Extraneus And Confodunding Variables Flashcards
(16 cards)
What is an extraneous variable ?
Any variable other than the independent variable that if left uncontrolled could affect/impact the dependent variable
What is a confounding variable ?
This is when the extraneous variables are not controlled , they confound results
What are participant variables ?
Any characteristic of the individual participant that could affect the results.
What are situational variables ?
Features of the research situation which might influence the participant’s behaviour.
What is participant reactivity?
Occurs when the participant actively seeks clues about how to behave and then responds accordingly.
What is random allocation ?
A method used to assign participants to different experimental conditions purely by chance, ensuring each participant has equal opportunity to be in any group, minimising bias and maximising validity.
Methods : name into a hat or name generator.
What is order effects ?
Is a repeated measure design, a confounding variable arising from the order in which orders are presented. E.g. practice effect or boredom effect. The result is affected by the participant ing the study twice. It is a situational variable.
What is investigator effects ?
Any effect of the investigators behaviour on the outcome of the research (the DV) and also on design decisions. It is a situational variable.
What are demand characteristics ?
Any cue from the researcher or from the research investigation that may be interpreted by the participants as revealing the purpose of an investigation. This may lead to a participant changing their behaviour to fit the investigation. This is a situational variable.
What are standardised procedures and instructions?
Using exactly the same, formalised procedures / instructions for all participants in a study, otherwise differences become EVs.
Procedures increase reliability and instructions increase validity. Always ask if the participants understand the task.
What is randomisation?
The use of chance when designing investigation to control for effects of bias. E.g. allocating participants to certain conditions. It involves the resources you are using.
What is counter balancing ?
An attempt to control the effects of order effects in a repeated measures design : half of the participants experience the conditions in one order, then the other half experience it in reverse.
Example :
Group 1 : Method A / Method B
Group 2 : Method B / Method A
What is the double blind procedure?
Both participants and the researchers don’t know the aim of the research I order to reduce the effects of demand characteristics and investigator effects.
What is the single blind procedure ?
The participants don’ know the aim of the study so that demand characteristics are reduced.
What is social desirability ?
A tendency for respondents to in such a way that presents themselves in a better light and don’t feel judged for their real beliefs or actions. It is a participant reactivity variable.
What is the please-U-effect and the screw-U-effect ?
This is when participants act in a way that they believe is expected of them either to over-perform(please-U-effect) or under-perform(screw-U-effect) and unknowingly sabotage the experiment.
