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Marya has carried out a study to investigate whether a new treatment was effective for people addicted to alcohol - AQA - A-Level Psychology - Question 16 - 2019 - Paper 2
Question 16
Marya has carried out a study to investigate whether a new treatment was effective for people addicted to alcohol. She wanted to see if it would stop them drinking a... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Marya has carried out a study to investigate whether a new treatment was effective for people addicted to alcohol - AQA - A-Level Psychology - Question 16 - 2019 - Paper 2
Step 1
Explain why Marya used the mean rather than the mode in her study.
Answer
Marya chose the mean as a measure of central tendency because it takes into account all values in the dataset. This characteristic makes it more representative of the participants’ alcohol consumption habits than the mode, which only considers the most frequently occurring value. Using the mean provides a comprehensive view of the overall effect of the treatment on alcohol consumption, especially when the data is spread out or has multiple modes.
Step 2
Explain one improvement Marya could make to her study.
Answer
One improvement Marya could implement is to gather data over a longer follow-up period, such as a few years after the treatment (1). This approach would provide insights into the long-term effectiveness of the treatment, allowing researchers to assess whether the therapy has lasting impacts on reducing alcohol consumption among the participants (2).