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Research methods, statistics and practical investigation

Edexcel paper 3: Psychological skills · Lesson 1 of 2

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Lesson 1 of 2 · Edexcel paper 3: Psychological skills

Research methods, statistics and practical investigation

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By the end you’ll be able to

Explain, compare and apply research methods used in psychology, including experiments, laboratory experiments, field experiments, natural experiments, observations, self-reports, questionnaires, interviews, case studies, correlations and content analysis.
Identify, operationalise and evaluate variables and controls, including independent, dependent and extraneous variables, experimental design, randomisation, counterbalancing, standardised procedures, pilot studies and ways of improving validity and reliability.

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Select and justify appropriate sampling techniques and participant allocation procedures, including random, opportunity, volunteer, stratified and systematic sampling, and explain the strengths and limitations of each in context.

Explain and apply ethical issues and ways of dealing with them, including informed consent, deception, confidentiality, privacy, protection from harm, debriefing and the role of ethics committees and socially sensitive research.

Distinguish between quantitative and qualitative data; describe, calculate and interpret descriptive statistics and graphical presentation, including tables, bar charts, histograms, frequency polygons, scattergrams, measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion.

Select, calculate and interpret appropriate inferential statistical tests from the specification, including the sign test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Mann–Whitney U test, Spearman’s rho and chi-squared test, with reference to levels of measurement, experimental design, observed and critical values, significance and probability.

Explain, calculate and apply standard deviation and percentage calculations required by the specification, and interpret what these indicate about variability, consistency and difference between data sets.

Analyse practical investigations by forming aims and hypotheses, choosing suitable methods and controls, planning procedure and materials, identifying target populations, sampling, ethics, data collection and analysis, and drawing justified conclusions with reference to methodological strengths, limitations and improvements.

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