A-LevelPsychologyResearch methods9990/22 · Oct/Nov 2020 · Q98 Marks

Lydia is planning to interview students about how they learn a new language.

(a)Suggest one open question that Lydia could ask during her interviews.[1]
(b)Suggest one disadvantage of using open questions in this study.[2]
(c)Lydia's first language is English. Her participants speak a variety of different first languages, although all can understand English. Explain why the variety of first languages spoken by the participants could still be a problem in Lydia's study.[2]
(d)Suggest what type of interview Lydia should conduct in this study. Include a reason for your answer.[3]

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2020). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

[1] (a) 1 mark for an open question 'Explain a difficulty you have had learn your most recent language.' = 1 'Describe what you do to learn a new language.' = 1 'What do you do to learn a new language?' = 0
[2] (b) 1 mark for disadvantage 1 mark link Open questions are hard to analyse because they are non-numerical = 1 (disadvantage) To it would be hard to compare learners of different languages = (link)
[2] (c) 1 mark for problem 1 mark for detail Because the interviews would have to be in English for these people = 1 (problem) Whereas other participants could have been in their first language, so easier to understand = 1 (detail) Because the features of learning a language might differ depending on the language itself = 1 (problem) Lydia might not understand exactly what the participants mean = 1 (detail)
[3] (d) 1 mark for naming / identifying an appropriate type of interview 1 mark for justification 1 mark for link A structured interview = 1 (name) So that each participant is asked the same questions, which makes the results easy to compare/analyse = 1 (reason) e.g. so all the participants are asked questions about learning verb patterns = 1 (link) An unstructured interview = 1 (name) So that each participant can be asked individual/follow-on questions, which makes the results more valid = 1 (reason) e.g. so participants can be asked individual questions about what they find hard when remembering nouns = 1 (link) A semi-structured interview = 1 (name) So a participant can be asked both set questions to compare and follow-on questions that are specific to them = 1 (reason) e.g. so it is possible to ask standardised questions and ones about the individuals' language learning habits = 1 (link)