Experimental Method

Question 1

What is an Aim

Answer 1

Aims are Developed from theories and are general statements that describe the purpose of an investigation.

Question 2

What is a hypothesis

Answer 2

A testable statement which predicts the outcome at the start of a study.

Question 3

What is a directional hypothesis

Answer 3

Identifies the direction of difference between two conditions.

Question 4

What is a non directional hypothesis

Answer 4

States a difference between conditions but the nature of the difference is not made clear. Non-directional hypothesis are used when there is no previous research, or previous studies are contradictory.

Question 5

what is an independant variable

Answer 5

An independent variable is the variable that is changed or manipulated by the experimenter.

Question 6

what is a dependant variable

Answer 6

A dependent variable is the variable that is measured by the experimenter.

Question 7

Why do we need to operationalise variables

Answer 7

Variables being investigated should be clearly defined and measurable.

Question 8

Why are there usually 2 levels of independant variables and what are they

Answer 8

experimental condition and the control condition.

The control condtion gives us something to compare results with.