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PSEB SS Psychology study materials
PSEB SS Psychology study resources

PSEB SS Psychology: Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

PSEB SS Psychology · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

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Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

This domain tests whether you can design and criticise a study: choosing a design, naming variables, defining them operationally and respecting ethical safeguards.

The enquiry process

Every study moves from problem formulation to hypothesis, operational definitions, sampling, data collection, analysis and interpretation. A hypothesis is a testable prediction about the relation between variables. An operational definition states exactly how a variable will be measured - for example, 'aggression' as the number of hits in a ten-minute observation.

Designs you must distinguish

  • Experimental: the researcher manipulates the independent variable (IV), measures the dependent variable (DV) and controls extraneous variables, usually by random assignment.
  • Correlational: two variables are measured as they naturally occur; the coefficient runs from −1 to +1, and correlation never proves causation.
  • Observational: naturalistic or controlled, requiring a behavioural checklist and observer training to limit bias.
  • Survey and interview: questionnaires or structured interviews, vulnerable to social desirability and question wording.
  • Case study: intensive study of one person or small group; rich detail, poor generalisability.

Ethics

Informed consent, the right to withdraw, confidentiality, protection from harm, and debriefing whenever deception has been used.

Worked example

A researcher predicts that background music improves quiz scores. The IV is music (present or absent) and the DV is the score on a 20-item quiz. Prior knowledge, time of day and noise level are extraneous variables, handled by randomly assigning pupils to the two conditions. Because the IV is manipulated, this is an experiment; if pupils merely reported their own music habits alongside their scores, the design would be correlational and the causal claim would collapse.

Traps

Confusing random sampling (who is selected) with random assignment (who enters which group); naming the IV without saying how it is manipulated; describing a correlation as a cause.