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research methods year 12, question, what will you measure (dependant…
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- question, what will you measure (dependant variable)
- then you operationalise the DV
their are often two conditions to the IV, in order to construct a experiment we need to compare these two conditions
- then make a hypothesis, this is what we expect to find a statement of a relationship between the IV and DV
- standardised procedures are when participants do the same in each condition
- you will need to also control extraneous variables
- confounding variables
is a variable that is not the IV but varies systematically under the IV. Changes in the dv may be to due with the confounding variable and not the iv
extraneous variables do not very systematically with the IV but they may have affect on the dependent variable
- Realism
Mundane realism refers to how an experiment mirrors the real world if a study is too artificial then the participants would not act as they would normally
- generalisation
can the findings be able to understand behaviour in everyday life
- materials, environment and people may cause lack of realism
Validity
- Internal
Whether the IV caused the change or was it a confounding variables or if the study lacked mundane realism
-To gain high internal validity, researches must control confounding and extraneous variables and ensure they are testing what they intended to test
- External
Whether the findings can be generalised
- the place where the research is conducted (ecological validity)
- the people who are studied (population validity)
- the historical period (historical validity)
- Directional hypothesis: states the expected direction
People who do their homework without the TV produce better results from those who do homework with te tv on
- Non-Directional hypothesis: states their is a difference between two conditions
People who who do homework with the TV on will produce different results from those who do homework with the tv of
- Pilot studies
small scale trail run of research design, this is done to find out whether certain aspects of the the designs do or don't work
REPEATED MEASURES DESIGN
- All participants do all levels of the IV
for example one week the participants will do their homework with the Tv on then the next week they will do it with the tv of
The performances are compared
EVALUATION
- the order of the conditions may affect performance (order effect) may perform better because of practise effect or less anxiety or do worse because of boredom effect
On the 2nd condition the participants may of guessed the purpose experiment (demand characteristics)
- they could deal with order effects using counterbalancing
INDEPENDANT GROUPS DESIGN
- Participants placed in separate groups, each group does one level of the IV
then compared the performance of the two groups
EVALUATION
- Individual differences will effect the performance as the groups are not matched on abilities, one group may have a better memory than the other group(confounding variable)
need more participants
- they could deal with this by random allocation in theory to distribute participants evenly
MATCHED PAIRS DESIGN
- Have two groups but the groups are matched on the characterises believed to effect performance on the DV one member of the pair is put into group b and the other member is put into group a
EVALUATION
- it is very time consuming and difficult to match
its is not possible to match all participant's variables
- counterbalancing
ensures all conditions in repeated measures design is tested first or second in equal amounts
- way 1, AB or BA
divide participant's into two groups,
group 1, each participant does A then B
group 2, each participant does B then A
- way 2. ABBA
each participant takes part twice
Condition A (morning)
Condition B (Afternoon)
Condition B (Afternoon)
Condition A (Morning)
Then compare 1,4 with 2,3
- Lab experiment- conducted in a special environment where variables are controlled and the participants know they are taking part in a study
lab experiments also use artificial materials
Evaluation
- strengths,
high in external validity as extraneous variables can be controlled, be confident any changes in the IV is caused by the DV
- Limitations
Participants are usually aware leading to demand characteristics thus reducing realness (ecological validity)
the IV or DV may be operationalised that doesn't represent real life leads to low ecological validity
and the setting may cause low ecological validity
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- a field experiment is conducted in a natural setting, the IV is deliberately manipulated by the researcher and the researcher measures the DV, however in a field experiment they are usually not aware they are in a experiment
Evaluations
- strengths
participants are less likely to respond to demand characteristics a field experiment is conducted in a mor natural setting so participants may be more relaxed
- limitations
IV may lack lack mundane realism
more differcult to control extraneous variables
ethical issues, deception
- natural experiment
investigate relationship between IV and DV but the IV cannot be directly manipulated so the IV varies naturally
Evaluation
- strengths
High ecological validity, and mundane realism as it enables psychologists to study real problems
- limitations
cannot demonstrate a causal relationship because IV is not directly manipulated
random allocation is not possible so there may be confounding variables decreased internal validity
- quasi-experiment
investigate relationships between IV and DV but the IV is a characteristic of a person such as gender, age
- strengths
allows comparisons between types of people
- limitations
participants may be aware they are being studied creating DC reducing internal validity
the dependant variable may be a artificial task
- demand characteristics
when participants are aware of the aims of the study this can make the participant be more helpful.
- investigator effects, when anything the investigator does that has a an effect on the participant's performance, this can be direct and indirect. This may act as a confounding variable
- How to deal with these problems
- single blind design, participant is not aware of the researcher aims or which condition they are in
- double blind design, when the participant and the person conducting the experiment are blind
- experimental realism, the experimenter makes a task engaging that the participant forgets they are being observed
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