Scientific processes

Question 1

What does Aims and Hypotheses provide to an experiment?

Answer 1

Provides an outlook on the experiment

Question 2

Aim

Answer 2

The purpose of the experiment

Question 3

Hypotheses

Answer 3

A prediction of the expected outcome from the experiment

Question 4

Directional Hypothesis
Give example

Answer 4

Specifies the direction of the relationship between IV and DV
e.g. drinking more caffeine will make you sleep less hours at night.

Question 5

Non-directional Hypothesis
Give example

Answer 5

Does not specify the direction of the relationship between IV and DV
e.g. coffee will change the reaction times of participants (whether it will increase or decrease the times is not specified).

Question 6

Independent variable - IV
Give example

Answer 6

Manipulated by the researcher to observe its effects on the DV
E.g. Investigating the effect of how much caffeine affects the level of sleep. Amount of caffeine will be the IV (ml,mg,)

Question 7

Dependent variable - DV
Give example

Answer 7

The variable that changes in response to manipulation of the researcher, that is being measured for the experiment.
E.g. Investigating the effect of how much caffeine affects the level of sleep. Amount of sleep will be the DV (hours of sleep)

Question 8

Confounding variable
Give example

Answer 8

A type of extraneous variable that is related to the IV in the experiment.
E.g. Investigating the effect of how much caffeine affects the level of sleep. The type of mattress being slept on will be the confounding variable

Question 9

Extraneous variable
Give example

Answer 9

Variables other than the IV that have an effect on the DV.
E.g. Amount of caffeine being consumed at once

Question 10

Operationalisation of variables
Give example

Answer 10

Clearly state and objectify the variables. Giving suitable unit of measurements.
E.g 100mg of caffeine, 5 hours of sleep, etc.

Question 11

Random allocation
Give example

Answer 11

To allocate participants to separate conditions using some sort of randomisation technique.
E.g. Use a random number generator to assign students into different groups that have that set of numbers.

Question 12

Counterbalancing

Answer 12

To make half of the participant sample experience the different conditions of the experiment in one order, and the other half of the participants complete it in the opposite
order.

Question 13

Standardisation

Answer 13

Keeping the experimental methods as identical as possible.

Question 14

Demanded characteristics
Give example

Answer 14

Changes in the participants’ behaviour to comply with the hypothesis of the researcher.
Experiment about if breath would affect your confidence. Ppts may act differently to suit with the hypothesis of the experiment

Question 15

Investigation effects
Give example

Answer 15

Unconscious changes in the investigators behaviour to comply with the hypothesis of the investigation.
E.g. A raised eyebrow can make the participant aware they may have said or done something which has surprised or shocked a researcher and they may alter their response as a consequence of this, affecting the validity of the data.

Question 16

Repeated measures
Give example

Answer 16

All participants undergo same condition of the experiment
E.g. When testing the effect of coffee on reaction time, all participants will be tested for reaction time with and without coffee.

Question 17

Independent groups
Give example

Answer 17

Different groups participate in different conditions

E.g. Using two different groups of people to test the effect of music on memory recall, with one group memorising during music playing and the others in silence.

Question 18

Matched pairs
Give example

Answer 18

Participants in different conditions are matched based on their matched variables.
E.g. In the Bobo doll study, children were matched on scores of aggressiveness for each condition.

Question 19

Population
Give example

Answer 19

Is the entire group that you want to draw conclusions about.
E.g. All the people live in a specific country, all women in an area, all men, etc.

Question 20

Sample
Give example

Answer 20

A subset of a population, a smaller percentage of the population.
E.g. 10 people in a class of 20 people

Question 21

Random sampling
Give example
Advantage
Disadvantage

Answer 21

A sampling technique that involves randomly generating participants from the population by any randomisation technique.
E.g. Picking name out of a hat, where everyone has the equal chance of being picked
+ Not bias
- Not everyone in the population could do the experiment

Question 22

Opportunity sample
Give example
Advantage
Disadvantage

Answer 22

Obtaining a sample via anyone that is available from the population at the time of collecting the sample.
E.g. Picking a class to demonstrate a performance to parents. Class that is free at that time will be picked
+ Can get a custom fit sample to work well
- There maybe bias

Question 23

Volunteer sampling
Give example
Advantage
Disadvantage

Answer 23

Using participants that volunteer to take part in the study, provided they meet the inclusion criteria.
E.g. Print out volunteer papers to let students voluntarily apply for the experiment
+ Quick and easy
- Location where the experiment was advertised could be sample biased

Question 24

Systematic sampling
Give example
Advantage
Disadvantage

Answer 24

Establishing a method to pick participants evenly distributed through the population.
E.g. Every 3rd person of the population
+ Cost efficient and not time-consuming
- Can be bias

Question 25

Stratified sampling
Give example
Advantage
Disadvantage

Answer 25

Establishing sub-groups (strata) within the population investigated and picking participants to create a representative sample. sub-groups: Dividing ppts that share the same characteristics into groups.
E.g. If the population is ⅔ female and ⅓ male, the sample should also be ⅔ female and ⅓
male
+ Precise estimate for sub-groups
- Only effective when there are sub-groups

Question 26

Pilot studies
Give example

Answer 26

Trial studies were carried out to ensure the clarity of the study itself.
E.g. Using a pilot questionnaire on a sample of people that give feedback on the clarity of
the questions.

Question 27

Aim of pilot studies

Answer 27

To examine the feasibility of an approach that is intended to be used in a larger scale study. To allow researchers to identify and fix if there are any issues within the intended experiment.