Psychology CHP.1

Question 1

Steps of scientific research

Answer 1

observation, asking a question, gathering information, forming a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, making conclusions, reporting, and evaluating.

Question 2

Independent variables (IV)

Answer 2

is the characteristic of a psychology experiment that is manipulated or changed

Question 3

dependent variables (DV)

Answer 3

is the variable that is being measured or tested in an experiment

Question 4

extraneous variables (EV)

Answer 4

are any variables that you are not intentionally studying in your experiment or test

Question 5

hypothesis

Answer 5

testable prediction about what you expect to happen in a study

Question 6

sampling procedures

Answer 6

is the process of selecting a representative group from the population under study

Question 7

mean

Answer 7

“average”

Question 8

median

Answer 8

The Median is the “middle” of a sorted list of numbers. middle number in a list of numbers

Question 9

mode

Answer 9

The number which appears most often in a set of numbers

Question 10

random sampling

Answer 10

Everyone in the entire target population has an equal chance of being selected.

Question 11

quantitive data

Answer 11

are measures of values or counts and are expressed as numbers

Question 12

qualitative data

Answer 12

Qualitative data are measures of ‘types’ and may be represented by a name, symbol, or a number code.

Question 13

experimental designs

Answer 13

describes the way participants are allocated to experimental groups of an investigation. Types of design include Repeated Measures, Independent Groups, and Matched Pairs designs.

Question 14

stratified sampling

Answer 14

The researcher identifies the different types of people that make up the target population and works out the proportions needed for the sample to be representative.

Question 15

opportunity(convenience) sampling

Answer 15

Uses people from target population available at the time and willing to take part. It is based on convenience.

Question 16

systematic sampling

Answer 16

Chooses subjects in a systematic (i.e. orderly/logical) way from the target population, like every nth participant on a list of names.

Question 17

repeated-measures design

Answer 17

Where the same participants are allocated to all groups (i.e. take part in all conditions) of an experiment.

Question 18

independent groups design

Answer 18

Where different participants take part in each experimental condition (they will be allocated randomly).

Question 19

matched pairs design

Answer 19

Where participants take part in only one experimental condition, but they are recruited specifically to be similar in relevant characteristics (e.g. intelligence, gender, age) to ‘matched’ participants in the other condition(s)

Question 20

repeated-measures design strengths

Answer 20

The results will not be subject to participant variables (i.e. individual differences between participants), putting more confidence independent variable changes being solely due to manipulated changes in the independent variable.

As the same participants are used [at least] twice, extra participants do not need to be recruited.

Question 21

independent groups design strengths

Answer 21

Order effects cannot be observed, as no participants will be used in more than one condition.

Data collection will be less time-consuming if all conditions of the experiment can be conducted simultaneously.

Question 22

matched pairs design strengths

Answer 22

Order effects will not be observed as participants only take part in one condition.

The tailored participant-matching process reduces the risk of participant variables (individual differences) from affecting results between conditions.

Question 23

repeated-measures design weaknesses

Answer 23

There is risk of observing order effects (e.g. practice/fatigue effects, or demand characteristics), but this risk be reduced by counterbalancing (i.e. controlling the order of variables so that each order combination occurs the same number of times, e.g. one half of participants partake in condition A followed by B, whereas the other half partake in B followed by A).

If a participant drops out, data will be lost from all conditions of the experiment rather than one.

Question 24

independent groups design weaknesses

Answer 24

Different participants need to be recruited for each condition, which can be difficult and expensive.

There is a risk of participant variables (individual differences between participants) affecting the results between conditions, rather than solely manipulation of the independent variable.

Question 25

matched pairs design weaknesses

Answer 25

Different participants need to be recruited for each condition, which is difficult and expensive.

Matching is a more complex process, and it will always be very difficult to match participants identically.