Design a study using an observation to investigate the characteristics of addiction in people with kleptomania.

Mark scheme

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

1. [10] Specific features: Observations: type, setting, response categories, sampling, number of observers.
2. [10] General features of research methodology: sampling technique & sample, type of data, ethics, reliability, validity, data analysis.
3. [8] Syllabus: characteristics of ICDs and non-substance addictive disorder; types: kleptomania, pyromania (Burton et al., 2012) and gambling disorder.
4. [8] Psychological: characteristics of addiction (Griffiths) include: salience, euphoria, tolerance, conflict, withdrawal and relapse and these should feature in the answer;
5. [8] Psychological: kleptomanic behaviours as illustrated by (some of) the above features. Note that 'increase of tension before/release after' may also be observed rather than sensations of euphoria.
6. [8] Methodological: explanation of method using general and specific features as above.