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Psychology U3/4 > Science Skills > Flashcards

Science Skills Flashcards

SAC 2 - Has variables and experimental design

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1
Q

Define experimental group

A
  • The group within the study that is exposed to the IV
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2
Q

Define control group

A
  • The group that is not exposed to the IV
  • Used as a baseline for comparison
  • Used to determine whether the IV has directly influenced the results
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3
Q

What is random allocation?

A
  • Procedure used to place participants in groups so that they are as likely to be in one group as the other
  • Equal chance of being selected for any of the groups
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4
Q

What is the purpose of random allocation?

A
  • To obtain groups that are as alike as possible in terms of participant variables before introducing the IV
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5
Q

What is random sampling?

A
  • One of the methods that can be used to select participants for an experiment
  • ‘Equal opportunity for all participants’
  • Choosing a sample that best represents the population
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6
Q

What is the difference between random allocation and random sampling?

A
  • Random allocation is used to place participants in groups (internal validity)
  • Random sampling is used to choose participants for an experiment (external validity)
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7
Q

What is a between subjects experimental design?

A
  • Also known as independent groups
  • Each participant is randomly allocated to one of two (or more) groups or conditions and provides ONE score for data

Data compared BETWEEN groups

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8
Q

What are the advantages of a between subjects design?

A
  • Not often a need to spread out the time period between the different experimental conditions
    • Experiment can therefore be completed on the occasion, decreases dropout rate
  • No order effects between conditions to control
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9
Q

What are the disadvantages of a between subjects design?

A
  • Need a larger number of participants to help ensure the spread of participant variables within the sample will match the distribution within the population
  • Less control over participant variables than in other designs
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10
Q

What is a within subjects experimental design?

A
  • Also called repeated measures
  • Each participant is in BOTH the experimental and control groups or all the treatment conditions
  • Order effects need to be considered
    • One task could influence performance on the next
    • Fatigue and boredom need to be considered
    • Unwanted variable that needs to be controlled because the experimenter cannot be confident about whether the IV or order effect causes the change in the DV

Data compared WITHIN one group

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11
Q

What are advantages of a within subjects design?

A
  • Gives experimenter strict control over all the possible participant variables
  • Tends to require a relatively smaller number of participants when compared with other designs because the same participants are in all conditions
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12
Q

What are disadvantages of a within subjects design?

A
  • Does not control all participant variables that can influence the results
    • Participants can guess what the experiment is about
    • Can respond ingenuinely
  • Other uncontrolled order effects in addition to practice and fatigue are more likely to occur
    • Can result in unwanted participant attrition (loss) before the experiment is completed

Order Effects can be controlled by counterbalancing

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13
Q

What is counterbalancing?

A
  • Split group in half
  • Two different orders
  • Data is combined at the end
  • Eliminates order/practice effect impact on the data
    • If results are the same even with changing the order then it can be stated that the IV most likely solely influenced the DV
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14
Q

What is an extraneous variable?

A
  • A variable other than the IV that can cause a change in the DV
  • Deemed as a confounding variable if it has had an unwanted effect on the DV
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15
Q

What is a mixed design experiment?

A
  • Combines features between a between subjects design and a within subjects design
  • Able to compare between experimental group and control group (between) in addition to between the same people in the experimental group and control group respectively to each other (within)
  • All groups must experience the same condition

Data compared BETWEEN groups and WITHIN the same group

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16
Q

What are the advantages of a mixed design experiment?

A
  • Can capitalise on the strengths of between subjects and within subjects
  • Fewer participants needed
  • Results tend to be more precise and detailed
  • Can test multiple independent variables - Time and cost effective
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17
Q

What are the disadvantages of a mixed design experiment?

A
  • Although it capitalises on strengths, weaknesses of respective designs are still present
    • Order Effect
    • Extraneous Variables
    • Participant Variables
  • Higher rate of participant withdrawl than in between subjects
  • Less control over participant knowledge of the study
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18
Q

Why do samples need to be regulated?

A
  • In order to be able to generalise the conclusion to the population
  • In order to properly represent the population
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19
Q

What is an aim in an experiment?

A
  • A statement outlining the purpose of an investigation
20
Q

What is a variable in an experiment?

A
  • A condition or component of an experiment that can be measured or manipulated
21
Q

What is an independent variable?

A
  • What is manipulated by the experimenter
  • The thing that is different between the groups
22
Q

What is the dependent variable?

A
  • What is measured to test the effect of the independent variable
  • What is influenced by the IV
23
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A
  • A testable prediction that identifies the population, strength and direction of a relationship between 2 variables
24
Q

What information should be included in a hypothesis?

A
  • Identification of the population
  • Identification of both conditions of the independent variable
  • Identification of the dependent variable
  • A directional prediction
  • E.g It is hypothesised that VCE students who study for one hour per day will report lower levels of stress during the examination period than those who complete no study
25
Q

What are the 3 types of hypotheses?

A
  • Research
  • Operational
  • Null
    • Stating that there won’t be a difference
26
Q

What is an experiment?

A
  • Where a cause and effect relationship is measured, by testing the effect of the IV on the DV in an controlled environment
27
Q

What is a case study?

A
  • An in-depth or detailed study on a particular activity, behaviour, event or problem
  • May be historical, hypothetical or current
  • Things that are rare and cannot be experimented on
  • Difficult to generalise
28
Q

What is an observational study?

A
  • A methodology that involves investigation through observing and interacting with an environment in a naturalistic setting
  • Not quantitative data
  • Genuine human behaviour
  • Flaw of leaving room to make a lot of assumptions
29
Q

What is meant by the term ‘population’?

A
  • The people that are of interest to the research
  • The group that the researcher will seek to generalise the conclusion to
30
Q

What is a sample?

A
  • A subset of a population
  • People selected for the experiment
  • Selecting a sample is the first place where bias and error are eliminated
  • As the sample size increases, so does time and cost
  • Must be representative of the population
31
Q

What are 3 ways to create a sample?

A
  • Convenience Sampling
    • Survey
    • Sample is selected in the quickest and easiest way possible
    • Not representative of the population
    • For interest based experiments and therefore not publishable
  • Random Sampling
    • Every member has an equal chance in being selected
    • Free from bias
    • May not be representative of the population
    • Large samples
  • Stratified Sampling
    • Breaking population into subgroups and selecting participants in accordance to their fraction in the population
    • More representative of the population
    • Time consuming
    • For important research where characteristics can skew the data
32
Q

What are advantages to using random sampling?

A
  • Quick and relatively simple to employ
  • Less chance of bias
33
Q

What is a disadvantage to using random sampling?

A
  • Under or over represented groups in the population
34
Q

What is an advantage of stratified sampling?

A
  • Enables researcher to sample specific groups within populations for comparison purposes
35
Q

What is a disadvantage of stratified sampling?

A
  • Can be a time-consuming procedure
36
Q

What are the different classifications of data?

A
  • Primary → Collected directly from source by researcher for their specific purpose of addressing their research question
      • Little doubt about quality
      • Time-consuming process
  • Secondary → Not directly collected by the researcher - Earlier time by someone else
      • Readily available & accessed in less time
      • Uncertainty about quality because it was usually collected for a different purpose
  • Quantitative (preferred because of precision and ease of communication) → Numerical
  • Qualitative → Not expressed numerically (words, pictures)
37
Q

What is accuracy?

A
38
Q

What is precision?

A
39
Q

What is repeatability?

A
40
Q

What is reproducibility?

A
41
Q

What is validity?

A
42
Q

What is a systematic error?

A
43
Q

What is a random error?

A
44
Q

What does it mean if findings are ‘robust’?

A
  • Results remain valid across a variety of conditions
45
Q

What is the difference between uncertainty and errors?

A

Psychology U3/4 (12 decks)

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