control, demand characteristics and investigator effects

Question 1

control

Answer 1

• researchers must control/eliminate ev’s via random allocation, counterbalancing, randomisation and standardisation
• when an ev causes a change in the dv, it becomes a confounding variable

Question 2

situational variables

Answer 2

• variables associated with the research situation, e.g. temp, time of day, lighting etc
• controlled through standardisation, ensuring only the iv affects the dv

Question 3

participant variables

Answer 3

• variables associated with the participants. e.g. age, intelligence, gender
• controlled through experimental design and random allocation

Question 4

random allocation

Answer 4

• decreases the chance that participant variables in the form of individual differences will affect the results

Question 5

counterbalancing

Answer 5

• to combat the issue of order effects with repeated measures design
• the sample is split in half, one half does A then B, and the other half does B then A
• this balances any order effects

Question 6

randomisation

Answer 6

• trials are presented in a random order to avoid any bias from the order of the trials

Question 7

standardisation

Answer 7

• all situational variables are kept identical, so changes in the data can be attributed to the iv
• also more likely for research to be replicated

Question 8

demand characteristics

Answer 8

• when participants try to make sense of the research and change their behaviour according to what they think the aim is
• behaviour isn’t natural so the results lack validity
• controlled by not allowing participants to know the aim via a single-blind experiment (only the researcher knows the true aim)

Question 9

investigator effects

Answer 9

• a researcher consciously or unconsciously acts in a way to support their prediction
• can be an issue when observing events that can be interpreted in multiple ways
• controlled by not allowing participants or the researcher to know the aim via a double-blind experiment