deciding on a research question

variables

extraneous variables

aims and hypothesis

writing a hypothesis

OPERATIONALISING VARIABLES- defining variables in form so they can easily be manipulated or measured e.g. operationalising intelligence as an IQ score

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE (IV)- this is the variable that the researcher changes/manipulates to see if it has an effect on the DV

DEPENDENT VARIABLE (DV)- this is the variable that the researcher measures

CO-VARIABLES- the two variables measured in a correlation study

EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES- variables in a study that are not being measured or manipulated by the researcher but affect the results (DV) of all participants' behaviour equally

CONFOUNDING VARIABLES- variables in a study that are not being measured or manipulated by the researcher that affect some participants' behaviours but not others, having negative consequences for validity

4 main causes of extraneous variables- 1. situational factors (things to do with the environment the research is carried out in e.g. temperature, time of day or noise) 2. participant variables (things to do with the participants e.g. ages, gender, IQ, eyesight, hearing, personality) 3. experimenter variables (things to do with the researcher e.g. investigator effects) 4. order effects (practicing or getting bored have an effect on the participants' results)

PARTICIPANT VARIABLES- related to individual characteristics of each participant that may impact how he or she responds. examples of these factors are background differences, mood, anxiety, intelligence, awareness and other characteristics that are unique to each person. possible ways to deal with these is by using a repeated measures experimental design (same participants in both experimental and control condition) or matching the participants on abilities, characteristic or backgrounds in each condition (matched pairs design)

ORDER EFFECTS- refers to differences in participants' responses that result from the order (e.g. first, second, third) in which the experimental materials are presented to them. order effects can occur in any kind of research. in questionnaire research people may answer questions differently depending on the order in which the questions are asked however order effects are of special concern in repeated measures experimental designs (when the same participants are in all conditions and the researcher wants to compare responses between conditions) the problem is that the order in which these conditions are presented may affect the outcome of the study as the participants will get better at an activity e.g. memory test or get bored of doing multiple tests and do not pay as much attention or they work out the aim of the study and change their behaviour to help the researcher (demand characteristics). to deal with order effects the researcher counter balances the order of the conditions for the participants. alternating the order in which the participants perform in different conditions of an experiment should counterbalance any effects of getting bored of repeating an activity. sometimes called the ABBA design.

SITUATIONAL VARIABLES- factors in an environment that can unintentionally affect the dependent variable. e.g. noise, other people, temperature, odours, lighting or time of day. controlled using standardised procedures to ensure that all participants are tested under the same conditions meaning the environment is controlled

RESEARCHER EFFECTS- occur when a researcher unintentionally or unconsciously influences the outcome of the research they are conducting. 1. non-verbal communication (communicate feelings without realising e.g. raised eyebrow) 2. physical characteristics (appearance of the researcher e.g. gender) 3. bias in interpretation of data (interpreting results in a different way as they feel their view is the correct one). dealt with using a double blind design meaning both the participant and the person conducting the research don't know the aim of the research so it cant affect the participants' performamce

AIMS- a statement of what a researcher intends to find out in their research study

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS- a prediction of the outcomes of a research study. experimental hypothesis- research hypothesis for experiments (difference in DV when IV is changed). alternative hypothesis- hypothesis for non-experiments (e.g. correlation studdies)

NULL HYPOTHESIS- a prediction that any difference or correlation is not significant and is due to chance

directional hypothesis- predicts the direction a DV will change when the IV is manipulated or the direction of relationship (+OR-) in a correlation study

non-directional- predicts there will be a change on the DV when an IV has has been manipulated or that there will be a relationship in a correlation study. it does not predict a direction

non-directional 1. identify the method (experimental or correlation). 2. identify the operationalised variable in this scenario (IV and DV or co-variables) you will need to include the variables in your hypothesis. 3. say that there will be a significant difference/correlation but don't say which way it will go

directional 1. identify the method (experiment or correlation). 2. identify the operationalised variables in this scenario (IV and DV or co-variables) you will need to include the variables (operationalised) in your hypothesis. 3. say that there will be a significant difference/correlation and say in which direction you think it will go

null hypothesis 1. identify the method (experiment or correlation). 2. identify the operationalised variables in this scenario (IV and DV or co-variables) you will need to include the variables (operationalised) in your hypothesis. 3. say that any difference in the DV or relationship between co-variables will be due to chance