Lesson 3.1.4.7.1

3.1.4.7.1 Reliability and validity of sampling, experimental designs and methods Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 4

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 3.1.4.7.1, Reliability and validity of sampling, experimental designs and methods: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA GCSE Psychology (8182), Unit 4: Research methods, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What does reliability mean in psychological research?

    • The number of participants who take part in the study
    • The degree to which results apply to everyday situations
    • The extent to which a study measures what it intended to measure
    • The extent to which a measure or method gives consistent results when repeated

  2. What is validity in psychological research?

    • The extent to which results are the same when the study is repeated
    • The likelihood that participants will complete the whole study
    • The size of the sample used in the investigation
    • The extent to which a study measures what it claims to measure

  3. Which sampling method is most likely to produce a representative sample?

    • Snowball sampling, where existing participants recruit their friends and family members
    • Opportunity sampling, where the researcher picks whoever is available in the local area
    • Random sampling, where everyone in the target population has an equal chance of selection
    • Volunteer sampling, where people respond to an advert placed in a local newspaper

  4. What is a weakness of opportunity sampling?

    • It can only be used in a laboratory with lots of resources
    • It requires every member of the population to be contacted
    • It may produce a sample biased towards people who are easy to reach
    • It needs a computer to generate a random list of names

  5. In stratified sampling, how are participants selected?

    • They are chosen by whoever responds to a poster placed in a local school or library
    • They are chosen by picking every tenth name from a list of all the people available
    • They are chosen randomly from one subgroup only, such as the oldest participants
    • They are chosen in proportion to subgroups of the population, such as age or gender

  6. What is a strength of systematic sampling?

    • It requires the researcher to know each participant personally
    • It is quick and simple, such as picking every tenth person on a list
    • It removes all chance from the selection of participants
    • It guarantees every subgroup will be perfectly represented

  7. Why is a repeated measures design sometimes preferred for validity?

    • It prevents order effects from ever occurring
    • It always gives a larger sample than an independent groups design
    • It removes the need for any control condition
    • Each participant acts as their own control, reducing participant variables

  8. Which is a validity issue with laboratory experiments?

    • Results always show the independent variable is unreliable
    • Results always use qualitative data that cannot be analysed
    • Results can never be replicated by other researchers
    • Results may not reflect behaviour in everyday real-life situations

  9. A questionnaire given twice to the same people produces similar answers each time. What does this show?

    • The questionnaire measures only the independent variable
    • The questionnaire has good consistency, so it is reliable
    • The questionnaire has high validity because the answers are similar
    • The sample must be stratified to produce similar answers

  10. A test of memory measures reaction time instead of recall. What is the problem?

    • The test uses a matched pairs design unnecessarily
    • The test uses a random sample of participants
    • The test lacks reliability because it gives the same result each time
    • The test lacks validity

  11. A researcher samples only students from one university to study attitudes in the whole population. What is the main concern?

    • The sample may be unrepresentative
    • The sample is too large to analyse using statistical methods
    • The sample removes all extraneous variables automatically
    • The sample is random, so it must be representative

  12. Which design is most likely to suffer from order effects?

    • Independent groups, where each person takes part in one condition only
    • Repeated measures, where participants take part in every condition
    • Random sampling of a population of adults
    • Matched pairs, where two participants are matched on age

  13. A random sample happens to include few women. What is the best explanation?

    • Random sampling always produces an exactly balanced sample of genders
    • Random sampling prevents any bias in the data collected
    • Chance can produce unrepresentative samples, especially with small sample sizes
    • Random sampling requires the researcher to select participants by gender

  14. Which statement best evaluates a single experiment with a small, opportunity sample?

    • Findings may lack generalisability
    • The findings are invalid because a small sample cannot produce any result
    • The findings are fully valid because the experiment was carried out in a laboratory
    • The findings are reliable because the experiment has been run once

  15. Why might a researcher combine quantitative and qualitative methods?

    • Mixing methods guarantees that results are statistically significant across all conditions
    • Mixing methods removes the need for any sampling in the study, so results are more general
    • Mixing methods means the study must use a larger control group than a single method
    • Combining methods offers both broad patterns and rich detail, supporting more valid conclusions

  16. What does a representative sample mean?

    • A sample that is chosen from a single school or university
    • A sample that includes only participants who volunteered for the study
    • A sample whose characteristics reflect those of the wider target population
    • A sample that is the same size as the population being studied

  17. A researcher samples only people from one postcode area to represent a whole country. Which problem is most important?

    • Sampling bias, because the sample does not reflect the diversity of the wider population
    • Ethical problems, because the researcher must pay participants
    • Reliability problems, because the results can never be repeated accurately
    • Standardisation problems, because the procedure must be identical

  18. A study finds a difference between conditions but used only six participants. Which is the most valid criticism?

    • The study is unreliable only if it used qualitative data rather than numbers from the test
    • The study is invalid because it used a laboratory setting, so no findings can be applied to real life at all
    • The small sample means chance differences may account for the results, reducing confidence in the findings
    • The study is valid because it used a control group of six people, so the results are reliable

  19. Why is test-retest consistency relevant when evaluating a measure in an experiment?

    • It checks whether the measure has been used by enough participants to be valid
    • It checks whether participants were randomly allocated to conditions
    • It checks whether the same measure gives consistent results when the study is repeated
    • It checks whether the sample reflects the diversity of the population

  20. Which design choice most directly improves the internal validity of a comparison between two conditions?

    • Using only volunteers who are highly motivated and keen to perform well in the study
    • Making the study longer so participants become more experienced with the task over time
    • Controlling extraneous variables so that differences can be attributed to the independent variable
    • Increasing the number of questions in the dependent variable measure only, so the test is longer

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