research procedures

• There are four ways in which we can try to control any extraneous variables:

  • Instructions to participants
  • Standardised Procedures
  • Randomisation
  • Counterbalancing
• Standardised Instructions

  • All participants must receive the SAME instructions, usually written down before hand by the researcher and read out word for word.

  These will include

  • Information about the task
  • How the participants write down their answers
  • What a participant can do if they wish to leave the experiment

  This makes it a fair test and all participants are treated in the

  same way

  • This is to make sure what is said to them does not act as an extraneous variable
• Standardised Procedure

  • The standardised instructions are part of the standardised procedures
  • meaning all participants should be given the same information at the start of the study
  • identical instructions and the same environment.
  • The same methods and instructions are used
  • The only thing which should differ is the IV.
• Randomisation

  • using chance during the design of the investigation
  • meaning key aspects of the procedure are not decided by the researcher but are decided randomly.
  • This reduces bias.
  • E.g. in the primacy and recency experiment, the order of the words should be decided randomly so easy words are not put at the start of the list which may affect results!
  • This is very similar to random allocation – how participants are assigned to conditions e.g. pulling names out of a hat
• Counterbalancing

  • This occurs in a repeated measures design
  • is done to ensure order effects are minimised.
  • It involves half of the participants doing conditions A and then B and the other half doing B and then A.
• • Random Allocation: Specifically focuses on assigning participants to groups in a way that reduces bias.
  • Randomization: A broader term that includes any use of random methods in the study design, including sampling