🎯 Validity
Is the study really investigating what the aim says? Remember, a valid study measures what it set out to measure. The researcher checks that the task, the setting and the measure all fit the aim.
The Research Process » Briefing, Collecting and Analysing Data
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Cambridge spec: 7.8.1
- How validity, reliability and ethics are checked while planning a study
- How to brief participants and give instructions
- How data are collected using tests or tasks, observations, questionnaires, interviews and case studies
- How results lead to a conclusion, and the whole research process from aim to conclusion
The last lesson, Setting Aims and Designing a Procedure, covered the first steps of the research process. This lesson covers the rest, from checking the plan to reaching a conclusion.
Key terms:
- Briefing: telling participants what they need to know before they take part, and giving them their instructions.
- Results: the data that the researcher has collected and analysed, for example a mean score for each condition.
- Conclusion: a reasoned decision, based on the results, about what the study shows and whether the aim was met.
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Unlock This CourseStep 3: Considering validity and reliability
Before any data are collected, the researcher checks the plan. They ask two questions from earlier lessons.
🔄 Reliability
Would the procedure and the measures give consistent data? Remember, reliability is about consistency. The researcher uses the same procedure every time, and clear behavioural categories so that two observers record the same thing.
See Validity, Subjectivity and Objectivity and Reliability: Inter-rater and Inter-observer for the full ideas. In the research process, the point is that these checks happen at the planning stage, not after the data are in.
Step 4: Implementing ethical guidelines
Next, the researcher makes sure the study follows the ethical guidelines. This means putting each rule into practice in the plan. For example, they write a consent form, plan a debrief, decide how names will be kept anonymous, and tell participants they can leave at any time.
Ethics is checked before the study starts, so that problems are fixed in advance. The guidelines are explained in Consent, Deception and Debriefing and Confidentiality, Withdrawal, Privacy and Harm.
Step 5: Briefing participants and giving instructions
Briefing happens when participants arrive. The researcher greets them, explains what they will be asked to do and gives the instructions for the task.
💬 What a brief includes
What the participant will do and roughly how long it will take, that taking part is voluntary, and that they can stop at any time. Consent is also gained at this point.
📝 Instructions
Clear steps for the task itself, such as "You will see 12 words for one minute. Then write down as many as you can." They are the same for every participant.
Instructions are standardised, which means every participant hears the same words. This is a control, so that different instructions do not change the results. A brief must also be careful if the study uses deception. The participants may be told only what they need to know, and the full truth is given in the debrief.
Step 6: Conducting the research and collecting data
Now the researcher carries out the procedure and collects the data. The way this is done depends on the method.
🧪 Experimental tests or tasks
Participants complete a test or task, such as recalling words. The researcher records each score, for example the number of words recalled out of 12.
👁 Observations
The researcher or observers watch and record behaviour, using behavioural categories, for example with a tally chart.
📋 Questionnaires
Participants answer written questions. The answers are collected and counted, for example ratings from 1 to 5.
🎤 Interviews
The researcher asks questions face to face and records the answers, for example by writing notes or recording the interview.
📄 Case studies
The researcher collects detailed information about one person or a small group, often from several sources and over a period of time.
Whichever method is used, the researcher follows the planned procedure exactly, so the data can be trusted.
Step 7: Analysing data, results and conclusions
When all the data are in, the researcher analyses them. They organise the data, for example in a table, work out averages and draw charts. These skills are covered in Data Tables, Mean, Median, Mode and Range and Bar Charts.
The analysis gives the results. The researcher then reads the pattern in the results and reaches a conclusion. A good conclusion goes back to the aim and says what the study shows. Reaching Conclusions from Data covers this in more detail.
The whole process in one flow
Worked example
1. Aim: To investigate whether a two-minute breathing exercise helps teenagers solve more number puzzles.
2. Procedure and materials: two conditions, breathing exercise first or sitting quietly first. The same set of 10 number puzzles for each.
3. Validity and reliability: the puzzles measure problem solving, and the same time limit is used every time.
4. Ethics: a consent form is written, names are not recorded and a debrief is planned.
5. Briefing and instructions: each person is told what to do, that they can stop at any time, and hears the same spoken instructions.
6. Collecting data: every participant does the puzzles, and the researcher records the number solved.
7. Analysis and conclusion: the mean score is 8 puzzles after the breathing exercise and 6 after sitting quietly. The conclusion is that the breathing exercise helped puzzle solving in this study.
Common mistakes
Common mistakes
- Putting the steps in the wrong order. Planning and ethics come before briefing, and analysis comes last.
- Saying the briefing is the same as the debriefing. A briefing is before the study, a debriefing is after it.
- Writing a conclusion that does not go back to the aim. Say what the results show about the aim.
- Giving different instructions to different participants. This can change the results.
- Only listing the method. Say how the data are actually collected, for example scores recorded or tallies counted.
Exam-style question
A researcher wants to find out whether listening to music helps students solve anagrams. Half of the students listen to music while solving ten anagrams. The other half solve them in silence. The researcher records the number of anagrams each student solves.
(a) Describe what the researcher should say to the students when briefing them. [2 marks]
(b) Explain one way the researcher could make sure the results are reliable. [2 marks]
(c) The mean score was 7 with music and 5 in silence. State a conclusion. [2 marks]
Model answer
(a) Any two from: what they will be asked to do, which is solve ten anagrams (1); that taking part is voluntary and they can stop at any time (1); the instructions for the task, such as how long they have (1).
(b) Give every student the same instructions and the same time limit (1), so the procedure is consistent each time (1).
(c) In this study, students who listened to music solved more anagrams on average (1) than those in silence, so music may have helped them (1).
Exam tip
For a conclusion, always refer to the aim, both conditions and the numbers from the results.