pilot studies and other things Flashcards
what are pilot studies
pilot studies is a small scale trail run of the actual investigation.
It may involve a handful of participants rather than the total number in order to “road - test” the procedure and check the investigation runs smoothly
what is are single- blind procedures
participants will sometimes not be told the aims of the research at the beginning of the study.
Other details may be kept form participants, such as which condition of the experiment they are in or whether there is another condition at all
the procedure attempts to control confounding effects of demand characteristics
what is are double blind procedures
in a double blind procedure, neither the participants nor the researcher who conducts the study is aware of the aims of the investigation
(often a third party conducts the investigation without knowing its purpose)
This is an important feature of drug trails
what is control group
control is used in many experimental studies for the purpose of comparison
if the change in behaviour of the experimental group is significantly greater that the control group, then the researcher can conclude that the cause or effect was the independent variable (assuming all other possible confounding variables have remained constant)
