The experimental hypothesis is:
Older people will have a higher tendency, than young people, to place stereotypes on possible criminals, due to appearance.
The null hypothesis is:
There will be no significant difference in the tendency to place stereotypes on possible criminals, due to appearance, between older and younger people.
Method
Design:
This is an independent measures design with two conditions.
Condition 1: Participants aged 15-25
Condition 2: Participants aged 45-55
The variables were:
IV – Age of participants
DV – Stereotypical attitude
A questionnaire was used, consisting of 11 questions of which each showed a different description of someone, which participants were then asked to rate on the likelihood that they would be a criminal.
Participants:
Twenty participants were asked to take part in the study. Ten were aged between 12 and 25 years (five male, five female), and ten were aged between 45 and 55 years (five male, five female). This was an opportunity sample.
Procedure:
- Ten members of the public aged between 15 and 25 and ten aged between 45 and 55 were, individually, asked if they would complete a questionnaire and consented to do so.
- The participant was then given a pen and a questionnaire, consisting of 11 descriptions and a scale.
- The participant was then asked to complete the questionnaire when given it, but was not given a strict time constriction.
- The participant was then left alone for approximately 15 minutes to allow sufficient time to complete the questionnaire, without disturbance.
- The participant was then thanked and debriefed by reading from a previously set paragraph (Appendices).
- This procedure was then repeated for each participant.
- The results were then analysed.
Controls:
- The same questionnaire, technique, instructions and briefing were used throughout the experiment.
- Each participant was tested individually and was alone when they completed it.
- No strict time limit was allocated but participants were left for approximately 15 minutes from the time that they began the questionnaire.
Materials:
- Twenty identical questionnaires (Appendices)
- Pen
- Debrief (Appendices)
Ethics:
Most ethical considerations were taken into account when completing this study. Participants were not informed of the nature of the investigation when given the questionnaire. They were, however, informed that the questionnaire was being used to study the effect of age on stereotyping at the end of the experiment, in the debriefing. The questionnaires were all kept anonymous, with the only personal information given being the age and gender of the participant. The results of the experiment were all ethically confidential.
Measurement and Analysis:
The data was collected from the questionnaire, as a scoring scale was used (Appendices) and was recorded in a table the results section. A Mann-Whitney U test was used from the mean scores of each participant, as the design was independent measures with ordinal data. A 0.05 level of significance with a critical value of 27 was used. A table and bar chart were used to display the results so that any differences could be clearly seen.
Results
Table 1: Scores given, from the scale, by the participants for each question.
Table 2: Mean scores of each participant, separating young from old so any differences can be easily seen.
Table 3: A bar chart showing the mean scores of each participant.
Table 4: The observed value is greater than the critical value and so the null hypothesis can be accepted and the experimental hypothesis rejected.
The tables and bar chart all show that although there was evidence to suggest a slightly higher level of stereotyping among the older participants, the difference was not significant enough to fully support my experimental hypothesis.
Although the participants were not informed of the nature of the study, the questions were not well differentiated and were all of the same context. It would therefore not have been difficult for them to have guessed what was being investigated.
Discussion
The sample that was chosen was an estimate of the best age groups to use in testing the necessary differences and therefore may not be an accurate representation in the study. The use of two different age groups also lowers the generalisability of the study, as it is therefore not showing a representation of the whole population. However, for each of the two age groups, five males and five females were chosen to increase the validity of the sample by there being no gender bias present. If a wider age group had been used, the results would have then been more valid and may have shown a better conclusion to the study.
The questionnaire consisted of 11 questions, which were all very similar and repetitive. They each consisted of a description of someone’s appearance and so were all repetitive in the form that they were given in. Some of the descriptions were similar to each other and so participants may have become bored or tired of completing it. This would have a great effect on the results as they may not have answered truthfully or may have not been at full attention when reading them or considering the answers, resulting in unreliable results. By using a wider variety of questions this problem may have been avoided and there would be no evidence of demand characteristics from the participants, making the results more valid. Each of the descriptions then asked for the answer to be circled on a rating scale, which was also repetitive throughout the questionnaire. The rating scale was numbered from 1 to 11 so that the participants were given a mid point for any questions which they were unsure about, making the study more ethical and protecting the participants from any harm or distress.
This investigation did not show any great findings but may help when studying aspects of social psychology and criminal psychology as the results, although being mostly unrepresentative, help to determine how people place stereotypes and so how criminals can be easily judged wrongly. The results could be applied to courtroom situations where the jury could be prejudicing people because of their physical appearance. If this factor is taken into account in the future, this problem may be ruled out and court justice may become fairer.
For future research the studying of stereotyping could be extended to outside of the courtroom and general prejudice due to appearance could be looked at. Studying this could help to understand and possibly stop bullying and discrimination. An experiment could be conducted which uses the observation of the general public in situations involving discrimination due to appearance. This could be performed under controlled conditions but would be highly unethical as it does not protect the participants from harm, no consent would be given and they would be deceived. Another way of studying this area would be to compile a questionnaire, closely relating to this current study, which looks at how stereotyping and discrimination link.
References
Julie Harrower (1998) Applying Psychology To Crime. Hodder & Stoughton
Julie Harrower (2001) Psychology In Practice: Crime. Hodder & Stoughton
Appendices
Questionnaire
Debriefing Information
Statistical Calculations
Completed Questionnaire Example
Debriefing
Thank you for completing this questionnaire and therefore participating in this psychological investigation. The questionnaire, which you have just completed, was compiled to measure your tendency to stereotype others due to appearance. The investigation undertaken is to study whether older people have a higher tendency to place appearance based stereotypes on possible criminals, than younger people do. The results from your completed questionnaire will be collected along with 20 others and the results will be analysed and conclusions, based on this psychological area, shall be drawn.
Appendices
Nicola Findler 1B
Psychology A2 Coursework
