AO3 Design and Implementation of Research Skills at AS
At AS level, this assessment objective is examined in module 3 as part of the "research methods" module. This section of module 3 consists of some stimulus material (description os a piece of research, either experimental or non-experimental) followed by a series of short-answer questions based on this material. The questions are typically worth either 1, 2, 3, or 6 marks and relate to any aspect of the research methods course.
This page will give you an idea how to go about getting a good mark in this section. It provides a welcome rest from lots of writing, and gives a real opportunity to boost your marks at AS. Even if you don't know the answer to one part of the question, you can still answer the rest of the questions without any problem. The questions will cover all areas of the research methods course, including choice of methodology, design issues, sampling issues, aims and hypotheses, presenting and interpreting data.
AO3 Design and Implementation of Research Skills at A2
Module 6 of the A2 is a 2000 word coursework report, based on a real piece of research you have designed and carried out. From an initial idea, you can work in groups of up to 4 people (no more, AQA won't allow it) to collect real data from eal participants. You will then have to individually write up the research in the form of a report. Sections of the report include introduction, aims and hypotheses, method, results and discussion of results. More detailed guidance is available in the coursework "green guide" on your CD-ROM.
How do I develop research skills?
The simple answer here is by conducting some research, and by using the information your have acquired in your "research methods" and "design and analysis" courses. When you look at a description of some research in the textbook, think about the key design decisions that went into it - why was it a laboratory experiment or a correlational analysis, for example, rather than something else? How were the participants chosen (sampling technique)? How were the data analysed? What conclusions were drawn?
Designing and conducting research is at the heart of psychology. You need an enquiring mind and your evaluation skills to decide on the best method to use, the research design (independent groups or repeated measures?), the sampling technique, what analysis to use and how to draw conclusions from your data. This can be the best part of your psychology course - tackle it head on and have some fun in the process. 2000 words isn't so bad, and you will get a lot of help and support as you write up your report.
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