experimental methods Flashcards
what is an aim?
it is a general statement that describes the purpose of the investigation, they are developed on theories
what is a hypothesis?
a statement that is made at the start of a study and clearly describes the relationship between variables at the start of a study
what is a directional hypothesis?
when the researcher makes clear the sort of difference that is anticipated between the two conditions or groups of people (included words like: more/less, higher/lower, faster/slower
what’s a non-directional hypothesis?
it states that their is a non specified difference between conditions or groups of people
what’s an independent variable?
what the researcher will change or manipulate to see how it effects the DV
what’s a dependent variable?
the variable a researcher will measure
what are experimental conditions?
it is where you need to compare your results with something else to make them more valid
what’s a control condition?
an experimental design that lacks any treatment or manipulation to the independent variable (these participants are the basis of comparison for the participant in the experimental condition)
what is an operationalised variable?
it is where the experimenter should expilictly and precisely say how the variables are manipulated/measured
what is an experiment?
it is a method used in science to gather empirical data to test a theory/explanation
it has an IV and DV
the researcher manipulates the IV and other variables that may affect the DV are controlled
what are extraneous variables?
any factors that are in an investigation but not being studied
they may have an effect on the DV if not controlled (nuicense variables)
they could be participant, situational or researcher variables
these should be identified and possibly removed at the start of a study
what are confounding variables?
any variable other than the IV that will have an effect on the DV if not controlled and varies systematically with the IV.
why do we aim to control these variables?
so causality can be stated
AO3: what are some advantages of experimental methods?
has high levels of control due to high control over extraneous variables
because of the high levels of control, we can state causality and conclude that a change in the IV causes a change in the DV
AO3: what are some disadvantages of experimental methods?
it lacks ecological validity due to the high levels of control, it also limits their ability to generalise from the findings to refer to everyday life.
