research methods- experimental method

Question 1

what’s the definition of aims?

Answer 1

general expression of what the researcher intends to investigate

Question 2

what’s an operationalised hypothesis?

Answer 2

statement of what a researcher believes to be true

Question 3

what’s a directional hypothesis?

Answer 3

states whether changes are greater or lesser, positive or negative, etc. (used when research suggests the direction)

Question 4

what’s a non-directional hypothesis?

Answer 4

doesn’t state direction, just that there’s a difference, correlation, association (used when no previous research or its contradictory)

Question 5

what is an independent variable?

Answer 5

some aspects of experimental situation that os manipulated by the researcher- or changes naturally- so the effect on the DV can be measured

Question 6

what is a dependant variable?

Answer 6

variable measured by the researcher, any effect on the DV should be caused by change in the IV

Question 7

what are extraneous variables?

Answer 7

-any variable, other than the IV, that might affect the results (the DV)
-where EVs are important enough to cause a change in the DV, they become confounding variables.

Question 8

what are confounding variables?

Answer 8

-CVs change systematically with the IV so we cannot be sure if any observed change in the DV is due to the CV or the IV

Question 9

what are demand characteristics?

Answer 9

refers to any cue from the researcher or research situation that may reveal the aim of the study, and change p’s behaviour

Question 10

what are investigator effects?

Answer 10

any effect of the investigator’s behaviour on the outcome of the research (the DV) and also on design decisions

Question 11

what’s randomisation?

Answer 11

-use of chance when designing investigations to control for the effects of bias e.g. allocating participants to conditions

Question 12

what’s standardisation?

Answer 12

-using exactly the same formalised procedures for all the p’s in a research study, otherwise differences become EV

Question 13

what are pilot studies?

Answer 13

-small-scale trial run of an investigation to ‘road-test’ procedures, so research design can be modified

Question 14

how are control groups and control conditions used?

Answer 14

-used to set comparison
-act as ‘baseline’ and help establish causation

Question 15

what is a single-blind study?

Answer 15

-participant doesn’t know aims of study so demand characteristics are reduced

Question 16

what is a double-blind study?

Answer 16

-both p and researcher don’t know aims of study to reduce demand characteristics and investigator effects

Question 17

what are participant variables?

Answer 17

refer to characteristics of the p’s (e.g. age, gender, experiences)

Question 18

what are situational variables?

Answer 18

characteristics of the situation (hot day, crowded room, distractions)

Question 19

what are order effects?

Answer 19

when p’s tested more than once- as in repeated measures designs
-may lead to better performance through practice, or worse performance due to boredom or fatigue