Experimental Design Flashcards
What is meant by the experimental design?
How participants are allocated to the different conditions in an experiment
What is the independent measures design?
When different participants are used in each condition of the independent variable
How are participants allocated to each condition In the independent measures design?
Randomly
What are 2 advantages of the independent measures design?
Order effects are not a problem
Participants are less likely to guess the aims
What are 2 weaknesses of the independent measures design?
It takes lots of time and money as there are lots of participants to recruit
Participants are not the same in terms of participant variables
What is the matched pairs design?
The participants are paired up based on similarities.
One of the pair is randomly assigned to the experimental group and the other to the control group
What are 2 advantages of the matched pairs design?
Order effects are less of a problem
Demand characteristics are less of a problem as they only take part in a single condition
What are 2 weaknesses of the matched pair design?
Participants can never be matched exactly
Matching pairs may be time consuming and expensive
What is the repeated measures design?
The same participants take part in each condition
What are 2 strengths of the repeated measures design?
Participant variables are controlled so there is higher validity
Fewer participants are needed so less time and money is spent on recruiting them
What are 2 weaknesses of the repeated measures design?
Each participant has to do at least 2 tasks - order of this could have an effect on the experiment
Demand characteristics are common
