A Quasi Experiment on Age and Sleep Flashcards
(80 cards)
What was your aim?
To investigate whether the average amount of sleep experienced per night differs according to age
What was the IV?
age (either older or younger people)
What was the DV?
sleep (average number of hours slept per night)
IV operationalisation
The IV was operationalised as participants aged 16-26 years old (condition one -the younger group) and participants aged 50-60 years old (condition 2 - the older group)
Why was the IV operationalised in this way?
Created a clear distinction between the two age groups that both covered a 10 year time frame therefore we can clearly compare the results.
DV operationalisation
The DV was operationalised as the average number of hours slept per night over one week per participant. Data will be obtained on smart watches.
Why was the DV operationalised in this way?
enables us to collect quantitative data which is easier to analyse and more objective and less prone to researcher bias.
Experimental/Directional (one tailed) hypothesis
Participants aged 16-26 years old will report significantly more hours of sleep per night (on average over a one week period) compared to participants aged 50-60 years old (on average over the same one week period.
Justification of directional hypothesis
-selected one tail directional hypothesis due to previous research by Akerstedt et al 2012 found that the amount of sleep we have reduces as we get older. Therefore suggesting we can be more confident in finding similar results into age and sleep.
Null Hypothesis
There will be no significant difference in the hours of sleep per night over a one week period between the 16-26 year olds and the 50-60 year olds other than a difference due to chance alone.
What is one extraneous variable?
-One EV that could affect every pp is bad weather e.g a storm with heavy rain if they live in the same area
-should there be any nights during the one week period where p’s are asked to monitor the number of hours they sleep the bad weather may disrupt with their normal sleep pattern and make them stay awake for longer
-therefore decreasing internal validity
How will we deal with that extraneous variable?
excluding data from any nights where the weather was significantly bad which helps improve the internal validity making their average number of hours slept per night more accurate of their normal sleep pattern.
What is a second extraneous variable?
-EV that could affect every p’ is estimations of sleep over the one week period
-if participants are asked to guess/estimate the number of hours they have slept during the week of the data collection this may make the no. Of hours they slept incorrect reducing the internal validity of the study.
How will we deal with that 2nd extraneous variable?
excluding data from participants who do not wear a smart watch to bed as smart watches will provide more accurate data on factors such as sleep e.g number of hours slept per night improving internal validity and making average number of hours slept per night more accurate of their normal sleeping pattern.
What is one confounding variable in this study?
-Demand characteristics
-Certain p’s e.g psychology students might have guessed the aim of the study and changed their responses to support it
E.g change no. Of hours slept per night to help achieve a 1 week average which they believe someone of their age would have to help researchers achieve their aim thus reducing internal validity
How was the confounding variable dealt with?
not using psychology students as participants and using deception where the true aim of the study is not disclosed until the participants are debriefed. In this case, they were informed the study was investigating the accuracy of smart watches collecting data on sleep. Improving the internal validity.
What is a second cofounding variable in this study?
Social desirability bias
Certain participants e.g teenagers may feel uncomfortable saying they’ve had 10 hours sleep as it might suggest they are lazy and might change their results to be seen in a positive light
How was the 2nd confounding variable dealt with
Keeping all sleep data confidential and anonymous so instead of using names attached to average hours of sleep in 1 week period, participant numbers are used instead. Thus improving internal validity as participants feel more comfortable and honest about sharing the hours they sleep.
What is an issue of reliability in this study?
The age range used per condition was a potential issue of internal reliability.
Concerned about inconsistencies in age ranges and how this could lead to some researchers including a large range of ages (e.g one researcher might catergorise younger participants 16-20 while another might catergorise it from 16-26)
How was this dealt with?
using a 10 year age range for each condition in this case the younger age range was set at 16-26 years old and the older age range was set at 50-60 years old. By having set age ranges per condition for all researchers we improved the internal reliability of the study.
What is a second issue of reliability in this study?
A lack of standardised instructions informing the participants of the requirements of the study could also reduce internal reliability of the study. In this case one researcher may ask participants to collect data over a shorter or longer time frame e.g one week could be interpreted Mon-Fri or Mon-Sun.) This could lead to inconsistencies within the average number of hours slept as most people sleep more at the weekend.
How was this dealt with?
Producing a set of standardised instructions for each researcher to read to each participant. The instructions would clearly state a one week period as being 7 consecutive nights. This would help ensure consistency in the time frame for measuring sleep and improve internal reliability of the study.
What is one way we can assess the reliability of the study?
Inter-rater reliability can be used after data collection whereby at least 2 researchers will calculate average no. Of hours slept over 1 week period for each participant. They will be asked to add the number of hours slept over the one week period and divide the total by 7 for each p’. The averages can be compared. If the averages are the same for each p’ e.g both researchers calculated the average number of hours slept for p1 as 8h. We can be certain they have been calculated using the same consistent method.
What is another way we can assess the reliability of the study?
Test-retest reliability can be used after data collection whereby the same participants (the friends and family of the researcher) will be asked to monitor the number of hours sleep they have per night using a sleep app over a 1 week period. Findings from 1st study will be compared with the findings from 2nd study if they are similar in showing that those aged 16-26 sleep for longer per night on average than 50-60 year olds then findings are seen as consistent over time and have external reliability.
