Hypotheses Flashcards
what are research aims?
2
a statement of what the researchers intend to find out in a research study
EXAMPLE = does lack of sleep affect school performance?
what is a hypothesis?
2
a precise and testable statement about the assumed relationship between the independent and dependent variable
states what the experimenter expects to find
null hypothesis
2
a statement of no difference between the conditions or groups of participants
predicts that nothing will happen and that there will be no significant effect
alternative/experimental hypothesis
2
predicts the effect of the IV on the DV or the difference between the samples as a result of the IV
states that the IV will effect the DV
directional hypothesis
3
states the direction of the predicted difference between two conditions or two groups of participants (predicts the expected direction of the results)
aka one tailed hypothesis
EXAMPLE = people who do homework with the TV on produce worse results than those who do homework with the TV off
non directional hypothesis
3
predicts that there is a difference between two conditions or two groups of participants but does not state the direction of the difference
aka two tailed hypothesis
EXAMPLE = people who do homework with the TV on produce different results than those who do homework with the TV off
when do psychologists use the different hypotheses?
2
use directional hypothesis if past research suggests that the findings will go in a particular direction
use non directional hypothesis when there is no past research to indicate the direction of the findings (possibly because the area being studied is relatively new) OR if past research is contradictory
what is a pilot study
4
a small scale, trial run of a study to test any aspects of the design before conducting the real thing
allows researchers to find out if certain aspects of the design do or don’t work and they can make improvements using this information
prevents them wasting a large amount of time and money in a full scale study that may have some problems with its design
e.g. participants may not understand the introductions, may guess what the experiment is about or may get bored because there are too many tasks or too many questions
what is a confederate
2
an individual in a study who is not a real participant and has been instructed how to behave by the investigator
for example, Milgram’s study on obedience used a confederate to play the role of the experimenter and another to play the role of the learner AND in Asch’s study on conformity, all but one of the participants were confederates
