Key Terms

Question 1

What is a lab experiment?

Answer 1

An experiment that is carried out in a highly controlled, artificial environment. An Iv is manipulated to see its effects on the dv, Evs can be controlled and allocation of participants to groups is within the experimenters control

Question 2

What is mean?

Answer 2

A measure of central tendency that shows the effect of a set of scores

Question 3

What is median?

Answer 3

The midpoint of the range numbers that are arranged in order of value

Question 4

What is the mode?

Answer 4

The value or item occurring most frequently in a series of observations or statistical data

Question 5

What is a natural experiment?

Answer 5

An experiment where the researcher cannot directly manipulate the Iv, but where the Iv varies naturally

Question 6

What is a null hypothesis?

Answer 6

The hypothesis that the manipulation of the Iv will have no affect on the dependant variable and any differences found would be due to chance.

Question 7

What is an observation?

Answer 7

Watching participants in either a controlled or natural environment with no manipulation of their behaviour. This can be overt or covert

Question 8

What is a case study ?

Answer 8

A form of descriptive research in which an in depth analysis is carried out on an individual, group or event.

Question 9

What is correlation?

Answer 9

A statistical analysis that measures the extent to which two variables are related to each other. A positive correlation means high values in one variable are associated with high values in the second. as one variable increases so does the other. A negative correlation means high values in one variable is associated with low values in the other

Question 10

What are demand characteristics?

Answer 10

Where participants change their behaviour because they believe they have guessed the purpose of the investigation. They do this to annoy or please the experimenter.

Question 11

What is a dependant variable?

Answer 11

The variable which is measured to see the effect of the manipulation of the independent variable.

Question 12

What is ecological validity?

Answer 12

The extent to which a study can be generalised to the real world because the methods, materials and setting of the experiment reflect the real life situation that is under investigation.

Question 13

What is an ethical issue?

Answer 13

These arise in research when there is a conflict between what the researcher wants to do and what is in the best interest of the participant.

Question 14

What is operationalisation?

Answer 14

The process of making a variable clearly defined so it can be tested/measured.

Question 15

What is qualitative data?

Answer 15

Research that emphasises the thoughts and feelings of participants. This type of data is presented in words rather than numbers.

Question 16

What is quantitative data?

Answer 16

Research that presents the findings in a form of numerical data.

Question 17

What is a quasi experiment?

Answer 17

There are two of these, those with a naturally occurring Iv (natural experiment) and those with no Iv; there is simply a difference between participants such as gender (difference studies)

Question 18

What is a questionnaire?

Answer 18

A form of data collection that uses written or spoken pre set questions

Question 19

What is a peer review?

Answer 19

A process by which other psychologists read and interrogate a piece of research to assess the validity of the research and accuracy of the statistical data.

Question 20

What is range?

Answer 20

Range is a measure of dispersion which shows the distance between the lowest and the highest value of a set of data

Question 21

What is reliability?

Answer 21

A measure of consistency- either over time and or situation (external reliability) or consistency within a measuring instrument (internal reliability)

Question 22

What is a sample?

Answer 22

A subset of the population drawn for testing purposes under the assumption that the results derived from or the behaviour of a randomly drawn sample can predict the results or behaviour of the population.

Question 23

What is social desirability bias?

Answer 23

The tendency for participants to give answers on a questionnaire or interview to put themselves into a positive light.

Question 24

What is an aim?

Answer 24

A statement of what the researcher intend to find out in a research study

Question 25

Hypothesis

Answer 25

A precise and testable statement of prediction about the assumed relationship between variables. Operationalisation is a key part of making the statement testable.

Question 26

What is debrief?

Answer 26

To inform the participant of the true nature of the study to restore them to the same state they were in at the start of the study.

Question 27

What are standardised procedures?

Answer 27

A set of procedure that are the same for all participants in order to be able to repeat the study

Question 28

Confounding variable

Answer 28

Any variable which varies systematically with the independent variable that might potentially affect the dependant variable and thereby confound the results

Question 29

Valid consent

Answer 29

Participants must be given comprehensive information concerning the nature and purpose of the research and their role in so they are able to make an informed judgement about whether to participate

Question 30

External validity

Answer 30

The degree to which a research finding can be generalised to other settings (ecological validity) to other groups of people (population validity) and over time (historical validity)

Question 31

Extraneous variables

Answer 31

Do not vary systematically with the Iv and therefore do not act as an alternative Iv but may also have an effect on the dependant variable. They are nuisance variables.

Question 32

Internal validity

Answer 32

The degree to which an observed effect was due to the experimental manipulation rather than other factors but as confounding/extraneous variables

Question 33

Mundane realism

Answer 33

Refers to how a study mirrors the real world. The research environment is realistic to the degree to which experiences encountered in the research environment will occur in the real world

Question 34

Validity

Answer 34

Refers to whether an observed effect is a genuine one

Question 35

Alternative hypothesis

Answer 35

Any hypothesis except the null hypothesis. It is an alternative to the null hypothesis.

Question 36

Confederate

Answer 36

An individual in a study who is not a real participant and has been instructed how to behave by the investigator

Question 37

What is a directional hypothesis?

Answer 37

States the direction of the predicted difference between two conditions or two groups of participants

Question 38

Experimental hypothesis

Answer 38

The term used to describe the alternative hypothesis in an experiment

Question 39

Non directional hypothesis

Answer 39

Predicts simply that there is a difference between two conditions or two groups of participants without stating the direction of the difference

Question 40

Null hypothesis

Answer 40

The assumption of no relationship between variables being studied

Question 41

Pilot study

Answer 41

A small-scale trial run of a study to test any aspects of the design with a view to making improvements

Question 42

What are order effects?

Answer 42

In a repeated measures design, an extraneous variable arising from the order in which conditions are presented such as fatigue effect or practice effect

Question 43

What is counterbalancing?

Answer 43

An experimental technique used to overcome order effects when using a repeated measures design

Question 44

What is experimental design?

Answer 44

A set of procedures Used to control the influence of factors such as participant variables in an experiment

Question 45

What is an independent groups design?

Answer 45

Participants are allocated to two or more groups representing different levels of the Iv. Allocation is usually done using random techniques

Question 46

What is a matched pair design?

Answer 46

Pairs of participants are matched in terms of key variables such as age and iq. One member of each pair are allocated to one of the conditions under test and the other under the other condition

Question 47

What is a repeated measures design?

Answer 47

Each participant takes part in every condition under test.