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A LevelPsychologyAQAExam QuestionsGender: Option Topic (Section B)Sex, Gender & Sex-role Stereotypes

Sex, Gender & Sex-role Stereotypes (AQA A Level Psychology)

Exam Questions

46 mins9 questions
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12 marks

In 1993, a book about gender was published in New Haven. The book was written by Sandra L Bem from Cornell University. The title was ‘The lenses of gender: transforming the debate on sexual inequality’. The book was published by Yale University Press.

A researcher needs to modify the above information to include Bem’s book in the references section of a scientific report.

Write the full reference for this book as it should appear in the reference section of the researcher’s report.

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22 marks

In a study of sex-role stereotypes and the understanding of gender, a psychology student used a group of 7-year-old children. Each child was shown two pictures.

  • Picture 1 showed people carrying out sex-stereotypical activities.

  • Picture 2 showed people carrying out non-sex-stereotypical activities.

The student asked the children to say how much they liked each picture on a scale of 1–10.

Explain how the study could be improved by selecting the pictures another way.

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31 mark

Explain what is meant by ‘androgyny’.

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4a3 marks

In a study of androgyny, a group of 100 18-year-old students completed a self-report sex-role inventory. The inventory gave two sets of scores: a femininity score and a masculinity score. Each set of scores was on a scale of 0–20, with 0 representing no masculinity or no femininity and 20 representing extreme masculinity or extreme femininity.

The researchers calculated measures of central tendency for the masculinity scores. They found that the mean masculinity score was 10.3, the median masculinity score was 9.5 and the mode masculinity score was 7.

Sketch a graph to show the most likely distribution curve for the masculinity scores in his study. Label the axes of your graph and mark on it the positions of the mean, median and mode.

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4b1 mark

What sort of distribution does your graph show?

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1a
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Researchers wished to study the link between androgyny and psychological health. They surveyed a stratified sample of 100 18-year-old students from four different schools.

Some schools had a large number of students and others had a smaller number of students. The students were asked to rate themselves on an androgyny scale and then answered a series of questions. The questions focused on students’ self-esteem and how they felt about their relationships with others.

Explain how the researchers could have obtained a stratified sample from the four different schools.

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1b4 marks

At the end of the survey, the researchers wished to treat the students ethically. They used the following statement in their debriefing:

‘Thank you for taking part in the survey. Your data will be very useful. Have you any questions?’

Suggest two additional points that could be added to the debriefing statement to better ensure ethical treatment of the students.

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2
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In a study of sex-role stereotypes and the understanding of gender, a psychology student used a group of 7-year-old children. Each child was shown two pictures.

  • Picture 1 showed people carrying out sex-stereotypical activities.

  • Picture 2 showed people carrying out non-sex-stereotypical activities.

The student asked the children to say how much they liked each picture on a scale of 1–10.

The student decided to test for a significant difference between the judgements of the two pictures. He proposed using an unrelated t-test to analyse the data.

Suggest a more appropriate statistical test of difference for the student to use with this data.

Explain two reasons for your choice based on the description of the study.

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1
Sme Calculator8 marks

Researchers wished to study the link between androgyny and psychological health. They surveyed a stratified sample of 100 18-year-old students from four different schools.

Some schools had a large number of students and others had a smaller number of students. The students were asked to rate themselves on an androgyny scale and then answered a series of questions. The questions focused on students’ self-esteem and how they felt about their relationships with others.

Discuss Bem’s research into androgyny. Refer to the likely findings of the study above in your answer.

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28 marks

In a study of sex-role stereotypes and the understanding of gender, a psychology student used a group of 7-year-old children. Each child was shown two pictures.

  • Picture 1 showed people carrying out sex-stereotypical activities.

  • Picture 2 showed people carrying out non-sex-stereotypical activities.

The student asked the children to say how much they liked each picture on a scale of 1–10.

The student decided to test for a significant difference between the judgements of the two pictures. He proposed using an unrelated t-test to analyse the data.

Discuss sex-role stereotypes. Refer to the likely outcome of the student’s study in your answer.

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3
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Outline Bem’s research into androgyny.

Explain one or more limitation(s) of Bem’s research.

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