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A-LevelPsychologyResearch methods9990/21 · May/June 2019 · Q33 Marks

An experiment is testing the aim that smiling affects helpfulness. The procedure is to investigate whether people leaving a shop will hold a door open for people who are smiling.

  1. (a)Write an operationalised directional (one-tailed) hypothesis for this experiment.[2]
  2. (b)Write a null hypothesis for this experiment.[1]

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2019). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

  1. [1] 1 mark for a one-tailed hypothesis
  2. [2] 2 marks for an operationalised hypothesis
  3. Components: Smiling (IV1) not smiling (IV2) holding door/helping (DV) 'more than' (one tailed)
  4. People help more when they are smiled at = 1 mark
  5. People help more when they are smiled at but don't when they are not = 2 marks. This has smiling (IV1) and not smiling (IV2) there is the DV (help more) and there is 'helping more when smiled at' so is one tailed.
  6. People are more helpful so hold doors open more often when they are smiled at = 2 marks [more helpful/hold doors (DV) when smiled at (IV1) but no IV2 so this can only be 1 mark]
  7. People are more helpful than when they are not smiled at = 1 mark. More helpful (in what way?) than when (with no detail) not smiled at?]
  8. People are more helpful so hold doors open more often when they are smiled at than when they are not smiled at = 2 [2 marks. Has IV1, IV2, DV and tail (i.e. more)
  9. People help when they are smiled at = 0 marks (too vague)
  10. People leaving a shop will hold the door open for people who smile = 0 marks (too vague)
  11. Has to have two levels of IV but DV does not have to be operationalised
  12. Any difference between how helpful people when they are smiled at or not is due to chance. = 1 mark
  13. There is no difference between helpful people when they are smiled at or not. = 1 mark
  14. No marks for statements that are not hypotheses, or are experimental/ alternative hypotheses.

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About this question

Topic
Research methods, A-Level Psychology (syllabus 9990). Structured question, 3 marks.
Source
A-Level Psychology, May/June 2019 Paper 2 Variant 1, question 3.

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