability of the data collection might be established
ethical issues to be considered
[12 marks]
Model answer:
Task for participants
Ask participants to give a presentation to 10 members of an audience on a hobby they participate in
They will be asked to plan and deliver a presentation called ‘My Hobby’ lasting 5 minutes
They can only use hand-held presentation cards as prompts
They would all be given the same instructions, delivered in the same way (as above) to ensure standardisation
Behaviour categories and recording of data
Behavioural categories would cover non-verbal behaviours such as making eye contact with the audience, looking away from the audience, speech hesitations, arms folded, smiling, and touching their face and hair
These observed behavioural categories would be recorded on a behaviour checklist that has been drawn up beforehand by at least 2 observers
Event sampling would be used by tallying the non-verbal behaviours that occur throughout each 5-minute presentation
Reliability of data collection
Prior to the research, I would, with another observer, decide which specific behavioural categories to include and the method of categorising non-verbal communication behaviours so that subjective interpretation of behaviour was not possible
We would observe the presentation of each participant and then compare our tallies, which would then be correlated to determine whether we had found a positive correlation
A correlation of +0.8 or above would indicate high inter-observer reliability
Ethical issues to be considered
One ethical issue I would deal with would be informed consent, which would have to be obtained from the participants prior to the study
I would send a consent form detailing the aim and procedure of the study and the participant’s role in it, including how long they would be taking part for
The consent form would inform the participants of their right to withdraw themselves and their data from the study at any time with the reassurance that their details would be kept confidential
Word count: 314 words
Level 4: 10-12 marks
Marking commentary:
This response is in the top band (Level 4) because it provides a clear, practical, well-justified design for an observation into non-verbal communication. Effective use of key terms is evident (e.g., the link to inter-rater reliability), which shows a confident grasp of topics across the psychology specification. The essay follows a logical structure; it answers the question requirements as all four elements of the question are addressed.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
You may have to provide additional details yourself, e.g., how long the task should take and specifically what the task is (as in the answer to the question above)
Be creative and think practically!
You could be asked to provide details of data handling and analysis; ensure that you know what the following terms mean and be able to justify their use:
descriptive statistics: measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion
measures of central tendency: mean, median and mode
measures of dispersion: range and standard deviation
data presentation: bar chart, scattergram, histogram
inferential statistics: the different statistical tests
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