research issues

Question 1

extraneous variables

Answer 1

independent variable is manipulated to see how this effects the dependent variable

the only thing that should influence the DV is the IV

any other variables that might potentially interfere with the IV should be controlled or removed and they are called extraneous variables

some may be straightforward to control such as age and lighting of a lab

may make it harder to detect a result

Question 2

confounding variables

Answer 2

do not systematically change with the IV

an example of this would be a unintended IV come up such as some participants turning up to the experiment excited or not excited

so when we come to analyse our results we can’t be sure if this was due to the IV or the confounding variable

Question 3

demand characteristics

Answer 3

partipcants may spend their time trying to make sense of the new situation they find themselves in

participant reactivity is a significant extraneous variable in experimental research and is very difficult to control

participant will try to work out what is going on - certain clues may help them interpret what is going on

these clues are the demand characteristic that may help the partipcnat guess the researchers intentions and aims of the study

this means the particpants may change their behaviour as they feel like they should act as they think is expected

Question 4

investigator effects

Answer 4

unwanted influence of the investigator of the investigator on the research outcome

leading questions and unconscious cues can affect this

Question 5

randomisation

Answer 5

use of chance methods to reduce the researchers unconscious biases when designing an investigation

in an experiment where the particpants are involved in a number of conditions these conditions should be randomly determined

if all participants where in all of the conditions the order in which these conditions would be completed would need to be randomised for each particpants

Question 6

standardisation

Answer 6

all particpants should be subject to the same environment info and experience

to ensure this all procedures are standardised

list of exactly what will be done in the study which includes standardised instructions that are read to each particpants

means that non standardised instructions changes do not act as extraneous variables