Experimental Methods and Control of Variables Flashcards
What are experimental methods?
Concerns the manipulation of an independent variable to have an effect on the dependent variable, which is measured and stated in results. These can be: Field, laboratory, quasi or natural.
What is an aim?
What the investigator plans on ivestigating.
What is a hypothesis?
a precise statement which clearly states the relationship between the variables being investigated.
What is the difference between a directional hypothesis and a non-directional one?
States the direction of the relationship that will be shown between the variables whilst a non-directional hypothesis does not.
When does a directional hypothesis tend to be used?
when there had been a range of research carried out which relates to the aim of the researcher’s investigation.
What is the independent variable?
refers to the aspect of the experiment which has been manipulated by the researcher or simply changes naturally to have an effect on the DV which is then measured.
What is the dependent variable?
the aspect of the study which is measured by the researcher and has been caused by a change to the IV.
What is operationalization?
Refers to the act of a researcher clearly defining the variables in terms of how they are being measured.
What is an extraneous variable?
refers to any other variable which is not the IV that affects the DV and does not vary systematically with the IV, they are essentially nuisance variables.
What is a confounding variable?
a variable other than the IV which has an effect on the DV but they do change systematically with the IV.
What are demand charactersitics?
Refers to any cue the researcher or the research investigation may give which makes the participant feel like they can guess the aim of the investigation.
What is an example of a demand characteristic?
Participants acting in a way that they think might please the researcher (the “please-U”) or deliberately going against the researcher (the “screw-U” affect).
What are investigator effect?
refers to any unwanted influence from the researcher’s behavior conscious or unconscious.
What is Randomization?
the use of chance to reduce the effects of bias from investigator effects.
What is standardisation?
Using the exact same formalized procedures and instructions for every single participant involved in the research process.
