Aim

This study will investigate whether there is a link between salary and levels of stress.

Hypothesis
People who have a higher salary will be less stressed than those with a lower salary.

Null hypothesis
There will be no difference between different salarys and how stressed people are.

Design
The research method used in this study is a questionnaire. The reason for this is that it is a quick and easy way in which to gather the data needed from the participants. The questionnaire only has close-ended questions so as it will be easier to record and analyse the data it will also make it easier to put the data in to graphs. The questionnaire is appropriate for this study because questionnaires are a good way to measure peoples feelings and opinions. Having only close-ended questions means that it is easy to score them and record the data. However they only give you a very limited amount of information you have to make sure your question cover everything that is needed, but this can mean that it is easier to get the data which is needed without any unnecessary work.

Variables
The independent variable is salary of the participant. The dependant variable is the levels of stress of the participant.

Material
To do this study the things which are required are the questionnaire (see appendix), a pen and an answer sheet to record the results (see appendix).

Participants
There were forty participants in the study half were male and half were female. Within the genders there were five people from each of the four age groups. All of the participants were from the same town (Nuneaton) as the sampling method was opportunity sampling and the study does not require that people be from different geographical locations. All of the participants had the questionnaire worked through with them and they all read the brief at the start of the questionnaire before it began. There was no particular time of the day which the questionnaire was done at and the participants were not given a time limit.

Ethics
The British psychological society has a set of ethical guidelines which apply to all psychological studies and experiments. There six main guidelines these are Deception, Consent, Debriefing, Withdrawal from the investigation, protection of the participants and the use of children. Deception means that participants should not be deceived beyond what is absolutely necessary, any deception that there is should not cause the participants to object when they find out the true nature of the study. Consent means that the person doing the study should have informed consent from the participant however not all of the details must be given to the participant. Only what is absolutely necessary must be told to the participant like with deception. Debriefing means that when possible the participant should be debriefed an informed of the true nature of the study if it has been hidden. However this is not always possible in naturalistic observations where the participants are not available to be debriefed. Withdrawal from the investigation means that at any time during the study the participant is free to withdraw regardless of the circumstances.

Protection of the participants means that they cannot be harmed physically or mentally and they cannot be placed in a situation which causes stress. The use of children means that if children are involved in a study then the psychologist needs to be especially careful. As children cannot give consent their parents or guardian must give consent for them. They also have to be careful because children may not necessarily be able to say that they do not want to do what the psychologist is asking them to do. The children can also not be caused any upset or embarrassment and the study should be stopped if the child shows any reluctance to carry on.

Not all of these guidelines apply to my study as I did not use any children all of my participants were sixteen or over however I did follow all of the other guidelines. I gained verbal consent from all of my participants by giving them a brief before they started the questionnaire (see appendix). The brief made the participant aware that they had the right to withdraw at any time and that all of the information they gave would remain confidential.

Procedure
The participants in this study were chosen at random the only guidelines being that there should be an equal amount of males and females and an equal amount of people from all the age groups. The participants were all verbally asked if they gave consent (see appendix) to taking part in this study and then were given more information in the brief at the top of the questionnaire which they read themselves. They were then asked if they had any questions and told that if they had any difficulty with any of the questions to just ask. They were given a questionnaire and the person doing overseeing it would have an answer sheet which they would write the participants answers to the questionnaire on. The participants were allowed to work through the questionnaire at their own pace and were not given a set time to complete it at. At the end of the questionnaire the participants are reminded that their answers will be kept completely confidential and thanked for taking part in the study. The participant could do the questionnaire wherever they wished usually in their own homes the conditions in which the questionnaire was done varied. The study was not done under any strict conditions it all depended on where the participant wished to do it.