Research Methods

• What is an independent variable?

  Variable manipulated by the experimenter
• What is a dependent variable?

  Variable being measured
• How does talking to a child affect their abilities?

  It increases their language abilities
• What does it mean to operationalize a variable?

  Make the variable detailed and specific
• How would you operationalize happiness?

  Define it as smiling and laughing
• What are extraneous variables?

  Variables other than IV affecting DV
• What is a confounding variable?

  An extraneous variable affecting study results
• What are situational variables?

  Extraneous variables present in the study environment
• What is an order effect?

  Participants improve or worsen due to practice
• What are demand characteristics?

  Participants alter behavior to meet study aims
• What are investigator effects?

  Researcher unintentionally gives clues to participants
• What are participant variables?

  Extraneous variables specific to participants
• How can situational variables be controlled?

  • Use a standardized procedure
  • Implement counterbalancing
  • Use randomization
  • Apply single-blind technique
  • Apply double-blind technique
• What is a standardized procedure?

  Keeping the situation the same across conditions
• What is counterbalancing?

  Half experience condition A then B, others vice versa
• What is randomization in experiments?

  Participants randomly assigned to conditions
• What is the single-blind technique?

  Participants are unaware of study aims
• What is the double-blind technique?

  Neither participants nor researchers know study aims
• How can participant variables be controlled?

  Use same participants in both conditions
• What is a null hypothesis?

  Prediction that results show no difference
• What is an alternative hypothesis?

  Prediction of the expected outcome of a study
• What is a directional hypothesis?

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

  Predicts a difference but not the direction
• What is a target population?

  Group of people being investigated
• What is a sample?

  Selection of the target population studied
• What is random sampling?

  Every member has an equal chance of selection
• What is stratified sampling?

  Random sample from identified subgroups
• What is volunteer sampling?

  Participants volunteer to take part in study
• What is opportunity sampling?

  Recruiting readily available participants
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of sampling methods?

  Strengths:

  • Random sampling controls participant variables
  • Stratified sampling ensures representation
  • Volunteer sampling is ethical
  • Opportunity sampling is quick

  
  

  Weaknesses:

  • Random sampling may lead to unrepresentative samples
  • Stratified sampling is time-consuming
  • Volunteer sampling may be biased
  • Opportunity sampling may exclude some members
• What are the types of experimental designs?

  1. Independent measures design

  • Participants in one condition only

  1. Repeated measures design

  • Same participants in all conditions

  1. Matched pairs design

  • Different participants matched on characteristics
• What is an independent measures design?

  Participants split into groups for one condition
• What is a repeated measures design?

  Same participants used in all conditions
• What is a matched pairs design?

  Different participants matched on important characteristics
• What is reliability in research?

  Consistency of an outcome or result
• What is internal reliability?

  Consistency within the study itself
• What is external reliability?

  Study's ability to be replicated consistently
• What is validity in research?

  Extent to which a study measures what it intends
• What is internal validity?

  Measures whether the test genuinely tests what intended
• What is external validity?

  Findings generalizable to the target population