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Noah is investigating the influence of a new drug treatment for heroin addicts - AQA - A-Level Psychology - Question 16 - 2021 - Paper 2
Question 16
Noah is investigating the influence of a new drug treatment for heroin addicts. He decided to conduct an experiment on rats. Before Noah conducted his experiment, h... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:Noah is investigating the influence of a new drug treatment for heroin addicts - AQA - A-Level Psychology - Question 16 - 2021 - Paper 2
Step 1
Describe the ethical issues that Noah would have had to consider when conducting his experiment.
Answer
Noah must address several ethical issues before conducting his experiment on rats:
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Minimizing Suffering: Noah should only use the smallest number of rats necessary to gather valid data on the new drug treatment. This minimizes the suffering of the animals involved.
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Adverse Effects: If the new drug therapy has adverse effects on the rats, Noah must consider the ethical implications of potentially harming the animals that cannot recover from the treatment.
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Housing and Care: Noah needs to ensure that adequate housing and care conditions are provided for the rats he uses, ensuring their needs are met throughout the experiment.
Step 2
Identify the experimental/research design Noah used in the experiment.
Answer
Noah used a repeated measures design in his experiment with the human heroin addict. This design allows for the comparison of behaviour before and after the implementation of the new drug treatment on the same individual.
Step 3
Explain one reason why qualitative data may be better than quantitative data when researching drug treatments.
Answer
Qualitative data is often more advantageous than quantitative data in this context because it provides deeper insights into the individual's experiences and motivations. For instance, qualitative data can reveal the underlying reasons that lead addicts to take drugs, whereas quantitative data might restrict responses to predefined categories, limiting the understanding of such complex behaviours.
Step 4
Explain one weakness of Noah’s investigation using the human heroin addict.
Answer
One significant weakness of Noah's study is its limited generalizability. By focusing solely on one human heroin addict, the findings may not be applicable to a larger population of heroin addicts, particularly those with different drug use histories or co-occurring conditions. This lack of diversity in participants limits the external validity of the study's conclusions.