Research Planning a Practical Investigation Biology Human Physiology

This document is a student assessment answersheet for Access to Higher Education Diploma in Biology/Human Physiology. It covers the learning outcomes and assessment criteria for the unit Research Planning a Practical Investigation. The document also includes a proposal for an investigation on stress-related disorders in individuals of personality type A and type B.

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STUDENT ASSESSMENT ANSWERSHEET
COURSE: Access to Higher Education Diploma
SUBJECT: Biology / Human Physiology
UNIT TITLE: Research – Planning a Practical Investigation (Biology / Human
Physiology)
LEVEL: 3 (Graded)
CREDITS: 3
PART 1: Student declaration
Please complete all relevant information below:
I understand that copying / taking ideas from other sources (e.g. reference books,
journals, internet, and tutor hand-outs) without acknowledging them is plagiarism.
I confirm that:
 This assignment is all my own work.
 All contributions taken from other reading and research have been referenced
accurately.
 Any direct quotations taken from other reading and research have been acknowledged
and attributed accurately.
 I have attached a bibliography listing all sources used in producing this assignment.
 I have added the word count below. (Note: your work must be within the word count
range: for a 3 credit unit this is 1000-1500 words, and for a 6 credit unit it is 2000-2500
words.)
 I have read and understood the Ascentis - Malpractice and Maladministration
Policy, and understand the consequences of non-compliance with this document.
Your full name: Your signature *:
Date on which
assessmentwas set:
Date due: Date submitted: Extension - date due
(if applicable):
Actual word count per TAQ: Remember that your assessment’s overall word count
should sit between 1000-1500 (3 credit unit) and 2000-2500
(6 credit unit)
* Please type your name into the signature box above and upload this document to your
Learner Account. This will be accepted as your electronic signature.
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PART 2: Learning outcomes and assessment criteria for this unit
The following table shows the assessment criteria that your tutor will use to mark your work. To
Pass a unit you must achieve all of the assessment criteria below. When all assessment criteria
have been met, your tutor will use the grading descriptors shown on your assessment’s TAQ
sheet to assess whether it should receive a Pass, Merit or a Distinction. When you have
completed your work insert the page number/s on which, in your opinion, you have met
each of the assessment criteria.
LEARNING
OUTCOMES (LOs) ASSESSMENT CRITERIA (ACs)
The student should be able to: The student has achieved the learning
outcomes because s/he can:
Page number/s
where you have
achieved this AC:
1 Produce an initial
proposal for an
investigation within an
appropriate subject area
1.1 Negotiate an appropriate and relevant area for
investigation
1.2 Identify an appropriate theme and working title
for the project
1.3 Develop a proposal for the proposed
investigation project including rationale, aim and
objectives
1.4 Give theoretical context to your investigation
through describing underpinning concepts and
theories
5 Produce a plan for
carrying out the
investigation
2.1 Identify key stages in the investigation
2.2 Produce a plan for the proposed investigation
identifying time and resources required at each
stage
2.3 Select appropriate methodology to be used in
the project
2.4 Select and use a range of relevant sources and
materials from the knowledge domain
There are some phrases that you may not be familiar with when answering TAQs or trying to
match your answers with assessmentcriteria. Here are some helpful tips:
To identify Determine the key points to be addressed and their implications.
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Further resources:
You will need to be logged in to your Learner Account to access these
resources.
We advise that you check the Ascentis Subject Set Unit
Specifications – Biology(or Ascentis – Subject Set Unit
Specifications – Human Physiology) for the ‘indicative content’
of the unit, as this may help you to understand how you could
meet specific assessment criteria.
DLC Student Handbook
DLC
Library
:
Log in to your Learner Account and click on ‘Library’ to view
various resources to help you with your learning.
For any table, you can add more rows if necessary. If you are unsure
about how to do this, please see the following:
DLC Learning materials: Study Skills - How to use I.T.
PART 3: Your comments on this assignment”
“
© DistanceLearningCentre.com,2016 3

TAQ 1:
Development of cognitive and sociopsychological interaction helps structuring an
individual human being. Individual human behaviour is highly affected by personality. Study by
Friedman and Rosenman (1987) elucidated, two types of personality type, namely, personality type
A and personality type B are found in majority of the people. Type A patients have higher blood
pressure levels due to extremity of their behavioural patterns. Stress, along with higher blood
pressure for a prolonged time, contributes to hypertension and prevalence of cardiovascular disease
in these subjects. In contrast, type B individuals are less affected, when induced by similar stress
factor like type A, co-existing in a much more friendly and calm mental state to handle the gravity
of the situation. However, type B patients are likely to develop pathological niceness to avoid
aggressive approach from the former group and significant stress factors have found to be
associated with development of suppressed anxiety and deprived physical health.
TAQ 2:
Study by Rhodewalt et al. (1984) had demonstrated, psychological distress and mental
depression along with cardiovascular risks are greater in type A patients, when subjected to higher
stress factors compared to their type B counterparts. In addition, Type A behavioral assessment had
also supplemented for evaluation of symptomatology, to screen cardiovascular disorders.
Another study by Friedman and Booth-Kewley (1987) had elucidated that aggressiveness
of type A personality occurs as a coping mechanism, which increases likelihood of hypertension
and coronary heart disease (CHD) associated with it. Oppurtunities for emotional expression had
been found as a potential predictor of cardiovascular risk factors and implementation of diathesis-
stress model among these type A participants.
A recent study byJinling Du et al. (2016) obtained a primary data comprised of participants
who had coronary heart disease and had to undergo percutaneous coronary interventions, like
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angioplasty, are likely to develop type A personalities with depressive mental state and anxiety
issues due to sustained myocardial damage.
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TAQ 3:
“Biology: Practical Investigation Research Proposal”
“PROPOSED TITLE, TOPIC AND AIMS:”
“ACs: ”
“1.2” “What is your title?” STRESS-RELATED DISORDERS IN INDIVIDUALS OF PERSONALITY TYPE A AND TYPE B
“1.1” “What is the topic area you
are investigating?”
STRESS-ASSOCIATED CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE AMONG CANDIDATES WITH PERSONALITY TYPE A
AND B.
“1.3” “What is your aim?” This research focuses on health problems affected by variation of personality types A and B.
“DESIGN:”
“2.1;2.2;2
.3”
“Will you use an experimental
or non-experimental research
method?
Which method will you use?
(E.g. experiment / observation
/ survey etc.)
Why? (Justify your answer)”
The proposed experiment should be comprised of, interviewing patientshaving a condition of multiple sclerosis
(MS), provided with a mild risk factorand interrogation followed by a behavioural questionnaire, Zung’s Self-
rating depression scale (SDS), Zung’s Self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), Trait Coping Style (TCS) ,Symptom
Checklist 90 and Expanded Disability Status Score (EDSS).
A pathological analysis of cardiological risk factors needs to be performed at the end of this entire session, to
obtain information about considerable changes in cardiovascular health.
“What will be your research
design, and why? (E.g.
independent groups, repeated
measure, matched pairs)”
Independent groups isolated from hospitals havingadmitted with the condition of multiple sclerosis, are the
primary subject of this research.The sampling method will be random that is the research design would be a
randomised control trial and the measurement will be done with the help of the behavioural questionnaire,
Zung’s Self-rating depression scale (SDS), Zung’s Self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), Trait Coping Style
(TCS),Symptom Checklist 90 and Expanded Disability Status Score (EDSS) and the obtained data will be
measured repeatedly for each of the data collecting tool.
“What is the IV?” Personality of the patients is the independent variable in this case.
“What is the DV?” Cardiovascular conditions in participants is the dependent variable. (Grossarth-Maticek, Eysenck and
Vetter1988),
“What is your alternate /
experimental hypothesis?”
Personality type A could have higher prevalence rate of cardiovascular risks and multiple sclerosis than the
personality type B.
“What is your null
hypothesis?”
Personality type A do not significantly have higher prevalence rate of cardiovascular risks and multiple sclerosis
than the personality type B.
“Is your hypothesis directional
/ non-directional? (Justify your
answer)”
The proposed hypothesis in this research article is directional; applicable for a broader audience at a national or
continental perspective and implementing rapid screening test could be beneficiary, though might possess
lesser accuracy than customized population behaviour analysis methods currently in practice.
“Are there any EVs to take
into consideration?”
Extraneous variables might be pointed as economic stability of the individual. Hence, lower economic group
people and also the higher economic group people should also be considered in this research.
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“Confounding variables and
limitations: do you think that
there may be any limitations
within your research
investigation that you cannot
control?”
The confounding variable is the economic structure of the participants. Hence, the effect of economy can affect
the proper identification of the actual cause of the disease prevalence. This can be stated as the limitation as
well.
“What ethical issues will you
need to consider, and why?”
Inappropriate strategies of interviewing, invasion of privacy and violation of confidentially should be condemned
strictly. Following national and empirical ethical standards of psychological assessment should be beneficiary for
this research (Mukherjee and Kumar 2016). On the other hand the process of the research should be done with
the ethical consideration that is the consent form fill up by the participants prior to the interview. On the other
hand the protection of the anonymity of the participants for the data confidentiality.
“PARTICIPANTS:”
“How will you select your
sample? (Opportunity,
random, etc.)”
Random samples would be selected from hospital provided medical history of patients recently diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis (MS) and also the consideration of the personality type of the participants.
“How many participants will
be required to gain a sufficient
amount of data? (E.g. in order
to conduct a statistical test?)”
20 participants would be required to obtain sufficient data for this experiment which will be including of 10 type A
and 10 Type B people.
“What will the age range /
gender be?”
“Male participants age range:” “Female participants age range:”
20-40 years 20-40 years
“How will participants be
allocated to each condition?”
Participants would be allocated according to the levels of stress reported during hospitalization. A participant
with higher psychological stress will have to attend interview sessions for an extended time, compared to
individuals with a higher rationality and lower score in EDSS. The condition of the multiple sclerosis among Type
B, multiple sclerosis among Type A, cardiovascular condition of Type A and cardiovascular condition of Type B
are the for groups which should be considered.
“APPARATUS / MATERIALS:”
“Consider what you need to
help you to collect the data.
E.g. a questionnaire record
sheet, etc.
Are they reliable and valid
tools? How can you establish
this?”
Appropriate set of questions designed for Friedman and Rosenmanbehavioural questionnaire, should be
pursued. Adhering to the set of questions, established for SDS, SAS, TCS, EDSS should be followed strictly.
These standardised questions are used proficiently around psychological communities to assess the risk factors
of developing anxiety disorders (Zung 1971).
“PROCEDURE:”
“How will you approach
potential participants?”
Researchers will approach participants at the hospital, according to the preferable time of revisit to their
respective individual doctors.
“Where will the practical The interview session be performed in a hospital premise.
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research take place?”
“How will you brief
participants?”
Patients will be suggested to communicate without holding off any expression of reaction generated by the
interrogation questions.
“What standardised
instructions will you use?”
Patients should be interrogated only after possessing written consent from the patient.
Violation of ethical standards should not commence by any means, and punishment for these kinds of practice
would be swift and just.
“How will you debrief your
participants afterwards?”
Participants would be advised to return in a calm and composed way, along with maintaining greater attention
towards stress management.
“How will you collect and
record the data??
Appropriate scores will be generated from the structured sheets of questionnaire.
“RESULTS:”
“How will you analyse the
descriptive data (mean,
median,
mode, SD and range)?”
The Friedman-Rosenman questionnaire would be in yes/no format. A score of ≥13 will be assessed as type A
personality individual and <13 would be type B (Smithand MacKenzie 2006). Hence, the collected data will be
analysed by implementing standard deviation process. Then personality types will be plotted against level of
cardiovascular risk confirmed through pathological analysis.
“How will you present your
data? Will you use any of the
following:
 Tables?
 Graphs / bar charts?”
Tables will comprise percentage of patients having type A and type B personality and relevant risk factors
results, obtained via Friedman-Rosenman, SDS, SAS, TCS, EDSS tools and will be combined with subsequent
pathological data for cardiovascular risks.
“What will be the level of data
collected and why (nominal,
ordinal, interval or ratio)?”
As the data is collected based on the pulse rate and time, it is a quantitative data. Hence, the data is ratio as the
data collected with the reference of time.
“Which statistical test would
you intend to use and why
(chi-squared, T-test, etc)?”
An independent T-test will be conducted to gain the statistical significance of the different data collected from
two groups of population identified here. The mean value of the two group data will be analysed here.
“REFERENCE LIST”
Du, J., Zhang, D., Yin, Y., Zhang, X., Li, J., Liu, D., Pan, F. and Chen, W., 2016. The personality and psychological stress predict
major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with coronary heart disease after percutaneous coronary intervention for five
years. Medicine, 95(15).
Friedman, H.S. and Booth-Kewley, S., 1987. Personality, type A behavior, and coronary heart disease: the role of emotional
expression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53(4), p.783.
Grossarth-Maticek, R., Eysenck, H.J. and Vetter, H., 1988. Personality type, smoking habit and their interaction as predictors of
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cancer and coronary heart disease. Personality and Individual Differences, 9(2), pp.479-495.
Mukherjee, S. and Kumar, U., 2016. Ethical Issues in Personality Assessment. The Wiley Handbook of Personality Assessment,
pp.415-426.
Rhodewalt, F., Hays, R.B., Chemers, M.M. and Wysocki, J., 1984. Type A behavior, perceived stress, and illness: A person-
situation analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 10(1), pp.149-159.
Smith, T.W. and MacKenzie, J., 2006. Personality and risk of physical illness. Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol., 2, pp.435-467.
Zung, W.W., 1971. A rating instrument for anxiety disorders. Psychosomatics: Journal of Consultation and Liaison Psychiatry.
“BIBLIOGRAPHY”
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TAQ 4:
Based on the research it can be stated that the process of the disease development among
the people would be dependent on different variables and not only on the basis of the personality
type and the stress factor of the person. On this knowledge it can be stated that the multiple
sclerosis and cardiovascular disease would be developed based on the habits of the person rather
than the stresses of the body. However, the effect of stress on this condition cannot be eliminated
fully. Hence, it can be stated that the process of the disease development among the people of the
personality Type A and Type B would be highly dependent on the food habit, life style and the
physical condition directly along with the stress factors of the person as well. Thus the research
helped in the knowledge development about this factor properly. Hence, it can be stated that the
process of the research is significantly effective in the proper knowledge developed. On this context
it can also be stated that the measurement tools and also the questionnaire is very much useful in the
knowledge development of the disease development process. Based on the study it can be stated
that the new hypothesis would be developed and the results would justify the new hypothesis.
TAQ 5:
The research procedure would be effectively done on the basis of the knowledge
development about the concept that is the literature review and this process would be done for 3
days. Based on the background study the introduction and the references would be created within
next 1 day. Then the methodology would be prepared within 2 days. The practical research would
be conducted for 4 days. Next is the data analysis which would take 2 days. Then the discussion
would be written in 1 day. The final step is the conclusion and the abstract writing which would
take 1 day as well. Hence, the time frame of the whole study is two weeks.
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