Research Methods : Experiments Flashcards
(20 cards)
What is an experiment
- the most common way of studying behaviour
- a method used to test a hypothesis
- used to establish cause and effect between IV and the DV
What is a lab experiment
- takes place in a controlled and artificial setting
- IV is manipulated
- DV is measured
What is a field experiment
- takes place in a natural setting
- IV is manipulated
- DV is measured
What is a quasi experiment
- IV is naturally ocurring
- DV is measured
- it can take place in either a a controlled or natural setting
Give two strengths of a lab experiment
high levels of control over extraneous variables = cause and effect can be established
highly standardised allowing replication of study - ability to test reliability/repeat study increasing internal reliability
Give two strengths of a filed experiment
high ecological validity = can generalise behaviour to real life
reduced demand characteristics = increased validity
Give two strengths of a experiment a quasi experiment
researcher can use a naturally occurring IV = enables us to study unethical / impractical to manipulate behaviours
high control over extraneous when in a lab = establish cause and effect
Give two weaknesses of a lab experiment
low ecological validity = hard to generalise to real life so less useful
high risk of demand characteristics = lack of validity
Give two weaknesses of a field experiment
ethical issues may arise as participants don’t always know they are being studied = can damage reputation of psychology
lacks control of extraneous variables = lack validity so harder to establish cause and effect
Give two weaknesses of a quasi experiment
participants belong to either one condition or another this can’t be controlled/ randomly allocated which may increase individual differences = lack of validity
often conducted in labs so it can be unnatural and the study can lack ecological validity = can’t generalise to real life
Define independent measures
two or more experimental conditions and different participants take part in each one
Define repeated measures
one group of participants and they take part in all conditions
Define Matched participants
Two different groups of p’s are used but the researcher allocates p’s to each group carefully to ensure that the groups match in terms of key characteristics that could affect the results
Give strengths of the independent measures design
No risk of order effects like practice boredom - increasing internal validity
Give strengths of the repeated measures design
No risk of individual differences influencing results, increasing internal validity
its the economical method and quickest as fewer participants need to be recruited
Give strengths of the matched participants design
no risk of order effect, increasing internal validity
reduced risk of demand characteristics as participants are matched before hand
Give weaknesses of the independent measures design
high risk of individual differences effecting the results therefore, decreasing the internal validity
potentially time consuming / expensive as you have to gather more participants
Give weaknesses of the repeated measures design
Risk of order effects effecting the results , decreasing the internal validity
Give a weaknesses of the matched participants design
quite time consuming to carry out, especially with larger samples
How can we overcome order effects that could arise during the repeated measures design
through counterbalancing
- split participants in half
- Group A does condition 1 then 2
- Group B does condition 2 then 1
