Paper 2: class practical questions

Section A of Paper 2 asks four compulsory questions about one of your class practicals. The question names the research method (interview, observation, survey or questionnaire, or experiment) and you answer about the practical you carried out with that method. Because the method is not known in advance, you need to be ready to answer on all four.

The four question types are the same in every session; only the method and the concept change. That makes Section A one of the most predictable parts of the course. Students who prepare a clear record of each practical and practise each question type on each method can plan most of their answers before they enter the exam room.

What the four questions ask

Each question tests a different skill, signalled by its command term. The first two are worth 4 marks each and the last two 6 marks each. Each is marked with its own markband, and the markbands reward different things.

The focus of all four questions is the research method, not the context the practical was set in. In an interview practical on exercise and mood, the marks come from showing how an interview works, what it can and cannot show, and how its design decisions affect its data, so the psychology of mood itself needs no more than a sentence.

YouTube

Preparing a practical record

The course advises keeping a short record of each class practical. It is not assessed, but it is the single most useful revision document for Section A and a useful starting point for the internal assessment. A record written during or straight after the practical holds the details you will otherwise forget: the exact aim, how many participants there were, how they were chosen, which questions or categories were used, and what was found.

What the record contains

The last two headings go beyond the minimum record, but they turn a description into a revision tool. Concept points written in advance mean that the explain question becomes a matter of choosing the best three, not inventing them under pressure. Notes on the other methods mean that a design question is never met for the first time in the exam.

A worked record: a focus group on managing exam stress

The following practical record is used in the interview model answers. The details are hypothetical, but they show the level of precision that a record needs.

Question 1a: describe how you used the method

The describe question asks for a detailed account of how the method was used in your practical. The markband rewards detailed knowledge of the research methodology and accurate terminology. In practice that means using the precise name of each design decision and giving the concrete detail of your study for each one.

A strong answer covers, briefly, the aim; the type of method and its sub-type; the procedure, including the data collection tool; the sampling technique and sample; how data were recorded and analysed; one or two findings; and the main ethical steps. It does not need an introduction or a conclusion, and it does not evaluate. Some versions of the question ask explicitly for the aim and procedure; include both in every answer anyway.

What to name for each method

The model answer gives a precise detail for every methodological decision: the type of interview, the sample size and sampling technique, the tool and an example question, the pilot, the setting, recording and transcription, the analysis and the findings. Each of these shows knowledge of interview methodology, not of stress.

Question 1b: explain a concept in relation to your practical

The second question names one of the six concepts (bias, causality, change, measurement, perspective or responsibility) and asks you to explain it in relation to the practical. With four methods and six concepts there are 24 possible questions, but a single structure answers all of them.

The markband has two parts: understanding of the concept, and clear and detailed links to the practical. A paragraph that explains the concept well but could have been written about any study stays in the lower band. Each point therefore needs a specific decision from your practical and its effect on the data or conclusions.

A structure for every concept question

1. Explain the concept in one or two sentences, in the meaning it has in research: bias as systematic distortion of data or conclusions, measurement as how a construct is operationalised and how reliable and valid the measure is, and so on.

2. Link it to a specific decision in your practical: your sampling technique, a question you wrote, a category you defined, how you allocated participants, what you told participants.

3. Explain the effect: what that decision did to the data, or what it means for the conclusions you can draw.

4. Say how it was handled or could be handled: a control you used, a change you would make.

5. Repeat for a second (and if time allows, third) link.

The method × concept grid

The grid gives the strongest point for each of the 24 combinations, as a starting point for your own concept points. The detail in each cell must be replaced by what happened in your practical.

The model answer explains the concept, then makes two links (the operationalisation of categories, and the reliability check), each with its effect on the data and an improvement. Every sentence after the first refers to something that happened in the practical.

Question 1c: compare and contrast with another method

The compare and contrast question names a second method and asks you to compare it with the one used in your practical. The top band requires both similarities and differences discussed in detail. Answers that list only differences, which is the most common pattern, cannot go above the middle band however detailed they are.

The command term also requires reference to both methods throughout. A paragraph on interviews followed by a paragraph on experiments is two descriptions, not a comparison. Each sentence should hold both methods together, using linking words such as “both”, “similarly”, “whereas” and “unlike”.

Axes of comparison

The same few axes give both similarities and differences for any pair of methods. Choosing two similarities and two or three differences from the list, each grounded in your practical, is enough for the top band.

The model answer gives three similarities (self-report and its bias, the need for well-written and piloted questions, no causal conclusions) and three differences (data type and analysis, anonymity and sample size, standardisation and the researcher’s role). Every point names both methods and refers to the practical.

Question 1d: design a study with another method

The design question asks you to plan a new study on the same topic as your practical, using a different method named in the question. The markband rewards a procedure explained with accuracy and detail and effective use of the terminology of the new method. It does not reward a perfect study, and it does not need the results.

The key is to keep the topic but change everything that belongs to the method. A student whose experiment was on phone presence and digit span, asked to design an observation, must still study phones and attention, but now as behaviour recorded with an observation schedule in a real setting.

A checklist for every design

The model answer specifies the type of observation and why, the setting, the ethics of observing students, the tool and four behavioural categories, the sampling of behaviour (time sampling) and of participants, the pilot and reliability check, the data and their analysis. It ends with one sentence on what the design can and cannot show, which demonstrates understanding of the method without turning the answer into an evaluation.

Preparing for all 24 combinations

Because the method in the question is not known in advance, preparation means four practical records and, for each, a set of concept points and notes on the other methods. That sounds like a lot, but much of it overlaps: the axes of comparison are the same for every pair, and the design checklist is the same for every method.

Common problems across Section A

• Mixing up the questions. Evaluation in 1a, description in 1c and an essay on the topic in 1d all miss the demands of the command term. Underlining the command term before writing helps.

• Vague terminology. “We asked some students some questions” is limited; “a semi-structured interview with an eight-question schedule and six participants recruited by opportunity sampling” is accurate and detailed.

• Inventing a different practical. Answers must be about the practical actually carried out. Pretending to have done a more impressive study usually produces inconsistencies, and a real practical with modest results is perfectly adequate.

• Forgetting ethics in 1a and 1d. Consent, withdrawal, anonymity and debriefing belong in the procedure, briefly.

• Running out of time on 1c and 1d. They carry 6 marks each, more than 1a and 1b; plan time to match the marks.

Summary

• Section A asks four questions on one class practical, named by its method: describe [4], explain a concept [4], compare and contrast [6] and design [6].

• The focus is the research method, not the topic of the practical; background psychology earns nothing.

• A practical record with aim, method and design, procedure, sampling technique and sample, findings and ethics, plus concept points and notes on other methods, prepares every answer.

• A describe answer gives a precise detail for every methodological decision, using accurate terminology.

• A concept answer explains the concept, then makes two or three links to decisions in the practical and explains their effect on the data.

• A compare and contrast answer needs both similarities and differences, with both methods referred to throughout.

• A design answer keeps the topic, changes the method, and specifies type, sample, tool, procedure, analysis and ethics.

• The method × concept grid gives a starting point for all 24 combinations, which must then be grounded in the actual practical.

Self-check

• To do:

  I can state the four Section A question types, their command terms and what each markband rewards.

• To do:

  I have a complete record of each of my four class practicals, with numbers and findings learned.

• To do:

  I can write a detailed describe answer for each of my practicals using accurate method terminology.

• To do:

  I can explain any of the six concepts in relation to any of my practicals, with specific links.

• To do:

  I can compare and contrast any two methods, giving both similarities and differences.

• To do:

  I can design a study on the same topic as each practical using each of the other three methods.

• To do:

  I can recognise and avoid generic points that could apply to any study.