Research Methods Flashcards
What is the independent variable?
The variable that is manipulated.
What is a dependent variable?
The variable that is measured.
What is a cause and effect relationship?
The independent variable is the cause of the changes seen in the dependent variable.
What is an extraneous variable?
A variable other than the independent that is not controlled for that may affect the results seen in the dependent variable.
What is a participant variable?
Something about the individual participant that may affect the results e.g. age, IQ, mental health, personality type, etc.
What is a situational variable?
Something about the research situation that may affect the results e.g. noise level, environment, etc.
What is a confounding variable?
A variable that is not the IV, that changes consistently with the IV and impacts the DV, e.g. doing a test to see the impact of energy drink on memory BUT the energy drink group are 20 years old, and the non energy drink group are 90 so their age will also impact memory.
How can extraneous variables be controlled?
Standardised procedure and artificial setting.
