Aims, Variables and Hypotheses Flashcards
(17 cards)
What is the Independent Variable?
variable being changed in the investigation
What is the Dependent Variable?
variable being measured
- must be measurable
What is Operationalising?
giving a variable a description in terms of how it is actuall measured
Define ‘Hypothesis’.
An ‘intelligent guess’ as to what the experimenter is likely to discover
What is an Experimental Hypothesis?
predicts that there will be a difference/change
What is a Null Hypothesis?
predicts there’ll be no difference/change
What is a Directional Hypothesis?
predicts the direction of the results
- ‘x will increase…’
- ‘y improves z’
What is a Non-Directional Hypothesis?
states there will be a difference, but not the direction
Define ‘Extraneous Variable’.
variables which MAY affect the results
Define ‘Confounding Variable’.
variables which have affected the results as we failed to identify and control the extraneous variable
What is Experimental Design?
how participants are allocated to different conditions in an experiment
What are the three types of Experimental Design?
- Independent Groups
- Repeated Measures
- Matched Pairs
Describe Independent Groups.
Different people in each condition
- LESS demand characteristics
- order effects are LESS of a problem
- participant variables may be a problem
Describe Repeated Measures.
The same people in both conditions
- participant variables are better controlled
- issue with demand characteristics
- order effects may cause issues BUT can be controlled through counterbalancing
Describe Matched Pairs.
Different but similar participants in each condition
- demand characteristics are LESS of a problem
- better controlled participant variables
- no two participants can be perfectly matched so there MAY be some participant variable
What are Demand Characteristics?
When participants look for clues on how to act based on what they think is expected of them
- all to please the experimenter
- behaviour is no longer natural
What are Investigator Effects?
Leading the participant, consciously or unconsciously, to the outcome we expect
- leading questions
- body language
