chapter 1 - research methods

Question 1

independent variable

Answer 1

deliberately manipulated or varied in some way by the experimented

Question 2

dependent variable

Answer 2

the property that is measured in the research, expected to be changed by the IV

Question 3

operational definitions

Answer 3

when the variable is stated inn terms that show how it is measured
eg. age - operationalised as age in total months

Question 4

hypothesis

Answer 4

a clear statement predicting how changes in the IV will affect the value of the DV

Question 5

extraneous variable

Answer 5

a variable other than the IV that could cause changes to the DV

Question 6

confounding variable

Answer 6

a variable other than the IV that has a systematic affect on the value on the DV

Question 7

population

Answer 7

the group we wish to draw conclusions from

Question 8

sample

Answer 8

participants in the experiment chosen from population to represent population

Question 9

random sampling

Answer 9

every member of a population has equal chance of being selected
eg. tattslotto draw

Question 10

stratified sampling

Answer 10

chosing a sample ensuring that a confounding variable is distributed evenly through each participant

Question 11

random allocation

Answer 11

all participants have equal chance of being in E group or C group

Question 12

test-retest reliability

Answer 12

wether or not the same result will occur if the same test was given to the same person again

Question 13

repeated measures design

Answer 13

each participant is part of both the E group and C group

Question 14

matched participants design

Answer 14

enables researches to identify and eliminate confound variables from experiment.
participants are put into groups according to rank (score)

Question 15

independent groups design

Answer 15

allocates participants to the E group or C group at random

Question 16

placebo effect

Answer 16

When a participant changes its behaviour on an experiment due to prior knoe,edge. Procedures are the single blind and double blind method procedures.

Question 17

experimenter effect

Answer 17

the outcome of an experiment being unintentionally influenced by the esxperimenter, eg. treats C group and E group differently.
eliminate by double-blind procedure

Question 18

data collection

Answer 18

• observation
• interview
• questionnaires
• psychological tests
• technology in data collection
• cross-sectional studies
• longitudinal studies

Question 19

reliability

Answer 19

how consistent a measuring instrument is

Question 20

validity

Answer 20

the extent to which an instrument measures what it is supposed to measure

Question 21

generalisation

Answer 21

results can be generalised to the population