Types of Experiment Flashcards
(14 cards)
Lab experiment
- A lab experiment is where the researcher has a high level of control over all of the variables in the experiment
-The experimenter can control environmental factors e.g noise and temperature while also controlling the experience of the participants by using standardised procedures
Independent Variable definition
-Independent variable is the variable that the researcher manipulates between the conditions of the experiment
How does a lab experiment measure how the changing of a specific variable (independent variable) changes another variable (dependent variable)
-Any changes in the dependent variable is measure while any other factors that affect the DV are kept consistent across the experiment
-This is so the experimenter can measure the effect of changing a specific variable (independent) on another specific variable (dependent)
Advantages of lab experiments (multiple)
-By keeping all of the ohter factors outside of the dependent variable and independent variable consistent, researchers can be confident when establishing a cause and effect relationship between two factors (IV and DV)
-Lab experiments have a high internal validity, meaning that any observable difference in the DV is due to the manipulation/changing of the IV
-Lab experiments are easy to replicate due to the use of standardised procedures
Disadvantages of Lab experiments (multiple)
-Lab experiments may lack ecological validity meaning that findings from the lab studies cannot be applied to a range of real-life situations
-Tasks conducted in lab experiments are often not realistic to tasks in everyday life, therefore the tasks lack mundane realism, lowering the external validity
-In lab experiments, participants are aware that they are taking part in a study, they may alter their behaviour due to demand characteristics, changing their behaviour to match the aim of the experiment
Field experiment
-A field experiment is an experiment that is conducted in naturalistic settings to avoid the artificial nature of lab studies
-Locations can include anywhere that participants are expected to behave normally e.g shops, work or school
Advantages of Field experiments
-Participants are more likely to exhibit normal behaviour in naturalistic settings, therefore observations can be applied to real world situations
-Tasks in field experiments a likely to have higher mundane realism, meaning they will be closer to everyday tasks
-The participants will be unaware that they are taking part in an experiment, meaning they will not show demand characteristics
Disadvantages of field experiments
-In field experiments, it is difficult to randomly assign participants to separate conditions, therefore participant variables often affect the dependent variable, reducing the internal validity of the experiment
-Field experiments lack control over extraneous variables affecting the dependent variable meaning that researchers have less confidence when establishing cause and effect between two variables
Natural experiment
A natural experiment is when the two levels of Independent variable naturally occur (in the real world) without the influence of the researcher
-The researcher records the change in the dependent variable between the two levels of the Independent variable
-The independent variable is NOT changed between conditions of the experiment, extraneous variables that affect the dependent variable are NOT controlled
When do natural experiments occur
-Natural experiments can occur when a natural event causes people to form into levels of the independent variable e.g a natural disaster or a political decision
Advantages of natural experiments
-Natural experiments allow research into areas that would not be able to be studied in controlled experiments either due to ethical concerns or cost issues
-Natural experiments have a very high external validity as the behaviour observed is free of demand characteristics
Disadvantages of natural experiments
-Extraneous variables cannot be controlled by the researcher as the event will occur whether or not the researcher is there ; therefore a cause and effect relationships cannot be established
-There are often rare events that cannot be replicated exactly in order to test reliability
Quasi experiment
-A quasi experiment is when the participants cannot be randomly assigned to conditions as these groups already exist e.g gender age ehtnicity
-The independent variable already exists within the participant and the dependent variable is measure while all extraneous variables are kept the same
Advantages of Quasi experiment
-Quasi experiment is the only experiment for
