Research Methods Flashcards
aim
The aim is a statement outlining the purpose of the investigation
Independent variable (IV)
the IV is what is manipulated by the experimenter
Dependant variable (DV)
the DV what is measured to test the effect of the iv
EXAMPLE: to investigate the impact of caffeine on memory we would need two groups
- Group 1: drink coffee (experimenter group)
- Group 2 : No coffee (Control group)
IV: amount of coffee drunk
DV: impact of caffeine on memory
Aim: to test the effect of caffeine on memory
Hypothesis
Is a prediction of the experiment
Should include
- identification of the population
- identification of both conditions of the IV
- identification of the condition of the DV
- a directional problem
Hypothesis examples
It is hypothesised that VCE students (POPULATION) who study once per day (IV) will report lower levels of stress during the examination (DV) period than those who don’t study (IV)
Extraneous variable
unwanted variable that is impacting the results (DV)
Operationalising
Operationalising the IV and DV defines how and why they will be manipulated. How is it measured?
Example of Operationalising
the effect of caffeine on stress, stress will be measured by Heartrate, 3 coffee per day
IV = caffeine = 3 daily coffee
DV = stress = heartrate
Subject designs
- Between subjects design
- Within-subject design
- Mixed design
Between subject design
an experimental design in which individuals are dived into different groups and complete only one experiment condition
Example of between-subject design
Group 1 - horror movie
Group 2 - romcom
= measure heartrate of both groups
Within subjects design
An experimental design in which participants complete every experimental condition
Example: Within subjects design
Condition 1= No study
Condition 2 = Study 2 hours every night
= measure sac scores
Mixed design
Combines both Between-subjects-designs and Within-subjects-design.
- the researcher can assess the potential differences between two or more separate groups of participants.
Example of mixed design
Movie 1 = horror
Movie 2 = comedy
= measure heartrate
ADD = compare to other people watching short clips of the same movie
Fieldwork
Primary data collection beyond the classroom
Literature review
Read and review other studies/combining studies to compare and generalise data
Modelling
representation of an object or system that involves concepts to help people understand the stimuli
correlational study
planned observation and recording of events and behaviours that have not been manipulated to help people understand the association
Errors
Random
Systematic
Personal
Random error
unpredictable changes during an experiment. Cause the results to vary from one another
systematic
causes readings to differ from the true value by constant amounts each time a measurement is made.
personal
mistakes, miscalculations, and observer errors when conducting research
