A-Level Psychology Essays | Student Resources

Strengths and Weaknesses (Piliavin et al.)

Using PEEL method (Point-Explanation-Example-Link)

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AS Level

Paper 1 Evaluation Essays

P – The research method used is a field experiment
E – Participants were in their natural environment
E – The study is conducted in New York subway station involving passengers riding on the train from Harlem to Bronx station
L – Findings have high ecological validity as it reflects natural behaviour

P – The study collected qualitative data
E – Qualitative data is more in depth and allows researchers to explore rationale for a behaviour. It also complements quantitative data
E – For example, it was observed that the participants showed signs of extreme stress such as sweating, trembling and seizures
L – Researchers further understood that subjects’s behaviour were due to conflict between to not harm others or to obey authority

P – Participants had lower possibilities of showing demand characteristics
E – Due to being unaware of the nature of study, there is minimised bias as participants will not alter their behaviour to match the aim of the study
E – For example, participants were unaware that the victims were stooge played by students from General Studies at Columbia University
L – Genuine response from the participants are reflective of natural reactions, increasing validity of findings

P – Deception was involved
E – Participants cannot give full informed consent as they were unaware of the actual aim
E – They were just normal passengers taking the subway train while being misled about the nature of incident
L – Participants might suffer from psychological harm such as guilt and distress by not helping given that they believed the victims really fainted

P – Situational variables are difficult to be controlled
E – It is difficult to ensure it is only the IV (type and race of victims) affecting the DV (helping behaviour) as situational variables can confound the results
E – For example, weather and train delay might influence participants’ helping behaviour
L – Findings have lower internal validity

P – Participants were not debriefed after being deceived
E – This is due to the large sample size involved
E – For example, about 4450 participants were involved in the sample
L – Participants cannot be debriefed to return to their original psychological state