Research Methods

Question 1

definition of aim:

Answer 1

a general statement of what the researcher intends to investigate - the purpose of the study

Question 2

aims - experimental method 2

Answer 2

an initial idea that is focused to produce an aim

aims are developed from theories

Question 3

definition of hypothesis

Answer 3

a clear precise and testable statement that states the relationship between the variables that are being investigated

stated at the outset of the study

Question 4

hypotheses - experimental method 2

Answer 4

can be non- directional or directional

Question 5

directional hypothesis

Answer 5

states the direction of the difference or relationship between the variables being investigated

e.g ……. become more talkative than drinking water

uses words : more , less

• one tailed hypothesis

Question 6

non - directional hypothesis

Answer 6

does not state direction of the difference or relationship between the variables being investigated

… they differ in terms of talkativeness

• two tailed hypothesis

Question 7

null hypothesis

Answer 7

there is no difference between the variables

Question 8

independent variable

Answer 8

an aspect of experimental situation that is manipulated by the researcher or changes naturally so the effect on the DV can be measured

Question 9

dependent variable

Answer 9

the variable that is measured by the researcher any effect on the DV should be caused by the change of IV

Question 10

control condition

Answer 10

is a baseline comparison section

without an IV to be manipulated

Question 11

operationalisation of variables

Answer 11

clearly defining variables in terms of how they can be measured

e.g after drinking 300 ml of Coke , ppt say more words in the next 5 mins than ppt who drink 300 ml of water

Question 12

extraneous variables (EV) - research issues

Answer 12

any variable other than the IV, that may affect the DV if not controlled. EVs are nuisance variables that do not vary systematically with the IV

usually straightforward to control:
age of ppts
lighting of lab

Question 13

confounding variable

Answer 13

a type of EV but the key feature is that confounding variables vary systematically with the IV

like 10 ppts had a swim meet so they came late so the rest of ppts were less excited by then

Question 14

demand characteristics

Answer 14

any cue from the researcher or from the research situation that may be interpreted by the participant as revealing the purpose of the investigation
this may lead to a participant changing their behavior
within the research situation
( participant reactivity - EV difficult to control)

Question 15

please-U effect

Answer 15

result of demand characteristics:

act in a way that is expected and over-perform to please the experimenter

Question 16

screw-U effect

Answer 16

result of demand characteristics:

may deliberately under-perform to sabotage the results

Question 17

investigator effects:

Answer 17

the effect of the researcher (unconscious or conscious ) that may influence the research outcome

includes everything from the design of study to selection/interaction of ppts in study

Question 18

how to control the variables? - 1

Answer 18

randomisation:
use of chance methods to control for the effects of bias when designing materials and deciding the order of experimental conditions

Question 19

how to control the variables? - 2

Answer 19

standardisation:

using exactly the same formalised procedures and instructions for all participants in a research study

Question 20

experimental design

Answer 20

the different ways in which participants can be organised in relation to the experimental conditions

Question 21

independent groups design

Answer 21

participants are allocated to different groups where each group represents one experimental condition

• the other group likely control condition

Question 22

repeated measures

Answer 22

all participants experience all conditions of the experiment

Question 23

matched pairs

Answer 23

participants are paired on factors that are relevant to the experiment that could be extraneous
one person from each pair allocated to each condition

Question 24

independent groups design ao3 : strengths

Answer 24

less likely to have order effects
- Order effects are when participants are affected by the order of the experiment so their performance in the experiment is not the best e.g. they get bored, they guess the aim, they are tired

Question 25

independent groups design ao3 : strengths 2

Answer 25

less social desirabilty: | less likely to change their behaviour to appear better socially`

Question 26

independent groups design ao3 : weaknesses

Answer 26

individual differences: participants that occupy different groups not the same in terms of ppt variables - can affect results cannot find a mean difference - to solve it use random allocation to negate it

Question 27

independent groups design ao3 : weaknesses 2

Answer 27

less economical: each ppt produces single result only twice as many ppt needed to produce data equal to repeated measures design lot of time and money needed to recruit ppt

Question 28

repeated measures design ao3 : strengths

Answer 28

individual differences are controlled for so higher validity fewer ppts required so less resources to recruit them

Question 29

repeated measures design ao3 : weakness

Answer 29

demand characteristics: more likely ppts will work out aim of study when they experience all conditions order effects likely to happen ppts would get bored and tired if there is a lot of conditions - counterbalancing ( attempt to control for effects of order in repeated measures design , half ppts with one condition and other half in opposite order) need ppts for longer time period of testing

Question 30

matched pairs ao3 : weaknesses

Answer 30

can only be used in certain situtaions cannot match someone perfect also time-consuming and expensive

Question 31

matched pairs ao3 : strengths

Answer 31

less likely to have order effects - ppt in one condition only less demand characteristics - exposed to one condition less participant difference as your are removing as many extraneous variables as possible

Question 32

lab experiments definition:

Answer 32

experiment that takes place s