7.2: Experimental designs Flashcards
A stratified sample of participants were shown a tray containing 30 unrelated items for 30 seconds, after which time the tray was removed from sight. Half the participants were made moderately anxious, by wearing fake electrodes, which they were told would give them electric shocks for answers they got wrong. The other participants had low anxiety levels, through being told that the fake electrodes were merely monitoring bodily processes. Participants were instructed to recall as many items as possible.
What experimental design was used in this study? (1 mark)
The experimental design was an independent groups design
A psychologist decided to conduct an experiment to investigate the effect of watching horror films before going to bed.
A volunteer sample of 50 university students consented to take part in the experiment.
The 50 students were randomly split into two groups. Group 1 watched a horror film before going to bed each night for the first week then a romantic comedy before going to bed each night for the second week. Group 2 watched the romantic comedy in the first week and the horror film in the second week.
When the students woke up each morning, each student received a text message that asked if they had had a nightmare during the night. They could respond ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
The psychologist used a repeated measures design in this experiment.
Explain why it was important to use a repeated measures design in this case (2 marks)
It was important to use a repeated measures design in this case, because it was necessary to avoid the effects of individual differences in frequency of nightmares
A psychologist decided to conduct an experiment to investigate the effect of watching horror films before going to bed.
A volunteer sample of 50 university students consented to take part in the experiment.
The 50 students were randomly split into two groups. Group 1 watched a horror film before going to bed each night for the first week then a romantic comedy before going to bed each night for the second week. Group 2 watched the romantic comedy in the first week and the horror film in the second week.
When the students woke up each morning, each student received a text message that asked if they had had a nightmare during the night. They could respond ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
The psychologist used a repeated measures design in this experiment.
Explain why it was important to use a repeated measures design in this case (2 marks).
It was important to use a repeated measures design in this case, because it was necessary to avoid the effects of individual differences in frequency of nightmares.
What can have a big impact on the number of nightmares recalled?
Film viewing habits, gender, hours of sleep, personality, etc, can have a big impact on the number of nightmares recalled
A psychologist decided to conduct an experiment to investigate the effect of watching horror films before going to bed.
A volunteer sample of 50 university students consented to take part in the experiment.
The 50 students were randomly split into two groups. Group 1 watched a horror film before going to bed each night for the first week then a romantic comedy before going to bed each night for the second week. Group 2 watched the romantic comedy in the first week and the horror film in the second week.
When the students woke up each morning, each student received a text message that asked if they had had a nightmare during the night. They could respond ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
The psychologist used counterbalancing in this experiment.
Explain why it was appropriate to use counterbalancing in this experiment (2 marks)
It was appropriate to use counterbalancing in this experiment, because order effects are likely to occur
A psychologist decided to conduct an experiment to investigate the effect of watching horror films before going to bed.
A volunteer sample of 50 university students consented to take part in the experiment.
The 50 students were randomly split into two groups. Group 1 watched a horror film before going to bed each night for the first week then a romantic comedy before going to bed each night for the second week. Group 2 watched the romantic comedy in the first week and the horror film in the second week.
When the students woke up each morning, each student received a text message that asked if they had had a nightmare during the night. They could respond ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
The psychologist used counterbalancing in this experiment.
Explain why it was appropriate to use counterbalancing in this experiment (2 marks).
It was appropriate to use counterbalancing in this experiment, because order effects are likely to occur.
If you saw the horror films in the first week, what may you do?
If you saw the horror films in the first week, you may still be thinking about them or have higher levels of fear in the second week
A psychologist decided to conduct an experiment to investigate the effect of watching horror films before going to bed.
A volunteer sample of 50 university students consented to take part in the experiment.
The 50 students were randomly split into two groups. Group 1 watched a horror film before going to bed each night for the first week then a romantic comedy before going to bed each night for the second week. Group 2 watched the romantic comedy in the first week and the horror film in the second week.
When the students woke up each morning, each student received a text message that asked if they had had a nightmare during the night. They could respond ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
The psychologist used counterbalancing in this experiment.
Explain why it was appropriate to use counterbalancing in this experiment (2 marks).
It was appropriate to use counterbalancing in this experiment, because order effects are likely to occur.
If you saw the horror films in the first week, you may still be thinking about them or have higher levels of fear in the second week, resulting in what?
If you saw the horror films in the first week, you may still be thinking about them or have higher levels of fear in the second week, resulting in more nightmares
A researcher was interested in the relationship between the number of hours a course was taught using a computer program and the satisfaction of the students on the course.
As part of his research he conducted a pilot study as follows. A topic from a business studies course was divided into 10 equal one-hour sessions.
Eleven students who were matched for their high level of interest in business studies took part in the study.
All 11 students completed all 10 hours of the topic. They were taught either completely online, with a combination of online teaching and classroom teaching, or just in a classroom.
Each student was allocated a letter, from A to K randomly. This determined the number of hours they studied online and the number of hours they studied in a classroom.
Explain why it was important to match the students on their high level of interest in business studies (2 marks)
It was important to match the students on their high level of interest in business studies, because the level of interest could affect their satisfaction scores, so it needs to be controlled
A researcher was interested in the relationship between the number of hours a course was taught using a computer program and the satisfaction of the students on the course.
As part of his research he conducted a pilot study as follows. A topic from a business studies course was divided into 10 equal one-hour sessions.
Eleven students who were matched for their high level of interest in business studies took part in the study.
All 11 students completed all 10 hours of the topic. They were taught either completely online, with a combination of online teaching and classroom teaching, or just in a classroom.
Each student was allocated a letter, from A to K randomly. This determined the number of hours they studied online and the number of hours they studied in a classroom.
Explain why it was important to match the students on their high level of interest in business studies (2 marks).
It was important to match the students on their high level of interest in business studies, because the level of interest could affect their satisfaction scores, so it needs to be controlled.
Matching students’ levels of interest in business studies keeps this participant variable constant
