Research Methods Flashcards
What’s an independent variable?
A variable a researcher measures.
What’s a dependent variable?
A variable a researcher measures.
What’s operationalisation?
Operationalisation refers to when variables/behaviours are clearly specified to make them precise.
What’s objectivity?
By operationalising the variables there should be no subjective interpretation regarding how to manipulate/measure them.
What’s replicability?
By operationalising the variables it would make it easy to replicate the research.
What’s an extraneous variable?
Any variable other than the IV that could affect the dependent variable/results.
What’s a confounding variable?
A variable that varies with the IV and affects the dependent variable/results.
What are order effects?
When participants complete multiple conditions and so their performance could be affected by them having the chance to practice or become bored or fatigued.
What are participant variables?
When participants’ performances could be affected by their individual differences such as their age, gender, IQ etc.
What are investigator effects?
When participants’ performances could be affected by the characteristics and/or behaviours of the investigators e.g. their gender, age, the quality of the instructions they provide etc.
What are situational variables?
When participants’ performances could be affected by differences in the situation e.g. noise, lighting, temperature etc.
What are task variables?
When participants’ performances could be affected by differences in the nature/difficulty of the tasks they are completing.
What does counterbalancing do?
It equally distributes order effects across conditions.
When is counterbalancing used?
When participants have to complete all conditions.
Why is counterbalancing used?
To control order effects affecting results.
When is random allocation used?
When assigning participants to conditions/groups.
Why is random allocation used?
It removes researcher bias in an attempt to control participant variables.
Why is random allocation used?
To ensure participants have an equal chance of being placed into each condition.
How is randomisation used?
It’s used when ordering the presentation of stimuli.
When is randomisation used?
It helps to remove the risk of predictability.
Why is randomisation used?
By ensuring the order of stimuli is random.
Explain the process of randomisation.
- Print stimuli (shapes)
- Place in a hat and shuffle
- 1st stimuli = 1st to be presented
- 2nd stimuli = 2nd to be presented.
Why is standardisation used?
It’s used when trying to ensure all participants have the same experience.
What does standardisation help to do?
It helps to control situational and task variables as well as investigator effects.