Research Methods

Question 1

aims

Answer 1

what the researcher intends to find out in research

Question 2

debriefing

Answer 2

post research interview
inform participants of the true nature of the study
a way of dealing with ethical issues

Question 3

ethical issues

Answer 3

concern questions of right and wrong

Question 4

experiment

Answer 4

a research method

causal conclusions can be drawn due to manipulation of an independant variable

Question 5

extraneous variables

Answer 5

don’t vary with the IV but are other factors that can have an effect of the DV
make study more difficult

Question 6

hypothesis

Answer 6

a precise and testable statement

operationalised variables

Question 7

independant variable

Answer 7

a factor that is directly manipulated by an experimenter in order to test it’s affects on the DV

Question 8

dependant variable

Answer 8

the variable that changes according to the IV

Question 9

informed consent

Answer 9

participants given information about the nature and purpose of experiment
eg. what the will experience

Question 10

operationalise

Answer 10

making variables into a form that can be easily tested

Question 11

standardised procedures

Answer 11

a set of procedures that are the same for all participants in order to be able to repeat the study
including the same instructions

Question 12

confounding variable

Answer 12

a variable that is not the IV but may also affect the DV

makes the outcome of the experiment meaningless

Question 13

control variables

Answer 13

variables that are kept constant and are regulated by the researcher
avoids the influencing DV

Question 14

internal validity

Answer 14

the degree to which an observed effect was due to the experimental manipulation rather than other factors (confounding variables)
shows a high validity in the lab

Question 15

mundane realism

Answer 15

refers to how well a study mirrors the real world

high ecological validity - the variables in the experiment are realistic and will occur in the real world

Question 16

validity

Answer 16

whether an observed effect is a genuine one and how accurate the results are

Question 17

confederate

Answer 17

a person in a study that is not a real participant and has been instructed on how to behave by the investigator

Question 18

directional hypothesis

Answer 18

states the nature of the relationship between the two variables

Question 19

non directional hypothesis

Answer 19

states that there is a relationship between two variables but doesn’t say what it is

Question 20

pilot study

Answer 20

a small scale trial run of a study

tests aspects of the design - saves time and money if method needs to be changed

Question 21

counterbalancing

Answer 21

a technique used to overcome order effects when using a repeated measures design
ensures each condition is tested first or second in equal amounts

Question 22

experimental design

Answer 22

the way the levels of the independant variables are delivered

Question 23

independant groups design

Answer 23

participants allocated to two or more groups representing different levels of the IV
allocated randomly

Question 24

matched pairs design

Answer 24

pairs of participants are matched in terms of key variables eg. age, IQ
one member of each pair is allocated to one condition and the other member to another condition

Question 25

order effect

Answer 25

in repeated measures design an extraneous variable comes from the order on which the participants experience each condition of the IV

Question 26

random allocation

Answer 26

allocating participants to experimental groups using random techniques

Question 27

repeated measures design

Answer 27

each participant takes part in every condition under test

Question 28

field experiment

Answer 28

a controlled experiment conducted outside a laboratory IV still manipulated by experimenter + high external validity - low internal validity (harder to control variables)

Question 29

laboratory experiment

Answer 29

carried out in a controlled setting + high internal validity - low ecological validity

Question 30

natural experiment

Answer 30

researcher hasn't manipulated IV directly researcher records effect of IV on a specific DV + used for ethical or practical reasons + psychologists can study real problems eg. natural disasters - can't identify causal relationships as there may be other factors

Question 31

quasi experiment

Answer 31

IV doesn't vary - is a condition that exists eg. personality + allows comparisons between types of people - causal conclusions are hard to draw

Question 32

demand characteristics

Answer 32

when participants have an idea of the aims of the study and change their behaviour to what they think you want

Question 33

investigator effect

Answer 33

anything and investigator does that has an effect on a participants performance in the study may act as a confounding or extraneous variable

Question 34

bias

Answer 34

a systematic distortion

Question 35

generalisation

Answer 35

applying the findings of a particular study to the population