research methods Flashcards
What is the experimental method?
- involves one variable being manipulated to see the effect on the other variable
What is an aim?
a statement that states the purpose of the investigation
What is an hypotheses?
a testable statement which predicts how one variable will influence another
What is the independent variable?
The variable that is manipulated
What is a control condition?
Condition where IV isn’t present
What is the dependent variable
the variable being measured
What is a directional hypothesis? (one tailed)
The direction of the results is predicted
what is a non directional hypothesis (two tailed)?
direction of results is not specified but change is predicted
what is a null hypothesis
states there will be no difference and any change that has occurred is by chance
What is standardisation?
All participants should experience the exact same procedure and be given the same information
What are the ethical issues
Informed consent, confidentiality, privacy, protection from harm, deception, right to withdraw
what are extraneous variables?
things’ outside of the experiment that can be controlled to avoid them having an impact on the DV
what are confounding variables
‘things’ that have been found to have impacted on the results / DV
examples of extraneous variables
the environment, the time of the day, instructions given
what are participant variables
individual differences between participants that may affect the DV
what are situational variables
features of experimental situation that might affect the DV
What is randomisation
The use of chance in order to control the effects of bias when designing materials and dewciding the order of conditions.
What are demand characteristics?
Any cue from the research situation that may be interpreted by participants as revealing the purpose of an investigation. This may lead to a participant changing their behaviour within the research situation.
what are investigator effects
Any effect of the investigator’s behaviour (conscious or unconscious) on the research outcome
What is independent groups design?
- each participant takes part in one condition of the experiment
- compared to the other group
what is repeated measures design?
- the same participant does all conditions of the experiment
what is matched pairs design?
- participants are matched on a variable related to the experiment then placed in seperate groups
what are order effects
- participants take part in both conditions of experiment and perform worse/better in the second condition due to fatigue or practice
what is counterbalancing
way to reduce the effects of taking part in both studies where the pps will be split and half will take part in condition A first followed by condition B and the remaining half will take part in condition B first followed by condition A.
what is participant variables
characteristics within a participant that can influence the outcome / DV
what is random allocation
system is in place to assign pps to different conditions to avoid the researcher having direct influence on which pps go into which condition.
economical
based on cost to researcher/society
what is a laboratory experiment
- research manipulates IV
- takes place in artificial setting
what is a field experiment
- IV manipulated
- real life environment
what is a natural experiment
- real life situation
- IV is naturally occuring so event would’ve happened regardless of research
what is a quasi experiment
- artificial environment
- IV is naturally occurring within participant
what is a target population
wider group of people you are interested in studying
what is a sample
smaller section of the target population that take part in your researcg
what is a participant observation
the observer acts as part of the group being watched
what is a non participant observation
the experimenter does not become part of the group being observed.
what is a controlled observation
Observations can take place where some variables are controlled and manipulated by the experimenter. They determine the behaviours to be observed.
what is a naturalistic observation
Observations can take place in a natural situation
what is an overt observation
‘Open’ observations. Participants know they are being observed and why.
what is a covert observation
The observation is kept secret from the participants. The observer is undercover!
