practical

Question 1

aim

Answer 1

to investigate gender stereotypical behaviour in boys and girls

Question 2

null hypothesis

Answer 2

there will be no difference in gender stereotyped behaviour of boys and girls
any differences found will be due to chance

Question 3

alternative hypothesis

Answer 3

boys will display gender stereotyped behaviour for boys and girls will display gender stereotyped behaviour for girls

Question 4

research method

Answer 4

an observation

Question 5

independant variable

Answer 5

sex of the child

Question 6

dependent variable

Answer 6

gender stereotyped behaviour being displayed

Question 7

sample

Answer 7

four children - 2 boys and 2 girls
sample was gathered by opportunity sampling following gaining parental consent
all four children attended a local private school nursery

Question 8

procedure

Answer 8

1. Written parental consent gained for nursery school children and from the nursery manager.
2. Two boys and two girls selected on the observation day (Monday 10am)
3. A one minute 30 second recording of free play of the four children playing together. The video player was hidden from view.
4. Video recording analysed using time sampling every 10 seconds – the time bar was used to pause the video on a media player.
5. Qualitative observational data gathered for thematic analysis.
6. This qualitative data was then event sampled for quantitative analysis of gender stereotypical behaviour.

Question 9

apparatus

Answer 9

Video (1.30 mins) of 4 children engaged in free play.
Television to record observed behaviour.
Coding sheet to record quantitative data.

Question 10

controls

Answer 10

• children were videod to make sure no behaviours were missed as the video can be rewatched
• the children were studied in their nursery because it increases ecological validity because the children are in a normal environment so will display their normal behaviour
• the list of gender stereotyped behaviour was drawn up before viewing the video to increase objectivity
• the video was positioned where the children couldn’t see it so they could not act up or act differently

Question 11

ethical issues

Answer 11

• parental consent - gained before the study
• right to withdraw - given to the parents after the study had taken place
• protection of participants - no distress was caused so the participants were protected throughout the study
• confidentiality and privacy - name of nursery and children was protected

Question 12

conclusion of thematic analysis

Answer 12

it can be concluded that boys tend to show aggressive and controlling behaviour but the girls showed gender stereotyped behaviour

Question 13

calculation of chi squared - stats statement

Answer 13

the calculated value of Chi-Squared = 2.53 is less than the critical value of 2.71 for a one tailed test at P=0.05 with df = 1
therefore, the result is not statistically significant and the null hypothesis can be supported which states that there will be no difference in gender stereotyped behaviour of boys and girls and any differences found will be due to chance

Question 14

comparing thematic analysis and chi-squared

Answer 14

the thematic analysis showed that boys show stereotyped behaviour for boys and girls show gender stereotyped behaviour for girls but the chi-squared value calculated was not significant

Question 15

application of findings to social learning theory

Answer 15

the girls use females as their role models so copy their behaviour
the boys use males as their role models so copy their behaviour

Question 16

application of findings to operant conditioning

Answer 16

our results are consistent with gender stereotyped behaviour, they receive positive reinforcement for showing gender stereotyped behaviour

Question 17

strength - validity

Answer 17

• high ecological validity
• because the study was done in a natural environment so they will play normally
• this makes the findings reliable as we can be sure they are due to real behaviour not what they are behaving like because they are in a study so behave in a different way, as they think they are meant to behave

Question 18

strength - reliability

Answer 18

• the results can be checked again and again
• because the study was recorded
• this means that we can be sure the findings are reliable and correct

Question 19

improving reliability

Answer 19

• only i wrote down what i thought so it is my opinion of the children’s behaviour, someone else may have a different opinion
• this makes the study subjective
• to improve this, more than one observer could view the same video using the same codes and compare data to increase inter-rater reliability

Question 20

strength - generalisability

Answer 20

• only 4 children observed, all from the same nursery
• this means that generalisability is low
• we cannot be sure that other children and the wider population will show gender stereotyped behaviour

Question 21

improving generalisability

Answer 21

• increase the number of children in the sample
• and use children from different nurseries too
• to see whether other children show gender stereotyped behaviour in the same way as the children did in our observation