research methods

Question 1

a general expression of what the research intends to investigate

Answer 1

Aim

Question 2

a precise/ testable statement of what the researchers predict will be the outcome of the study

Answer 2

Hypothesis

Question 3

what we control/manipulate

Answer 3

Independant variable

Question 4

what we are measuring

Answer 4

Dependant variable

Question 5

all the other parts of the experiment that may affect the DV and therefore should be controlled

Answer 5

Extraneous variables

Question 6

to make the hypothesis testable and measurable

Answer 6

Operationalisation

Question 7

predicts there will be no difference between conditions, only difference is due to chance

Answer 7

Null hypothesis

Question 8

predicts a difference between conditions

Answer 8

experimental/ alternative hypothesis

Question 9

predicts a difference between conditions and states the direction of the difference

Answer 9

directional hypothesis

Question 10

predicts a difference between the conditions but does not state the direction

Answer 10

non-directional hypothesis

Question 11

if there is existing published scientific evidence

Answer 11

when do we use a directional hypothesis?

Question 12

how to write a null hypothesis

Answer 12

there will be no difference in (DV) for ppts in (IV1) compared to (IV2).

Question 13

how to write a non-directional hypothesis

Answer 13

there will be a difference in (DV) for ppts in (IV1) compared to (IV2).

Question 14

how to write a directional hypothesis

Answer 14

ppts who (IV1) will have (higher/lower DV) than (IV2)

Question 15

what is a lab experiment

Answer 15

conducted in an artificial controlled environment

Question 16

what is a field experiment

Answer 16

conducted in a more natural environment and IV is still deliberately manipulated by researcher

Question 17

what is a natural experiment

Answer 17

conducted in the everyday environment and researchers have no control over the IV (IV = setting or naturally occurring)

Question 18

what is a quasi experiment

Answer 18

IV is based on a natural existing difference between people. reseacher does not control IV it just exists (IV=person)

Question 19

what is a standardised experiment

Answer 19

all the ppts are treated in exactly the same way

Question 20

reliability

Answer 20

consistency
allows for replication

Question 21

internal validity

Answer 21

whether the results of an experiment were due to the manipulation of the IV rather than other factors

Question 22

mundane realism

Answer 22

how a study mirrors the real world, is it artificial?

Question 23

demand characteristics

Answer 23

where ps guess the aim of the study and change their behaviour accordingly, please you or screw you effect.

Question 24

external validity

Answer 24

whether its possible to generalise the results beyond the experimental setting

Question 25

temporal validity

Answer 25

how likely it is that the time period when a study was conducted has influenced the findings and if they can be generalised to other periods of time

Question 26

ecological validity

Answer 26

the extent to which the findings of a research study are able to be generalised to real-life settings

Question 27

population validity

Answer 27

whether the results of a study can be generalised to different sections of the population e.g gender

Question 28

experimental group

Answer 28

group exposed to the IV

Question 29

control group

Answer 29

not exposed to IV and used as a comparison

Question 30

independant group design

Answer 30

when ppts only take part in 1 condition

Question 31

matched pairs design

Answer 31

each ppts take part in 1 conditions but are matched on variables relevant to the study. e.g IQ, gender

Question 32

repeated measures

Answer 32

when ppts take part in both conditions

Question 33

experimental designs

Answer 33

how we use the ppts across the designs

Question 34

how are ppts randomly allocated

Answer 34

by the lottery method our a random name generator to reduce bias.

Question 35

what is the relationship between control and realism in experiments?

Answer 35

a trade off between control and realism, high control (internal validity) means there will be low realism (external validity).

Question 36

what are confounding variables?

Answer 36

variables that have effected the results

Question 37

what are uncontrolled variables?

Answer 37

variables that cannot be controlled