University of Greenwich

School of Human Sciences

Student ID: 001303524

Research Methods in Psychology 1

Take Home Test

Word Count: 1258

Please answer ALL questions on the Take Home Test pdf.

Enter each answer under the relevant question number.

Submit ONLY this document to Turnitin by 13th December 23:30.

QUESTION 1
They could conduct a literature review. to locate previous investigations and studies into the
impact of mobile phone use on memory- looking for evidence that supports and refutes
their claims.

QUESTION 2
1. The computer-based continuous attention task at 3 p.m. was used by psychologists to
operationalize attention. This task's specific details e.g stimuli, the response metrics, and the
task's duration, would need to be described in detail in the research. Turning the notion of
attention into a measurable and observable metric is the main process of operationalization.
2. The participants' morning shower experience so warm or cold- is the independent
variable. The purpose of manipulating this variable is to see how it affects the dependent
variable.
3. Using a computer-based continuous attention task at 3 p.m., the dependent variable is
attentiveness. Its this variable that the researchers are looking to see changes in when the
independent variable is manipulated.
4. Sleep Quality: Attention may be impacted by the level of sleep the night before the
experiment. Regardless of the kind of shower they took, those who slept better might have
done better on the attention task than those who slept poorly.
QUESTION 3
Informed Consent:
Issue: Replicating a study on the impact of trait anxiety and physical pain on short-term
memory was the rationale behind participant recruitment. it is possible that the information
sheet explanation of the lottery system's use for payment was not well explained.

Reason: All information on the study, including the payment schedule, should always be
provided to the participants. They should be aware of the advantages, disadvantages, and
nature of their involvement so they can decide whether or not to take part.

Deception:
Issue: While participants were notified that they would be questioned about anxiety, they
were not made aware that the payment would be made through a lottery.
Reason: Deceptive tactics have the potential to undermine people' trust and cause them to
feel uneasy or distressed. Maintaining ethical standards requires transparency.

Psychological Distress:
Issue: The use of a cold-water task to induce physical pain might lead to psychological
distress in participants.
Reason: There shouldn't be any excessive physical or psychological strain placed on
participants. It is important to carefully consider the scientific value of the study against any
potential harm that may result from the cold-water task.
Confidentiality and Anonymity:
Issue: The description doesn't mention whether the participants information would be kept
confidential which isespecially important given the sensitive nature of the study.
Reason: Ensuring the privacy of participants is very important . Guarantees on the privacy
and anonymization of their data is ought to be given.

Fair Treatment:

Issue: The remaining participants will not be compensated, and only one will have the
opportunity to win £2500.
Reason: This results in an unequal benefit distribution and could make people feel unfairly
treated. It is important that all participants receive equal treatment and just pay for their
time and involvement.
QUESTION 4
Results section:
Descriptive Statistics: Before and after the intervention they need to provide descriptive
statistics for the therapy dog group and the control group. For the well-being scores, write
the measurements of variability (standard deviations) and central tendency (means).
Comparison of Groups: Before and after the intervention compare the well-being scores of
the therapy dog group and the control group using inferential statistics (such as t-tests or
analysis of variance).
Effect sizes: give an idea of the practical impact of observed changes, The interpretation of
effect sizes helps determining the extent to which therapy dogs have improved the well-
being of students.

Discussion section:
Interpretation of Results: Need to talk about the study's conclusions in relation to the
research topic. What positive benefits on students wellbeing were the therapy dogs
discovered to have?
Comparison with Previous Research: If its suitable, comparet the findings with other studies
on the positive impacts of therapy dogs on wellbeing. Paying attention to any disfferences or
similarities and talk about possible reasons.
Limitations: Recognise the study's limitations This can include the length of the intervention,
the sample characteristics, or the other possible confounding variables that weren't taken
into account.

QUESTION 5
The fact that the histogram is skewed to the left suggests most employees have lower
wages, with less of them/few earning higher wages- indicating positive skewness in
distribution.
QUESTION 6
1.
Reason: When examining categorical variables, a Chi-square test can be used to determine if
two categorical variables are independent or related for this question the psychologist is
investigating the relationship between the categorical For determining whether these two
variables have a significant relationship or not,
the Chi-square test is suitable.
Hypothesis: There is a significant association between the level of task skills (high or low)
and promotion status (promoted or not promoted).
3
Null Hypothesis: There isnt significant association between the level of task skills and
promotion status.
I know that the null hypothesis is rejected if the p-value is less than the selected significance
level, which is typically 0.05, showing a significant relationship between task skills and
promotion status.
Task skills and promotion may be related
you can examine the table's cell proportions to see whether the Promotability measure is a
useful tool for identifying employees who possess high task skills.
Promotability appears to be useful in identifying employees with high task skills if staff
members with high task skills are more likely to be promoted and staff members with low
task skills are less likely to be promoted.
QUESTION 7
it suggests a negative relationship between task skills and leadership performance. Task
proficiency tends to rise with increased leadership effectiveness.
1. A correlation test would be suitable due to the fact that it measures the strength and
direction of a linear relationship between 2 variables in this situation that’s task skills
and leadership performance.
2. The experimental hypothesis may say that there is a positive correlation between
task skills and leadership performance. For instance, "As task skills increase,
leadership performance also increases."
3. It is possible for the null hypothesis to assert that there is no meaningful relationship
between task abilities and leadership effectiveness. As an example, "task skills and
leadership performance are not related."
4. At the 0.01 level, there is a substantial link between task skills and leadership
performance. This indicates that the two variables have a strong statistical
relationship.
5. Considering that the correlation is reported to be significant at the 0.01 level, the
psychologist's use of a one-tailed test was correct. There is a positive correlation
between task skills and leadership performance, which validates her directed
hypothesis.

QUESTION 8
1. 0.606 shows that the combination of task skills and affiliation needs can account for
about 60.6% of the variance in the leader's performance.
2. The entire regression model appears to be statistically significant based on the F
value of 173.302 and the significant Sig of 0.001. This indicates that a significant
portion of the variance in leader performance can be explained by at least one of the
predictors.
3. Task skills and affiliation needs both have positively statistically significant effects on
leader performance. The coefficients reflect the magnitude of these impacts.
4. therefore an employer's expected leader performance score would be roughly
2.6822 if they had an affiliation score of 1 and a task skill score of 6.