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Researchers wanted to investigate whether there were sex differences in navigation strategy and efficiency - AQA - A-Level Psychology - Question 2 - 2021 - Paper 3
Question 2
Researchers wanted to investigate whether there were sex differences in navigation strategy and efficiency. The researchers created a virtual reality (VR) maze and ... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Researchers wanted to investigate whether there were sex differences in navigation strategy and efficiency - AQA - A-Level Psychology - Question 2 - 2021 - Paper 3
Step 1
Explain one weakness of using a random sampling technique for the navigation study.
Answer
One weakness of using a random sampling technique is that the population chosen may not represent the wider population effectively. For example, individuals selected randomly from the local town could possess similar mental or navigation skills, thus skewing the results and leading to less generalizable findings.
Step 2
Explain one conclusion the researchers of the navigation study could make using the data in Figure 4.
Answer
The researchers could conclude that males were more likely to use shortcuts when navigating than females. This is evidenced by the fact that 14 males used shortcuts compared to only 8 females, indicating a noticeable difference in navigation strategies between the sexes.
Step 3
Complete the chi-squared test for the navigation study.
Answer
To calculate the chi-squared, we will use the observed and expected frequencies from Table 3:
o = observed, e = expected
- Calculate O-E.
- Square (O-E), i.e., (O-E)².
- Divide (O-E)² by E for each entry.
- Sum these values to find Chi-squared. The final calculation yields Chi-squared = 1.06.
Step 4
Explain two improvements that the researchers could make to the navigation study.
Answer
The researchers could enhance the ecological validity of the study by conducting it in a real-life setting rather than using a virtual reality (VR) maze. This would provide a more realistic context for participants and may improve the generalizability of the results.
Additionally, they could recruit a more diverse sample of participants from various local towns rather than a single community. This would help ensure that the findings are not limited to just those individuals in the local town, allowing for a more varied representation of navigation strategies across different populations.