Control of Variables

Question 1

Define participant variable

Answer 1

Individual differences between participants which might influence the research (e.g. age, IQ, reading ability, physical ability etc.)

Question 2

Define situational variable

Answer 2

Environmental features which might influence the research

Question 3

How do we control situational variables?

Answer 3

Standardisation

Question 4

What is standardisation?

Answer 4

Keep everything the same for
every participant
- Standardised procedure
- Standardised instructions

Question 5

How do we control participant variables?

Answer 5

Experimental designs (e.g. repeated measures)

Question 6

Define investigator effects

Answer 6

Any behaviour from the researcher (conscious or unconscious) which may affect the outcome of the DV.

Question 7

Explain one way to control demand characteristics

Answer 7

Single Blind Design
- The participant is unaware of which condition they are in or the research aims. This prevents the participants from seeking clues about the aims and reacting to them.

Question 8

Explain another way to control demand characteristics

Answer 8

Deception
- Lying to the participant about the aims of the study and/or using distracting questions.

Question 9

Explain one way to control investigator effects

Answer 9

Double Blind Design
- Both the participant and the person conducting the experiment are blind to the aims and/or hypothesis.
- Also the experimenter may be unaware which condition the participant is involved in.

Question 10

Explain another way to control investigator effects

Answer 10

Inter-rater reliability
- Multiple individuals record observations/ratings/etc of the same study then compare notes afterwards.

Question 11

How might we improve future research?

Answer 11

Standardisation and randomisation

Question 12

Define randomisation

Answer 12

Using a random system to decide the order of everything in the study to remove the chance of researcher influence.