Experimental Methods: Experimental Methods

Question 1

● What is a lab experiment?

Answer 1

An experiment conducted in a controlled environment

Question 2

● What is the IV in a lab experiment?

Answer 2

The variable that is manipulated

Question 3

● What is the DV in a lab experiment?

Answer 3

The variable that is measured

Question 4

● What is a field experiment?

Answer 4

An experiment conducted in a natural environment

Question 5

● What is a natural experiment?

Answer 5

An experiment where the IV occurs naturally

Question 6

● What is a quasi experiment?

Answer 6

An experiment with a naturally occurring IV like gender

Question 7

● What is the key feature of a lab experiment?

Answer 7

High control over extraneous variables

Question 8

● What is a key feature of a field experiment?

Answer 8

Takes place in a real-world setting

Question 9

● What is manipulated in a natural experiment?

Answer 9

Nothing—the IV occurs naturally

Question 10

● What is manipulated in a quasi experiment?

Answer 10

Nothing—the IV is an existing difference

Question 11

● Can a quasi experiment be conducted in a lab?

Answer 11

Yes

Question 12

● Can a quasi experiment be conducted in the field?

Answer 12

Yes

Question 13

● What is high reliability?

Answer 13

The study can be repeated to get consistent results

Question 14

● What does ecological validity mean?

Answer 14

How well results generalise to real-life settings

Question 15

● Which experiment type is most prone to demand characteristics?

Answer 15

Lab experiment

Question 16

● Which experiment has the lowest ecological validity?

Answer 16

Lab experiment

Question 17

● What kind of IV does a natural experiment use?

Answer 17

A naturally occurring IV

Question 18

● What kind of IV does a quasi experiment use?

Answer 18

A pre-existing characteristic like gender

Question 19

● What environment does a field experiment use?

Answer 19

A real-life setting like a school

Question 20

● What does cause and effect mean?

Answer 20

Showing the IV affects the DV

Question 21

▲ Which experimental method allows cause and effect to be established?

Answer 21

Lab experiment

Question 22

▲ Which experimental method has high ecological validity but low reliability?

Answer 22

Field experiment

Question 23

▲ Why is a lab experiment high in reliability?

Answer 23

It can be repeated under the same conditions

Question 24

▲ Why might participants behave unnaturally in lab experiments?

Answer 24

They are aware they are being studied

Question 25

▲ Why is informed consent difficult in field experiments?

Answer 25

Participants may not know they are in a study

Question 26

▲ Why are natural experiments used in rare situations?

Answer 26

The IV occurs without researcher control

Question 27

▲ Why can't cause and effect be established in natural experiments?

Answer 27

There is no control over the IV

Question 28

▲ What makes quasi experiments vulnerable to sample bias?

Answer 28

Participants share characteristics like gender

Question 29

▲ Why is it hard to replicate a natural experiment?

Answer 29

The naturally occurring event may not happen again

Question 30

▲ Which experiment allows manipulation of the IV but in a natural setting?

Answer 30

Field experiment

Question 31

▲ Why are lab experiments low in ecological validity?

Answer 31

The setting is artificial

Question 32

▲ Why are natural experiments sometimes more ethical?

Answer 32

They do not require manipulating sensitive variables

Question 33

▲ Why can demand characteristics occur in lab experiments?

Answer 33

Participants guess the aim and change behaviour

Question 34

▲ How is ecological validity affected in a natural experiment?

Answer 34

It is usually higher due to real-life settings

Question 35

▲ Why is quasi experimental data harder to generalise?

Answer 35

The sample may not represent the population

Question 36

✪ Why is cause and effect more likely in lab experiments than natural experiments?

Answer 36

Lab experiments control EVs and manipulate the IV

Question 37

✪ How do demand characteristics lower internal validity in lab experiments?

Answer 37

Participants may help or hinder based on perceived aims

Question 38

✪ Why do natural experiments lack internal validity?

Answer 38

They have low control over extraneous variables

Question 39

✪ Why are field experiments harder to replicate than lab experiments?

Answer 39

The environment is natural and uncontrolled

Question 40

✪ How can ethical issues in field experiments lower validity?

Answer 40

Lack of consent or withdrawal affects participant behaviour

Question 41

✪ Why are lab experiments high in internal validity but low in external validity?

Answer 41

Controlled setting increases accuracy but reduces generalisability

Question 42

✪ What is a major limitation of using quasi experiments to draw conclusions?

Answer 42

The sample may be biased due to shared characteristics

Question 43

✪ Why can sample bias in quasi experiments affect external validity?

Answer 43

The results may not apply to the target population

Question 44

✪ Why does a high level of control in lab experiments increase internal validity?

Answer 44

It isolates the effect of the IV on the DV

Question 45

✪ Why does ecological validity matter when evaluating experimental methods?

Answer 45

It affects whether findings generalise to real life