Scientific processes

Question 1

what are aims

Answer 1

the objective or purpose of the experiment

Question 2

what is bias

Answer 2

an inclination to a certain position or thought

Question 3

what are behavioural categories

Answer 3

an observational technique wherein participants possible behaviours are separated into more specific components. this allows for operationalisation of the behaviour

Question 4

what are closed questions

Answer 4

a type of question that can only be answered with a limited number of answers such as yes or no

Question 5

what is concurrent validity

Answer 5

occurs if a test is similar to an older test that already has well established validity

Question 6

what is a confounding variable

Answer 6

a type of extraneous variable that is related to the independent variable in the experiment

Question 7

what is a control variable

Answer 7

any variables that are kept constant through the experiment to prevent their effects on the dependent variable

Question 8

what is counterbalancing

Answer 8

to make half of the participants sample experience the different conditions of the experiment in one order, and the other half of the participants complete it in the opposite order

Question 9

what are demand characteristics

Answer 9

changes in the participants behaviour to comply with the hypothesis of the researcher

Question 10

what is a dependent variable

Answer 10

the variable that changes in response to manipulation of the researcher, that is being measured for the experiment.

Question 11

what is a directional hypothesis

Answer 11

a hypothesis that specifies the direction of the relationship of the experiment

Question 12

what is ecological validity

Answer 12

how well results from a test can be applied to real life

Question 13

what is event sampling

Answer 13

an observational technique wherein an observer records every time a particular behaviour or event occurs

Question 14

what is an extraneous variable

Answer 14

variables other than the independent variable that have an effect on the dependent variable

Question 15

what is face validity

Answer 15

if a test appears to be valid at first appearances, in spite of how well it works in a real world scenario

Question 16

what is falsifiability

Answer 16

the quality of being able to be proven wrong

Question 17

what is generalisation

Answer 17

to attribute information from a sample to the rest of the population

Question 18

what is a hypothesis

Answer 18

the prediction of the outcome of the experiment

Question 19

what is an independent groups design

Answer 19

an experimental design where different participants are involved in different condition s of the experiment.

Question 20

what is an independent variable

Answer 20

the variable that is manipulated by the researcher to observe its effects on the dependent variable

Question 21

what is inter observer reliability

Answer 21

when multiple investigators gather information separately during an observation and compare their data for similarity after

Question 22

what are investigation effects

Answer 22

unconscious changes in the investigators behaviour to comply with the hypothesis of the investigation

Question 23

what is matched pairs design

Answer 23

an experimental design in which participants in different conditions of the experiment are matched on certain variables to reduce the effect of participant variables

Question 24

what is a non directional hypothesis

Answer 24

a hypothesis that does not specify the direction of the relationship of the experiment

Question 25

what are open questions

Answer 25

a type of question that requires answers that are longer than yes or no

Question 26

what is operationalisation

Answer 26

to clearly state and objectify a variable

Question 27

what is opportunity sampling

Answer 27

a sampling technique that involves obtaining a sample via anyone that is available from the population at the time of collecting the sample

Question 28

what is peer review

Answer 28

the assessment of work by other people with similar levels of expertise in that field, to provide an unbiased expert opinion of the quality of said work

Question 29

what are pilot studies

Answer 29

trial studies carried out to ensure the clarity of the study itself

Question 30

what is a population

Answer 30

the group represented by a sample

Question 31

what is random allocation

Answer 31

to allocate participants to separate conditions using some sort of randomisation technique

Question 32

what is random sampling

Answer 32

a sampling technique that involves randomly generating participants from the population by any randomisation technique

Question 33

what is reliability

Answer 33

the extent to which the test can be repeated and gather similar results

Question 34

what is a repeated measures design

Answer 34

an experimental design where the same participants undergo all the conditions of the experiment

Question 35

what is replicability

Answer 35

how easily a test can be reproduced

Question 36

what is a sample

Answer 36

a smaller group that aims to be representative of a population

Question 37

what is standardisation

Answer 37

keeping the experimental methods as identical as possible

Question 38

what is stratified sampling

Answer 38

a sampling technique that involves establishing sub-groups within the population investigated and picking participants to create a representative sample

Question 39

what is systematic sampling

Answer 39

a sampling technique that involves establishing a method to pick participants evenly distributed through the population

Question 40

what is temporal validity

Answer 40

how well results from a test can be applies across time periods

Question 41

what is time sampling

Answer 41

an observational technique where an observer only records specific behaviours in specific time intervals

Question 42

what is validity

Answer 42

the extent to which a test measures what it aims to measure

Question 43

what is volunteer sampling

Answer 43

a sampling technique that involves using participants that volunteer to take part in the study, provided they meet the inclusion criteria