Unit 4 AOS 3 - Practical Investigation Flashcards
Aim
Aim a statement outlining the purpose of the study
Hypothesis
Hypothesis a testable prediction about the outcome of an experiment; it is written in the form of a statement and includes the variables that will be tested
Variable
Variable a factor or element of an experiment that may be manipulated or measured
Population
Population the group of people of interest to an experiment, to which the results of the experiment are generalised to
Independent Variable
Independent variable (IV) the variable that the experimenter manipulates in order to observe the effect it causes on the dependent variable
Dependent Variable
Dependent variable (DV) the variable that is being measured in an experiment for changes it experiences due to the independent variable
Operationalisation
Operationalisation the process of defining variables in terms of how they will be either manipulated or measured in the experiment
Experiment
Experiment a study conducted in a carefully controlled environment to measure the cause and effect relationship between variables
Self Report
Self-report a participant’s subjective account of an experience; this type of investigation can be conducted through the use of a questionnaire, interview or rating scale
Questionnaire/Survey
Questionnaire (also known as surveys) a list of questions that participants can respond to in a variety of formats
Interview
Interview a type of questionnaire that is usually conducted verbally, involving the researcher asking participants questions and recording their responses
Observational Study
Observational study a type of study in which data is collected through careful monitoring
of participants
Case Study
Case study an in-depth study of an individual or a group
of individuals
Longitudinal Study
Longitudinal study a type of investigation in which data is gathered from participants over an extended period of time, and the participants are followed up after specific time intervals
Cross-sectional study
Cross-sectional study when data is collected from participants from different segments of the population (pre-existing cohorts) to represent a ‘snapshot’ in time
Control Group
Control group a group that is used as a basis for comparison; participants are not exposed to the experimental condition/s (the IV)
Experimental group
Experimental group the group within an experiment that
are exposed to experimental conditions (the IV)
Independent groups
Independent groups design
(also known as between groups design) an experimental design in which participants are split
into two or more groups;
typically a control group and an experimental group/s
Repeated measures design
Repeated measures design
(also known as within groups design) an experimental design in which the same participants are in every condition of the experiment
Matched participants design
Matched participants design an experimental design in which participants are paired based upon relevant characteristics, whereupon one member of the pair is tested in one condition, and the other member is tested in the other
Population
Population (also known as the research population) the group of interest to the study, from which the sample is drawn
Sample
Sample a subset of the population, commonly referred to as the research participants
Sampling
Sampling the process through which the participants for a study are selected from the population of interest
Random Sampling
Random sampling when every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample
Stratified sampling
Stratified sampling when
the population is divided into groups based upon relevant characteristics, and participants are selected from each group in proportion to how they appear in the population