Research Methods

Question 1

Experimental hypothesis

Answer 1

Testable statement predicting a difference between levels of the independent variable or a relationship between variables

Question 2

Null Hypothesis

Answer 2

Testable statement saying that any difference or correlation in the results is due to chance

Question 3

Non-directional (2 tailed) hypothesis

Answer 3

A statement predicting only that one variable will be related to another, and that there will be a difference in the DV between levels of IV in an experiment or that there will be a relationship between the variables

Question 4

Directional (1 tailed) hypothesis

Answer 4

A statement predicting the direction of a relationship between variables in an experiment whether the levels of the IV will produce an increase or decrease in the DV, or will have a positive or negative correlation

Question 5

Extranenous variable

Answer 5

variable which either acts randomly, affecting the DV in all levels of the IV or systematically, ie. on one level of the IV so can obscure the effect of the IV, making the results difficult to interpret

Question 6

Confounding varibale

Answer 6

extraneous factors that affect the performance of participants

Question 7

Situational variable

Answer 7

confounding variable caused by an aspect of the environment

Question 8

Operationalisation

Answer 8

definition of variables so that they can be accurately manipulated, measured or quantified and replicated.

Question 9

Standardisation

Answer 9

keeping the procedure for each participant in an experiment exactly the same to ensure that any differences between participants or conditions are due to the variables under investigation rather than differences in the way they were treated

Question 10

Target population

Answer 10

people we want to do our research on

Question 11

Sample

Answer 11

part of a population the group of people selected to represent the population in a study

Question 12

Sampling technique

Answer 12

method used to obtain the participants for a study from the population

Question 13

Oppurtunity sampling

Answer 13

participants are chosen because they are available

Question 14

Volunteer sampling

Answer 14

participants are invited to participate

Question 15

Volunteer bias

Answer 15

participants who volunteer have different characteristics, privileges & lifestyle

Question 16

Random sampling

Answer 16

all members of the population are allocated numbers and a fixed amount of these are selected in a unbiased way

Question 17

Experimental condition

Answer 17

one or more of the situations in an experiment which represent different levels of the IV and are compared (or compared to a control condition)

Question 18

Lab experiment

Answer 18

research method where there is an IV, a DV and strict controls. It is conducted in a setting that isn’t a usual environment for the participants with regard to the behaviour they are performing

Question 19

Demand characteristics

Answer 19

features of the experimental situation that gives away the aims. They can cause the participants to change their behaviour to match their beliefs about what is supposed to happen

Question 20

Random allocation

Answer 20

Participants are put in each level of the IV so that each person has an equal chance of being in any condition

Question 21

Field experiment

Answer 21

investigation looking for a casual relationship in which an IV is manipulated and is expected to be responsible for the changes in the DV. It’s conducted in the normal environment for the participants for the behaviour being investigated

Question 22

Natural (Quasi) experiment

Answer 22

investigation looking for a causal relationship in which the IV cannot be directly manipulated by the experimenter. Instead they study the effect of an existing difference or change. Since the researcher cannot manipulate the levels of the IV, it’s not a true experiment

Question 23

Independant meaures design

Answer 23

an experimental design in which a different group of participants is used for each level of the IV

Question 24

Reapeted meausres design

Answer 24

an experimental design where each participant performs in every level of the IV

Question 25

Participant varibles

Answer 25

individual differences between participants that could affect their behaviour in a study. They could hide or exaggerate differences between levels of the IV

Question 26

Order effect

Answer 26

practice and fatigue effects are the consequence of participating in a study more than once. They cause changes in performance between conditions that are not due to the IV, so can obscure the effect on the DV

Question 27

Practice effect

Answer 27

situation where participants’ performance improves because they experience the experimental task more than once

Question 28

Fatigue effect

Answer 28

situation where participants’ performance declines because they experience the experimental task more than once

Question 29

Matched participants deisgn

Answer 29

experimental design where participants are arranged into pairs. Each pair is similar in ways that are important to the study and one member of each pair performs in a different level of the IV