The Experimental Method Flashcards
what is an experiment?
a research method where causal conclusions can be drawn because an IV has been deliberately manipulated to observe the effect on the DV (if the IV is the only thing being changed, it must have caused the change seen in the DV)
an experiment involves manipulating the IV to see the effect it has on the DV whilst trying to control all other variables
allows researchers to draw causal conclusions between the IV and DV — the only research method that can demonstrate cause and effect as it compares two levels of IV
what must a true experiment be?
must have no bias
participants randomly allocated to conditions
variables carefully controlled
x4 variables
dependent
independent
extraneous
confounding
independent variable
the variable that is directly manipulated to test the effect it has on the DV
usually involves at least 2 or more conditions (aka levels of IV) that can be compared — e.g. studying with the TV on and studying with the TV off
dependent variable
the variable that is measured to see if it is affected by the IV
extraneous variables
any variables other than the IV which may have an effect on the DV
may therefore interfere with the results of the experiment, making it more difficult to detect a significant relationship between the IV and DV
can be controlled by the experimenter
e.g. age of participants, time limits for tasks
confounding variables
variables that aren’t controlled and do affect the results
varies systematically with the IV
e.g. weather, mood of participants, personalities
define research aims
a statement of what the researchers intend to find out in a research study
e.g. does noise affect quality of work?
define hypothesis
a precise and testable statement about the assumed relationship between the independent and dependent variable
outlines what the experimenter expects to find — e.g. students completing a memory task with the tv on will not do as well as students who complete a memory task with the tv off
variables must be operationalised so the statement can be tested
define operationalise
ensuring that variables are in a form that can be easily tested and measured
specifies how to define or measure a variable
needs to be done for IV and DV so they can be investigated
e.g. educational attainment can be operationalised as GCSE grade in maths
(always operationalise variables when answering exam questions by saying how you’d measure them)
define informed consent
participants must be given comprehensive information concerning the nature and purpose of the research and their role in it
allows them to make an informed decisions about whether to participate
define debriefing
a post research interview designed to…..
- inform the participants of the true nature of the study
- restore them to the state they were in at the start of the study
- gain useful feedback about the procedure of the study
- deal with ethical issues
define ethical issues
relates to issues of right and wrong
arise in research where there are conflicting sets of values between researchers and participants concerning the goals, procedures or outcomes of a study
define standardised procedures
a set of procedures that are the same for all participants in order to be able to repeat the study so it can be tested for reliability
includes standardised instructions on how to perform the task which must be the same for each participant
otherwise the results may vary due to changes in procedure rather than due to the IV, thus the procedure will become an EV and interferes with the results
what is involved in the scientific method?
observe
state expectations in a hypothesis
design a study
test the hypothesis and see if it was correct
