Experiment Flashcards
Lab Experiment +
- good control of extraneous variables
- determine causal relationships
- standardised procedures means it can be replicated, improving reliability
Lab Experiment -
- artificial situation means because is unrepresentative
- participants may respond to demand characteristics
- Investigator effects may bias results
Field Experiment +
- representative behaviour
- unaware they are in a study so less problematic demand characteristics
Field Experiment -
- harder to control extraneous variables, therefore to establish causes and effect
- fewer controls so harder to replicate
- if unaware they are in a study, unethical
Quasi +
- can study real-world issues
- more representative behaviour if in normal environment
- unaware in they a study so less problematic demand characteristics
- can investigate variables that couldn’t be practically or ethically manipulated
Quasi -
- only possible when naturally occurring differences arise
- difficult to control extraneous variables
- less certain about C+E
- can’t be replicated
Situational Variables
Aspects of the environment that may affect behaviour, e.g. noise, temperature, lighting.
Controls: using standardised procedure and instructions
Participant Variables
Ways in which participants vary from one another, e.g. mood, intelligence, nerves
Controls: using matched pairs or repeated measures design
Also includes order effects which could be controlled using counterbalancing, prevents results being due to practice or boredom
Experimenter Effects
When the experimenter unconsciously conveys how participants should behave through unintentional cues
Controls: following a standardised procedure or using a double-blind technique
Demand Characteristics
Clues in the experiment that convey the purpose of the research, social desirability for example
Controls: standardised procedure or using single-blind technique
