Error And Control Flashcards
What are the two categories of error associated with measurement?
- Random Error
- Constant/ Systematic errors
What do Random errors do?
Obscure the results
What do Constant errors do?
Bias the results
Which are more problematic, constant or random errors and why?
Constant because random errors will usually average out whereas Constant errors will add errors to all the results
What are extraneous variables?
undesirable variables that add error to our experiments and the measurement of the dependent variable
What is a way to control the influence of extraneous variables?
- Random allocation
- Counterbalance
What are confounding variables?
- extraneous variables that disproportionately affect one level of the IV more than other levels
- Add systematic error at the level of the IV
What do confounding variables do?
introduce a threat to the internal validity of our experiments
What can confounding variables result in us measuring?
- An effect of the IV on the DV when it is not present
- No effect of the IV on the DV when it is present
What are ways researchers eliminate/control confounding variables (turning them into extraneous variables?
- Choice of subject design depending on main concerns (e.g. individual differences vs order effects)
- where this is not possible aim to control the groups through random allocation, matching, counterbalancing and control group
What is internal validity?
Whether the variable we are interested in is the only thing that has an effect on the IV
How can the many sources of confounding variables be categorised?
- Selection
- History
- Maturation
- Instrumentation
What is selection?
- Bias resulting from the selection or assignment of participants to different levels to the IV
- Results if participants who are assigned to different levels of the IV differ systematically in some way that could influence the measurement of the DV (other than the manipulation of interest)
How can you help control selection and what is it a particular problem for?
- random allocation helps control it
- Particular problem for quasi-experimental designs
What is history?
- Uncontrolled events that take place between testing conditions (that aren’t related to participants themselves e.g. testing conditions different in morning to afternoon)
What is maturation?
- Intrinsic changes in the characteristics of participants between different test occasions (e.g. having had practice between the two, or they get older)
What is a way to control maturation?
Counterbalancing
What is instrumentation?
- Changes in the sensitivity or reliability of measurement instruments during the course of the study
- Could also be human error
What is reactivity and when can it threaten internal validity?
- the awareness that they are being observed may alter behaviour
- can threaten internal validity if participants are more influenced by reactivity at one level of the IV than the other
What are demand characteristics?
- results from reactivity
- Participants do what they think the experimenter wants them to do
What does experimenter bias result from?
Reactivity
What is a way to overcome reactivity
use blind designs but only with between Ps designs. E.g. Ps don’t know if a drink contains alcohol. A double blind design is when the experimenter doesn’t know either
What is precision?
Exactness (consistency)
What is accuracy?
correctness (truthfulness)