Conducting Psychological Research
This is a free chapter, from an unpublished textbook by Shelia Kennison of Oklahoma State University, that you can either read online or download as a pdf document. The chapter covers a range of ideas and issues focused on the research process: • different research methodologies • causality • experimentation • representative sampling • reliability and […]
8 | The Research Process: Part 1
While Research Methods at a-level aren’t everyone’s cup of tea they can be interesting if students are given the time and space to bring together the theory with the practice. Unfortunately I can’t help you here with the practice (although I can give you a few pointers about how to carry-out a range of cheap […]
Psych’d Magazine Issue 2
Psych’d is a twice-yearly (October and July) Psychology Magazine, published by WJEC (formerly the Welsh Joint Examining Committee) designed to support teachers and students studying for the WJEC and Eduqas A-level Psychology qualifications. While, as you might expect, the magazine contains material (CPD events, important dates and recommended textbooks) specific to these particular exam boards, […]
Sociology ShortCuts F’sheet
I’ve posted a couple of times about the Sociology Factsheets produced by Curriculum Press – particularly about how it might be an idea for teachers to get their students to make their own versions as both a revision aid and teaching resource for future sociology students – and I thought it might be interesting to […]
Crime, Deviance and Methods: Self-report Questionnaire
Opportunities for students to link crime, deviance and research methods in a practical way are often limited by the constraints of time and space – but one simple approach that can be used effectively in the classroom is a self-report crime questionnaire. Although there are a few of these kicking around (from Ann Campbell’s onward…) […]
A2 Psychology: Research Methods Free Chapter
One of the simple pleasures of Wandering the Web™ for a living, made all the more enjoyable by that intangible sense of the unexpected (I know, I live my life through contradictions), is coming across Stuff That Is Free. My not-so-little face lights up at the mere thought of finding Something For Nothing, even though […]
Teaching A-level Research Methods: Part 3
Talk the Walk At this point students need to get to grips with learning the basics of research methods. How you organise this is up to you, but one way is to get students to take ownership of their learning: If there are sufficient students, split the class into groups and give each group responsibility […]
Psychology: Reliability and Validity
Reliability and validity are two important methodological concepts in both Psychology and Sociology because they address the problems involved in “doing research” – and while this film is aimed at A-level and AP psychology students (who are required to cover the issues in much greater depth), it should also be useful for sociology teachers who […]
Crime Statistics: The Dark Figure video
A request from an American University to use this video in an online course prompted me to remember its existence on my YouTube Channel. It’s a short video that looks at the “dark figure” of crime – crimes that are committed in our society but which never appear in the official recorded crime statistics. As such […]
Letting Children Be Children: The Bailey Report
The Bailey Report (Letting Children Be Children, 2011) is an “Independent Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood” that highlights a range of issues (and moral concerns bordering on panics) around families, children, childhood and the media. These, if you’re so inclined, can be used as the basis for interesting discussions around both contemporary […]