Research and experimental designs Flashcards
Research design
How participants are allocated to the conditions of a study
Experimental design
The name given to a research design when used in an experiment
Independent measures design
Participants are split into groups with each group tested in only one condition of a study
Strengths of Independent measures design
There are no order effects as they are only tested on one condition of a study
Weaknesses of Independent measures design
More participants are needed than in the repeated measures design
There may be individual differences between the groups
Repeated measures design
The same participants are used in all the conditions of a study
Strengths of Repeated measures design
Fewer participants are needed making it more economical
There are no individual differences between conditions of the study
Weaknesses of Repeated measures design
Demand characteristics are more likely as participants are able to guess the aim
Order effects mean that results will may reflect fatigue or practise
Matched pairs design
Different participants are used in each condition but they are matched based on likeness and important characteristics
Strengths of Matched pairs design
Fair comparisons can be made between groups as they are equally matched
Weaknesses of Matched pairs design
It is time consuming to match all the participants and not all participants will have an equal match
