Jane is planning a laboratory experiment with two groups of participants. One group speaks one language fluently and the other group speaks two or more languages fluently. Jane thinks this may affect her dependent variable of how well they learn ‘nonsense' words. These are words that read like real words but have no meaning.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2021). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] 1 mark for justification of candidate's choice of measure (no mark for just choosing one of the measures)
2. [1] 1 mark for link / context
3. [1] Timing / number of spelling errors is objective/valid/quantitative; (strength)
4. [1] i.e. comparisons of speed of response to / errors in nonsense words between one and two-language groups; (link)
5. [1] Timing / counting errors is objective; (strength)
6. [1] So Jane can't make be biased in her judgments (of time); (link)
7. [1] Jane so she must be testing what she claimed to;
8. [1] Because they've not learned the words if they can't spell them; (link)
9. [1] 1 mark for a brief muddled weakness
10. [2] 2 marks for a clear/detailed weakness
11. [1] how quickly the participant can respond:
12. [1] timing may not be valid as a measure because people learn words at different speeds;
13. [1] so the times would depend on individual differences / participant variables not number of languages spoken;
14. [1] number of spelling errors:
15. [1] number of errors may not be valid as a measure because people differ in spelling ability anyway;
16. [1] so the errors would depend on individual differences / participant variables not number of languages spoken;
17. [1] 1 mark for a brief muddled operationalisation
18. [2] 2 marks for a clear/detailed operationalisation
19. [2] Speaking easily and without many pauses = 2
20. [1] Being able to understand = 1
21. [2] Being able to understand well enough to deal with a native speaker in conversation = 2
22. [1] Coping with everyday life in that language = 1
23. [2] Coping with everyday life in that language, such as being able to buy food / work / study / understand a film = 2
24. [1] Having a qualification = 1
25. [1] e.g. British Council Certificate / IGCSE English
26. [1] 1 mark for reason (comparison may be explicit or implicit)
27. [1] 1 mark for link (e.g. variable relevant to ability to learn/recall words or speed of response)
28. [1] Matched pairs designs reduce/eliminate participant variables; (reason)
29. [1] In Jane's experiment these might be reaction time / age / intelligence (which could affect ability to learn nonsense words / respond quickly/accurately to questions); (link)