7.1: The experimental method Flashcards
A psychologist was reading an article about typical dream themes in adults.
The psychologist was interested in finding out whether dream themes differed between males and females, particularly in terms of social interaction. She decided to conduct a pilot study. Twenty undergraduate students (8 male and 12 female) volunteered for the study. For a six-week period the students were interviewed at 9 am each morning when they arrived at university. Interviewers, who did not know the purpose of the study, carried out and recorded the dream interviews.
What are investigator effects? Suggest one way in which they could have been minimised during the dream interviews (3 marks)
Investigator effects are any unintentional influence of the researcher’s characteristics on the participants
A psychologist was reading an article about typical dream themes in adults.
The psychologist was interested in finding out whether dream themes differed between males and females, particularly in terms of social interaction. She decided to conduct a pilot study. Twenty undergraduate students (8 male and 12 female) volunteered for the study. For a six-week period the students were interviewed at 9 am each morning when they arrived at university. Interviewers, who did not know the purpose of the study, carried out and recorded the dream interviews.
What are investigator effects? Suggest one way in which they could have been minimised during the dream interviews (3 marks).
Investigator effects are any unintentional influence of the researcher’s characteristics on the participants.
One way in which they could have been minimised during the dream interviews
One way in which they could have been minimised during the dream interviews is that the interviewers could have been provided with a standardised script to use
A psychologist was reading an article about typical dream themes in adults.
The psychologist was interested in finding out whether dream themes differed between males and females, particularly in terms of social interaction. She decided to conduct a pilot study. Twenty undergraduate students (8 male and 12 female) volunteered for the study. For a six-week period the students were interviewed at 9 am each morning when they arrived at university. Interviewers, who did not know the purpose of the study, carried out and recorded the dream interviews.
What are investigator effects? Suggest one way in which they could have been minimised during the dream interviews (3 marks).
Investigator effects are any unintentional influence of the researcher’s characteristics on the participants.
One way in which they could have been minimised during the dream interviews is that the interviewers could have been provided with a standardised script to use, so that what?
One way in which they could have been minimised during the dream interviews is that the interviewers could have been provided with a standardised script to use, so that they all asked the same questions in the same way
A psychologist was reading an article about typical dream themes in adults.
The psychologist was interested in finding out whether dream themes differed between males and females, particularly in terms of social interaction. She decided to conduct a pilot study. Twenty undergraduate students (8 male and 12 female) volunteered for the study. For a six-week period the students were interviewed at 9 am each morning when they arrived at university. Interviewers, who did not know the purpose of the study, carried out and recorded the dream interviews.
What are investigator effects? Suggest one way in which they could have been minimised during the dream interviews (3 marks).
Investigator effects are any unintentional influence of the researcher’s characteristics on the participants.
One way in which they could have been minimised during the dream interviews is that the interviewers could have been provided with a standardised script to use, so that they all asked the same questions in the same way to do what?
One way in which they could have been minimised during the dream interviews is that the interviewers could have been provided with a standardised script to use, so that they all asked the same questions in the same way to avoid any bias in the students’ response
A psychologist was reading an article about typical dream themes in adults.
The psychologist was interested in finding out whether dream themes differed between males and females, particularly in terms of social interaction. She decided to conduct a pilot study. Twenty undergraduate students (8 male and 12 female) volunteered for the study. For a six-week period the students were interviewed at 9 am each morning when they arrived at university. Interviewers, who did not know the purpose of the study, carried out and recorded the dream interviews.
What are investigator effects? Suggest one way in which they could have been minimised during the dream interviews (3 marks).
Investigator effects are any unintentional influence of the researcher’s characteristics on the participants.
One way in which they could have been minimised during the dream interviews is that the interviewers could have been provided with a standardised script to use, so that they all asked the same questions in the same way to avoid any bias in the students’ response.
What could the interviewers have been trained to do?
The interviewers could have been trained to greet the students in the same way and ask questions with a neutral tone
