Aims, Variables, and Hypotheses Flashcards
Define ‘aim’
A general statement to describe what a study intends to investigates
Define ‘variable’
Any object, characteristic or event that varies in some way within an experiment
What’s an ‘independent variable’?
The variable chosen to be manipulated
What’s a ‘dependent variable’?
The variable chosen to be measured
What’s an ‘extraneous variable’?
Any variable which, if not controlled, could affect the DV
What’s a ‘confounding variable’?
Any variable which was not controlled that has affected the DV in a systematic way
What’s a ‘hypothesis’?
A precise, testable statement that predicts the research findings
What’s a ‘null hypothesis’?
A precise, testable statement that predicts there will be no difference between two conditions
How do you write a ‘null hypothesis’?
“There will be no difference between participants who… and participants who… in terms of the number of…”
What’s an ‘experimental hypothesis’?
A precise, testable statement that predicts there will be a difference between two conditions
What’s a ‘directional experimental hypothesis (one-tailed)’?
A hypothesis that predicts the direction of the results, and states exactly how the Iv will affect the DV
How do you write a ‘one tailed hypothesis’ for a test of difference?
“Participants watching a horror film will correctly recall
fewer words from a list than participants not watching
a horror film”
How do you write a ‘one tailed hypothesis’ for a test of correlation?
“There will be a positive correlation between the
amount of hours spend revising and score on a test”
What’s a ‘non-directional experimental hypothesis (two-tailed)’?
A hypothesis that does not predict the direction of the results and don’t state how the IV affects the DV - just that it does
How do you write a ‘two-tailed hypothesis’ for a test of difference?
There will be a difference between participants who
are watching a horror film and participants who are not
watching a horror film in terms of the number of
correctly recalled words from a list
