OCR Psychology: AS Core Studies and Research Methods

This book prepares students for all the elements of the OCR AS exam. It gives the who, what, where, and even the why of each of the core studies. It also looks at some of the work that followed the studies. Specifically it covers:

• Core studies: an abstract of each study plus ample details of the aims, method, results and conclusions. Guidance is given on how each study can be evaluated and a wealth of extra materials is provided for each study – practical activities, discussion ideas, multiple-choice and exam-style questions, diagrammatic summaries, further reading and video links.
• Background to each core study: information about related research before and after the study; and biographical details of the researcher(s).
• Key issues: sixteen issues are discussed to cover the themes of the course and prepare students for the long-answer questions.
• A 'Psychological Investigations' chapter helps students to understand research methods in psychology, necessary for the Psychological Investigations exam and also for understanding the core studies themselves.
• Exam guidance: short and long answer exam-style questions answered by students with examiner’s comments.

The book is presented in magazine-style spreads to aid the learning process, and has been thoroughly revised to match the requirements of the new OCR specification.

The book’s accompanying website contains

• Answers to all exam questions.
• Suggested evaluations.

Cara Flanagan is an experienced teacher and senior A level examiner. She has written a range of articles and textbooks for A level psychology students, and regularly speaks at student conferences and teacher INSET courses. She edits the Routledge Modular Psychology Series with Phil Banyard. In her spare time she is the proud mother of three children who kindly tolerate her incessant working, which includes taking her laptop on holiday, much to Phil’s bemusement.

Phil Banyard is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Nottingham Trent University. He has been involved in GCSE and A Level psychology for more years than he can count and has marked more exam papers than he has brain cells left. It is testament to medical science that he still teaches, writes texts and ties his own shoes. His continued support of Nottingham Forest shows extreme loyalty or lack of imagination depending on your point of view.