Practical Investigation

Question 1

What was the aim of your learning theories practical investigation?

Answer 1

Conduct an observational study to investigate differences in helpful and polite behaviours in men and women

Question 2

What was the one-tailed directional hypothesis of your learning theories practical investigation?

Answer 2

Males (who got a lesson on helping) will display a greater number of polite behaviours (holding the door open for a person or not) than females (who got a lesson in finance)

Question 3

What was the methodology of your learning theories practical investigation?

Answer 3

Naturalistic, overt, and non-participant observation - participants were aware they were being observed and researchers weren’t part of the group being observed

Question 4

What was the procedure for your learning theories practical investigation? (4 points)

Answer 4

1. Males were given an RPEP lesson on kindness featuring videos of polite role models while females got taught finance
2. Two researchers got consent from participants to observe (said it was for a study on SLT) and set up at a busy door and corridor
3. One tallied each time a male or female held/didn’t hold the door while the other wrote a description of their behaviour
4. Two additional researchers stood by to debrief students

Question 5

What were the results of your learning theories practical investigation? (3 points)

Answer 5

Chi-squared used - data was nominal and independent groups design was used

At df = 1 and p=0.05:
Calculated value of 1.02
Critical value of 2.71

Significant difference not found between the number of polite behaviours between males and females

Question 6

What were the 2 strengths of your learning theories practical investigation?

Answer 6

BPS guidelines adhered to - researchers got informed consent from participants to be observed and other researchers debriefed them on full aim afterwards

Ecologically valid - naturalistic observation done in students’ everyday environment; behaviour of theirs is normally seen so results can be applied to real life

Question 7

What were the 2 weaknesses of your learning theories practical investigation?

Answer 7

Lack of task validity:
Non-participant observation - may have missed special insights into students’ behaviour that could only be gained from inside

Lack of IV - students may have behaved differently than they do normally if the observation was covert