AQA A-Level Psychology: Research Methods (Year 1 Content)

Whether you’re preparing for your first assessments in Year 12 or revising for your A-Level exams in Year 13, this 14-week course is designed to build confidence in one of the most heavily assessed areas of A-Level Psychology.

Each week we’ll focus on a different Research Methods topic from the AQA specification, combining clear teaching with exam application, modelled answers and regular practice using AQA-style questions. The emphasis throughout is on understanding how to apply knowledge, develop mathematical skills and improve exam technique.

Course Details: 14-week course (2 × 7-week blocks).

Our live sessions focus on understanding, application and exam preparation. PowerPoint slides are shared after each session to support independent note-taking and revision.

Course Content

Week 1: Types of Experiments

Week 2: Experimental Designs

Week 3: Hypotheses & Operationalisation

Week 4: Experimental Control

Week 5: Reliability, Validity & Pilot Studies

Week 6: Ethical Issues in Psychological Research

Week 7: Self-Report Methods (Ethics completed independently)

Week 8: Observational Research

Week 9: Sampling Techniques

Week 10: Types of Data

Week 11: Descriptive Statistics

Week 12: Presentation & Interpretation of Data

Week 13: Inferential Statistics – The Sign Test

Week 14: Peer Review & Research Methods Revision

Please note: Due to the amount of content covered, PowerPoint slides will be shared after each session. Students are encouraged to use these to complete or consolidate their notes following the lesson, allowing our live sessions to focus on understanding, application and exam success.