Outline Asch’s findings in relation to two variables affecting conformity. Briefly explain two limitations of Asch’s conformity research. [8 marks]

Read over what the question is asking you carefully and look at a number of marks the question is worth. This question is worth 8 marks. You can get 4 marks from the first part of the question ‘Outline Asch’s findings in relation to two variables affect conformity’, and the last 4 marks from the second half ‘Briefly explain two limitations of Asch’s conformity research’. In order to get full marks for part one, you need to not only show your knowledge about two variables found that can affect conformity, but also detail what Asch found out about those variables. It is not enough to only mention the variable. For example, if you were to mention group size as a variable that affects conformity, you would also need to point out that Asch found that group size acted as a variable to a point – conformity levels increased but only up to a group majority of 3 confederates, any larger and conformity levels plateaued or did not significantly increase. Remember, pick out two variables affecting conformity and what Asch found out about each variable. By doing this, you will get the first 4 marks.

For the second part of this question, you need to show you understand two limitations of Asch’s study. You can get one mark from stating the limitation, and another mark for giving an explanation of the limitation. You’ll need to do this twice in order to get the full 4 marks for this section. For example, you could mention that one limitation of the study is that it was made up of males and has a gender bias, thus not representative of female behaviour. You could also pick out that the study is not representative of a larger population as the sample was that of young male college students, thus the behaviour of people from other educational backgrounds, ages, and gender are not taken into account in the final result. Finally, remember to use specific terminology where appropriate in order to get full marks, i.e. ‘sample’, ‘variables’, ‘confederates’, etc.