Social - Practical

Question 1

what was the aim of our social practical?

Answer 1

The aim, using self-report data, if people who have an authoritarian personality are also “agentic” in obeying an authority figure, and if those who do not have an authoritarian personality tend to be more autonomous than agentic.

Question 2

what is the alternative hypothesis?

Answer 2

There will be a significant difference in self-reported obedience levels (quantitative/qualitative
analysis from a questionnaire) depending on whether you behave agentically (authoritarian
personality) than if you behave autonomously (non-authoritarian personality).

Any difference will be due to the IV and not chance.

Question 3

what is the null hypothesis?

Answer 3

There will be no significant difference in self-reported obedience levels between individuals exhibiting agentic (authoritarian personality) behavior and those exhibiting autonomous (non-authoritarian personality) behavior. Any observed difference will be due to chance and not influenced by the independent variable (behavioral style).

Answer 4

A self-report survey using a semi-structured questionnaire (open and closed questions) was used
because we needed to gather directly information concerning agentic and autonomous traits. This
would allow us to gather realistic and valid opinions about whether people in society today
are more agentic if they have an authoritarian personality or autonomous.

The semi-structured questionnaire will be made up of pre-planned questions focusing on the topic
of obedience and whether those who are more autonomous/agentic have an authoritarian
personality. Pre-planning allows for easy comparison afterwards and because this is not a
distressing topic or one that additional information is necessary for it was thought to be
more appropriate that an unstructured questionnaire.

A survey using a semi-structured interview was considered, however people do not always tell the
truth to interviewers because they do not want to appear bad, so biased information would result ie,
demand characteristics. Also, they are more time consuming so less generalisability as people will
not want to take part because it takes too much time.

Both closed and open questions will be used. Closed questions for example, —————————-

-will focus on gathering quantitative data which is easy to score and will give us a reliability outcome in relation to obedience and authoritarianism. This type of data also allows for future
replication and checking of the results if necessary.

Open questions for example, ——————— will focus on gathering qualitative data which will reflect the true nature of obedience and authoritarianism, it will be more realistic and will tell us what people are thinking, therefore is valid

Question 5

what was the sampling and explain?

Answer 5

An opportunity sample will be used because it is quick and convenient, involving those who are available when the research on gathering autonomous/agentic information is being done. It will also mean people’s daily lives will not be interrupted as they will complete it in their spare time.

10 obedience questionnaires will be sampled as this will be a large enough sample due to both qualitative and quantitative data being gathered from the open and closed ended obedience questions – any larger would practically be difficult to analyse in terms of time. Participants will be of mixed ages of 18 and above, mixed gender, race all from the local area answering the
obedience questionnaire.

Question 6

what was the IV and the DV?

Answer 6

• DV – self-reported obedience levels (quantitative/qualitative analysis from a questionnaire)
• IV – whether someone behaves agentically (authoritarian personality) than if they behave autonomously (non-authoritarian personality).

Question 7

give 2 controls in our practical:

Answer 7

Clear standardised instructions were placed on the self-report obedience questionnaire to avoid
misunderstanding and confusion and so that everyone received the same instructions and
experimenter bias was avoided (situational variable).

We kept the obedience questions simple and clear to avoid any differences in linguistic abilities that
may result in confusion in some participants therefore preventing them answering the questions
measuring agency and autonomy (participant variable)

Question 8

give the procedure in our practical:

Answer 8

1. Create hypothesis which has questions that cover all aspects of hypothesis
2. Plan a questionnaire that will measure the hypothesis. 3. Type up questionnaire ready for distribution.
3. Complete a pilot study and amend pending feedback.
4. Give out final questionnaire to target participants.
5. Collect in questionnaires. 5. Analyse data in line with hypothesis.

Question 9

what was the apparatus in our practical?

Answer 9

semi-structured questionnaire (open and closed questions)

Question 10

give 2 ethical issues (positive) and 2 risk management:

Answer 10

Participants were debriefed at end on what the questionnaire was measuring ie, obedience and
autonomy in order to ensure that all participants left in the same frame of mind as they arrived.

Consent was gained by filling in and asked for at beginning of questionnaire, we did not give
informed consent as we did not want participants knowledge of what we were doing influencing the
results, therefore preventing them committing demand characteristics.

• Risk to the participant will be minimised by ensuring that the questionnaire does not ask
  intrusive upsetting questions eg…….. Do you think Hitler was a good authority figure? -
  would upset potentially anyone with a Jewish heritage.
• Risk to the researcher(s) will be minimised by giving the questionnaire out within a familiar
  environment therefore avoiding strange places where potential participants may reactive
  negatively to filling out a questionnaire.

Question 11

give 2 points for the strong reliability:

Answer 11

• In order to ensure high reliability closed ended quantitative questions eg,………. were used which provide numerical, statistical data (A01) this can be practically easily analysed for patterns and trends about a person’s agentic and autonomous levels and whether they are linked to authoritarianism (A02)
• High reliability was ensured when all participants received the same obedience questionnaire on obedience levels and authoritarianism to complete (A01) therefore a full standardised procedure was employed and increased the reliability of the results on agentic/autonomous traits as it is easier to replicate as the same questionnaire can be used and compared (A02)

Question 12

give 2 points for reliability improvements:

Answer 12

• In order to improve reliability the obedience questionnaire could be carried out in a controlled experimental room ie, a silent room (A02) which means that others nearby (extraneous variable) could not influence the results or the respondents answers about their obedience levels and autonomous personality (A03)
• Also to improve reliability we could only use quantitative questions on obedience in order to make sure all the data on obedience levels and autonomy for analysis is numerical (A02), therefore providing quantitative is easier to analyse and replicate to traits influencing obedient behaviour (A03).

Question 13

give 2 points for the good validity:

Answer 13

• A valid strength of our obedience research was that we used open questions eg, ………. as they provide realistic and detailed information about whether those with authoritarian personalities are more obedient (A02), this will provide more qualitative and valid answers about the traits that re realistic of obedient behaviour (A02)
• A valid strength of our research is that participants were allowed to complete the obedience questionnaire in a venue of their own choice which makes them relaxed and comfortable (A01) therefore you are more likely to get realistic and valid answers from them about what makes them obedient or not (A02).

Question 14

give 2 points for validity improvements:

Answer 14

• In order to improve validity, we could use the same obedience questionnaire on another group of participants to ensure the questions realistically measured autonomous and authoritarian traits (A02) so we could compare them and make sure the obedience questionnaires on the questionnaire has predictive validity and is measuring obedient behaviour.
• In order to improve validity, the debrief on the end of the questionnaire could be given verbally on a different sheet after the questionnaire has been handed in (A02) which means that those involved would not commit demand characteristics by going back and changing the results eg, to support the experimenter, therefore leading to unrealistic and invalid responses to their autonomous and agentic answers (A03)

Question 15

give a point for good generalisability:

Answer 15

• The results from the obedience questionnaire are generalisable to the target population (A02) because it aimed to test all those over the age of 18 in our local areas of mixed gender (A01)

Question 16

give 2 points for generalisability improvements:

Answer 16

• However, the target population obedience questionnaire results may not be representative of autonomous and agentic obedience levels and autonomy attitudes of the entire population as there was a low response from ethnic minorities (A02), so therefore we cannot generalise it completely to the entire population for obedience behaviour as the sample is not representative of everyone in the entire population, especially ethnic minorities (A03).
• Next time we would administer the obedience questionnaire on a larger scale making sure we get a larger variety of ethnic minority groups (A02) which would make it more representative of the entire population which also has ethnicity minority groups with it when testing for obedience traits (A03)

Question 17

give 2 strengths for ethics:

Answer 17

• No names were asked for when filling in the questionnaires which maintained ethical standards of confidentiality (BPS), (people are more likely to take part if their names are not likely to be used and are often more honest with their answers).
• Participants filling in the questionnaire were offered the right to withdraw at the beginning, middle and end of the questionnaire which maintained ethical guidelines of right to withdraw (BPS).

Question 18

give an ethical improvement in our practical:

Answer 18

• Also by having the debrief on the end of the questionnaire means that some participants could have gone back and changed their answers so committing demand characteristics, next time we could debrief all participants separately with a standardised debrief sheet, after they hand in their questionnaire.

Question 19

explain the results in our social practical:

Answer 19

REMEMBER YOU CAN GUESS!!

quant - 8/10 people said they were law abiding
- all these also said they were a follower not a leader

qual - key themes: agentic, moral code, obeying and laws