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Researchers investigated whether there was a difference in how an Instagram user perceived their own personality compared to how others would perceive their personality - AQA - A-Level Psychology - Question 1 - 2021 - Paper 3
Question 1
Researchers investigated whether there was a difference in how an Instagram user perceived their own personality compared to how others would perceive their personal... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Researchers investigated whether there was a difference in how an Instagram user perceived their own personality compared to how others would perceive their personality - AQA - A-Level Psychology - Question 1 - 2021 - Paper 3
Step 1
Explain one conclusion you can make regarding 'extraversion' using the data in Table 1.
Answer
The Instagram users perceived themselves as less extraverted than the observers did. For instance, Instagram user 1 rated themselves a 3.00, while the observers rated user 1's profile an average of 4.61. This indicates a discrepancy of about 1.61 points, suggesting that observers saw the individual as more extraverted than they viewed themselves.
Step 2
Explain one conclusion you can make regarding 'openness' using the data in Table 1.
Answer
The observers saw the Instagram users as less open to new experiences than the users perceived themselves. For example, Instagram user 1 rated their openness as 7.00, while the observers rated user 1’s profile with an average score of 5.20. This indicates a significant difference, suggesting that observers do not perceive the individual’s openness as highly as they view it themselves.
Step 3
Explain one strength of the researchers collecting quantitative data in the Instagram study.
Answer
One strength of collecting quantitative data is that it provides objective and measurable results regarding personality traits like extraversion and openness. This allows for clear comparisons between self-ratings and observer ratings, minimizing subjectivity that may arise with qualitative data.
Step 4
Explain two strengths of using an unstructured interview with the observers (group 2) in the Instagram study.
Answer
Firstly, unstructured interviews enable observers to provide detailed and nuanced feedback on their perceptions, allowing researchers to gather richer data about factors influencing their ratings. Secondly, this method fosters an open dialogue, which can reveal insights about the observers' reasoning and thought processes when evaluating the Instagram users, potentially uncovering aspects that quantitative data might miss.