experimental method Flashcards
experimental method
the method used to carry out an experiment
4 experimental method types
- lab
- field
- quasi
- natural
lab experiment
an experiment that takes place in a controlled environment within which the researcher manipulates the IV and records the effect on the DV
what do you do to manipulate a lab experiment
IV
what do you record in a lab experiment
DV
where does a lab experiment take place
in a controlled environment
advantages of a lab experiment
- it has high internal validity as it has a high level of control over extraneous variables
- it has high replicability as it used operationalised variables
disadvantages of a lab experiment
- it may lack generalisability and mundane realism as artificial tasks
- environments may be used which reduces the ecological validity and it may give rise to demand characteristic.
field experiment
an experiment that takes place in a natural setting within which the researcher manipulates the IV and records the effect on the DV
what do you manipulate in a field experiment
IV
what do you record in a field experiment
DV
where does a field experiment take place
natural setting
advantages of a field experiment
- it has higher mundane realism and ecological validity as the task
- environment are natural and there is a lower chance of demand characteristics
disadvantages of a field experiment
- it has low internal validity as there is less control over extraneous variables so it may be harder to replicate findings (low replicability)
- there is a problem with ethics as participants may not consent to being in the study if using a covert observation
natural experiment
an experiment where the change in the IV is not brought about by the researcher (would have occurred anyway) and change in the DV in recorded
what is recorded in a natural experiment
DV
how is the change in the IV brought about in a natural experiment
it is naturally occurring (not manipulated by the experimenter)
advantages of a natural experiment
- it provides a chance to collect research on things that would not be ethically to conduct an field or lab experiment on
- it has high ecological validity as it normally has no artificial task or environment
disadvantages of a natural experiment
- it may be a very rare event so may lack generalisability
- it has low internal validity as you can’t randomly allocate participants to each experimental condition so it may be harder to establish cause and effect due to confounding variables
quasi experiment
a ‘experiment’ where the IV is a pre-determined variable such as age of gender and its effect on the DV is recorded
advantages of quasi experiment
allows us to measure the effect of the pre-determined variable in different settings or tasks
disadvantages of quasi experiment
- it has low internal validity as you can’t randomly allocate participants to each experimental condition so it may be harder to establish cause and effect due to confounding variables
