Practical Issues in Research Design

Study Edexcel Psychology research-design questions by improving sampling, procedures and controls so investigations become more representative and credible.

Exam points

Identify a practical improvement that directly fits the investigation’s participants, setting or procedure.
Justify a wider or more varied sample by explaining how it could improve representativeness.
Explain how a procedural change can reduce confounding influences or improve the investigation’s control.

[Maximum number: 4]

Louis investigated the effect of sleep disturbance on appetite. He conducted his investigation using nine rats. Louis set an alarm bell to ring at fixed one hour intervals over a ten-day period to disturb the rats.
Louis provided 25 grams of food to each rat at 09:00hrs each day. He recorded the amount of food remaining at 19:00hrs when he removed the food from the cage.
A control group of four rats that were not deprived of sleep were used as a comparison for his results.

Explain two improvements that Louis could make to his investigation about the effects of sleep disturbance on appetite in rats.

2

All question bank results loaded

9.3.2 - Practical issues in the design and implementation of research question 1