Scientific Processes

• What is an aim?


  a general statement about what the researcher intends to investigate
• What is a hypothesis?


  a clear/precise and measurable statement that states the relationship between the variables to be investigated
• What is a directional hypothesis?


  can predict the direction of results
• What is a non-directional hypothesis?


  can't predict direction of results
• What is a dependent variable (DV)

  the variable that is measured
• What is the experimental method?


  A systematic approach to testing hypotheses through controlled experiments
• What is meant by the levels of the IV?

  Different conditions of an independent variable used in an experiment
• What does operationalisation mean in research?

  Making the variables as precise as possible and measurable
• What is an independent variable (IV)?


  the variable that we change/manipulate
• What is a double blind test?

  when both the participant and investigator doesn’t know the aim of the experiment
• What is a single blind test?


  A test where participants do not know which condition they’re in
• When should you use a directional hypothesis?

  if there has been prior research
• When should you use a non-directional hypothesis?

  if there has been no prior research
• What are the ingredients of a hypothesis?

  1. identify IV + DV
  2. operationalise IV + DV
  3. decide whether hypothesis is directional or not
  4. mention both conditions (levels of the IV)
• What are the steps of the Scientific Process?

  1. Observation
  2. Question
  3. Aim/Hypothesis
  4. Experiment
  5. Data Analysis + Conclusion
  6. Develop Theory
• What is a pilot study?

  a small scale test run of the study you plan to run
• Why do a pilot study?

  1. identify potential flaws/issues
  2. rectify potential flaws/issues
  3. increase validity
  4. save time + money
• What are the pros of doing a single blind study?

  reduces demand characteristics therefore increasing internal validity
• What are the cons of doing a single blind study?

  experimenter bias -> extraneous variable
• What are the pros of doing a double blind study?

  • reduces demand characteristics -> increasing internal validity
  • prevents experimenter bias -> increasing internal validity
• What is the definition of a sample?

  smaller group to work with when there are too many people in target population
• What is the definition of a target population?

  subset of population you have access to
• What is the definition of a population?


  the group of people we are interested in
• What are the different sampling techniques?

  1. random sampling
  2. systematic sampling
  3. stratified sampling
  4. opportunity sampling
  5. volunteer sampling
• How does random sampling work?

  1. obtain a list of names in target population
  2. assign each name a number
  3. use a random number generator to pick people for sample
• How does opportunity sampling work?

  1. ask members of target population to take part
  2. add anyone that agrees to be in the sample
• How does systematic sampling work?

  1. every Nth number of the target population is selected
• How does stratified sampling work?

  1. identify the proportion of each strata within target population
  2. randomly select participants from each strata in correct proportion
• How does volunteer sampling work?

  1. advertise for participants
  2. select from those that volunteer
• What are the pros of random sampling?

  avoid researcher bias -> everyone has equal chance
• What are the pros of opportunity sampling?

  fastest, easiest, cheapest
• What are the pros of systematic sampling?

  avoids research bias
• What are the pros of stratified sampling?

  • representative -> can generalise findings to wider population
  • avoid researcher bias
• What are the pros of volunteer sampling?

  quick and cheap -> minimal input
• What are the cons of random sampling?

  • may be unrepresentative
  • can be time consuming -> expensive
• What are the cons of opportunity sampling?

  • researcher bias
  • unrepresentative
• What are the cons of systematic sampling?

  • can be unrepresentative
• What are the cons of stratified sampling?

  • may be some researcher bias in selection of strata
  • time consuming and difficult -> expensive
• What are the cons of volunteer sampling?

  • the nature of the advertisement determines the access to a variety of participants
  • likely to be unrepresentative