research methods: experiments

Question 1

what is an aim

Answer 1

general statement of what the researcher intends to investigate, the purpose

Question 2

what is a hypothesis

Answer 2

specific, testable statement in which the researcher predicts the outcome between the variables

Question 3

what is a directional hypothesis

Answer 3

one tailed
predicts the direction they think the results will go in
previous research is conducted to show the difference between co-variables

Question 4

what is a non directional hypothesis

Answer 4

two tailed
does not predict the direction that they think the results will go in
no previous research

Question 5

what is a lab experiment

Answer 5

conducted in a highly controlled environment where the researcher manipulated the IV to measure the effect on the DV

Question 6

lab experiment AO3

Answer 6

high control on extraneous variables
high in reliability

lacks ecological validity
prone to demand characteristics

Question 7

field experiment

Answer 7

takes place in a natural environment eg school
where the researcher manipulates the IV and measures the effect on the DV

Question 8

field experiment AO3

Answer 8

less prone to demand characteristics
high ecological validity

low in reliability
ethical issues

Question 9

natural experiment

Answer 9

researcher takes advantage of naturally occurring IV

Question 10

natural experiment AO3

Answer 10

high ecological validity
provide opportunities for research that may not be undertaken due to ethical reasons

low control over extraneous variables
naturally occurring events are rare, limits opportunities for research

Question 11

quasi experiment

Answer 11

an experiment which has an IV based on an existing individual differences between people, which the researcher has not manipulated eg age or gender and researcher measures effect on DV

Question 12

quasi experiment AO3

Answer 12

sample bias as they have unique characteristics, difficult to generalise to target population, decreasing external validity

Question 13

independent groups design

Answer 13

ppts take part in one condition, each condition has different group of ppts

• a group of ppts are recruited
• split into equal sized groups
• different group allocated different conditions

Question 14

independent groups design AO3

Answer 14

no order effects as ppts take part in one condition

individual differences may affect the DV, lowering internal validity
more ppts are required as 2 different group conditions

Question 15

repeated measures design

Answer 15

all ppts take part in both conditions of the experiment

-ppts complete one condition
-after a time delay (one hour) they will complete the other condition
- DV should be different but task difficulty/ measuring same thing should be the same

Question 16

repeated measures AO3

Answer 16

no individual differences
requires fewer ppts

order effects may occur, may perform worse in 2nd condition due to eg boredom, fatigue, lowering internal validity

prone to demand characteristics

Question 17

matched pairs design

Answer 17

ppts are matched on important characteristics in the study eg age or IQ

-choose a variable to match ppts on
- test the ppt on this variable before the study
- match ppts with same scores
-randomly allocate each member of pair to condition

Question 18

what is a pilot study

Answer 18

small scale trail run of research before the real main scale research
takes place to identify any problems and amend them

Question 19

what are the aims of a pilot study

Answer 19

• check standardised procedures and general design
  -check the amount of time given to ppts is enough to complete task
• make sure questions are clear
• for observations check behaviour categories are understood
  -extraneous variables can be identified and possibly eliminated
  -ask ppts to discuss their experiences of the experiment

Question 20

counterbalancing

Answer 20

WHY
-to control and reduce order effects
HOW
-half the ppts complete condition A then condition B
-the other half complete condition B first then condition A
-order effects are balanced distributed across both conditions

Question 21

random allocation

Answer 21

WHY
-ensures that each ppt has the same chance of being in one condition as any other condition
HOW
-write the names of the ppts on equal sized pieces of paper
-put paper in a hat
-then randomly pick out ppts names and place half in condition 1 and the other half in condition 2

Question 22

what is internal validity

Answer 22

is the research measuring what it intends to measure

Question 23

what is external validity

Answer 23

whether the findings can be generalised outside of the study

Question 24

what is ecological validity

Answer 24

a form of external validity, the extent to which findings can be generalised beyond the setting of the study to real life settings

Question 25

what is population validity

Answer 25

the extent to which findings can be generalised beyond the sample studied to the target population

Question 26

what is temporal validity

Answer 26

the extent to which findings remain true over time and can be generalised to other time periods

Question 27

matched pairs ao3

Answer 27

no order effects as ppts only take part in one condition so they will not get bored/tired/perform better at one task than another

very time consuming to match up and find similar ppts especially if a pre test is needed to match ppts on a certain characteristic. would require a very large pool of people