Research methods Flashcards
What is meant by participant reactivity ?
Ppts are not passive in an experiment
An extraneous variable
Ppts will be trying to make sense of the situation
Effect of this is demand characteristics
What is an Independent variable?
Something that the researcher changes or manipulates to observe effects. It is the thing being changed
What is meant by Dependent variable?
Something that is measured to see if there is any change. Generally described as the outcome. The thing that i being measured
What is the definition of an extraneous variable?
An outside variable which can influence/ have an effect on the outcome
What is repeated measures design and what are the advantages and disadvantages?
-Same ppts used in both conditions
Advantages:
+ Controls for individual differences
+ Fewer total ppts required (saves time and energy)
Disadvantages:
- Order effects
- Demand characteristics
What is independent measures design and what are advantages and disadvantages?
-Different ppts used conditions
Advantages:
+ No order effects as ppts only take part in one condition
+ Can be useful when looking at gender differences
+ Cheap and quick to recruit ppts compared to matched pairs design
Disadvantage:
- Ppts variables which are not controlled (personality, IQ…). Acts as confounding variables, researcher cannot control these variables.
Explain matched pairs design and its advantages and disadvantages
-Match similar ppts together so you can compare these two results together as they are similar
-Find out the type of people and match them with similar people to take part in the other condition
Advantage:
+ Controls for induvial differences between ppts
+ Researcher can compare results without individual differences affecting results
Disadvantage:
-Difficult to match people
-It is time consuming due to the pre test on matching which takes place before hand
-This can be costly financially
Strengths of laboratory experiments
+Control over extraneous variables
+Cause and effect be established
+Replicable due to high control of extraneous variables + use of standardised procedures
+Results can be checked for reliability s the same experiment can be conducted on multiple ppts
Weaknesses of laboratory experiments
-Lack of ecological validity due to artificial setting. Difficult to generalise the findings to the real world
-Demand characteristics. Ppts behaviour may not be natural due to the artificial set up of the environment. Ppts figure out the aims of the experiment (Please-U and Screw-U)
-Low mundane realism. Tasks carried out in lab experiments makes the results difficult to generalise to rea life
Difference between mundane realism and ecological validity
Ecological validity = To do with the environment
Mundane realism = To do with the task
Definition of a lab experiment
Takes place in a controlled artificial environment and the researcher directly manipulates the IV to see effects on DV
Definition of a field experiment
Field experiments are performed in a natural setting such as hospitals, schools, factories, trains or even on the street
IV is manipulated by researcher. Difficult to control extraneous variables in this type of experiment
What is a field experiment?
What are the advantages?
What are the disadvantages?
What it is
Conducted in a natural setting, IV manipulated by the researcher
Advantages
-High external validity which means you can generalise it to real life situations -(people show more naturalistic behaviours)
-no demand characteristics
Disadvantages
hard to control extraneous variables
could argue that result may not be due to IV
What is internal validity?
Has the IV changed the DV or as if it something changed the DV like extraneous variables or confounding variables?
What is external validity?
Can you apply the findings to the public or day to day life? (generalisability)
