Specimen answer

The psychologist focused on fluency in spoken communication in her study. Other research has investigated sex differences in non-verbal behaviours such as body language and gestures. Design an observation study to investigate sex differences in non-verbal behaviour of males and females when they are giving a presentation to an audience.

In your answer you should provide details of:

• the task for the participants

• the behavioural categories to be used and how the data will be recorded

• how reliability of the data collection might be established

• ethical issues to be considered.

[12 marks]

The task for the participants- the mark scheme states this must go beyond just “give a presentation to the audience”

30 participants (15 male, 15 female) would be asked to perform a presentation on the same topic area of “my holiday” this will last for 3 minutes. They will be told that they must not use any props other than notes they take as prompts.

The mark scheme also gives the following suggestions

  • presentation of findings from a school project

• presentation on ‘My Hobby’

• presentation on ‘My Holiday’.

The behavioural categories to be used and how the data will be recorded–The Mark scheme states that this must go beyond the idea of global constructs such as ‘body language’ or ‘gesture’. Also detail of recording method to be used, eg record sheet.

An observation schedule will be designed to be used by the observers. There will be clearly operationalised categories that will be clearly explained to observers (see point below). The behavioural categories will be arm movements, smiling, speech hesitations, pointing etc. (all of these are from the mark scheme). An example is seen below. Observers will be asked to make a mark in the correct box every time they see the participant smile or point for instance.

smiling / Speech hesitations / pointing / Arm movements / Head nodding / Touching ear
Male participant 1
Female participant 1

How reliability of the data collection might be established

Using two observerswill help to establish reliability because then it means that their responses on the observation schedule above can be compared. By correlating their findings it is possible to establish reliability if there is a correlation co-efficient of 0.8 or above. Also the observers would be trained beforehand to make sure that they fully understand what they are looking for each behavioural category. A pilot study could also be carried out to check that this training has led to a clear understanding and fully operationalised categories.

Ethical issues to be considered- The mark scheme mentions protection of welfare, confidentiality and deception, respect or integrity.

If participants are aware of the behavioural categories beforehand then there may be an element of demand characteristics but participants should be as fully informed as possible and afterwards be fully debriefed and their results shown to them and withdrawn if asked to be. Their identity would be kept anonymous (see observation schedule).