experimental method

• What must psychologists consider before conducting research?

  The aim of their investigation
• How can the aim of a study be phrased?

  As a research question or a statement
• Where does the aim of a study come from?

  From an initial theory
• What do aims describe in an investigation?

  The purpose of the investigation
• What do experimenters consider after establishing an aim?

  The variables they are investigating
• What is the Independent Variable (IV)?

  What the researcher manipulates in the experiment
• What is the Dependent Variable (DV)?

  What the researcher measures in the experiment
• What does the researcher look at regarding the IV and DV?

  How the IV has caused the effect on the DV
• What is a hypothesis in research?

  A prediction about the expected outcome
• How should a hypothesis be written?

  As a precise and testable statement
• What does operationalisation of variables involve?

  Defining the variables precisely
• What does operationalising the IV mean?

  Knowing precisely how it was manipulated
• What does operationalising the DV mean?

  Stating precisely how it will be measured
• What are the two types of hypotheses?

  Directional and non-directional hypotheses
• What is a directional hypothesis?

  It states the direction of the results
• When is a directional hypothesis used?

  When previous research shows a likely outcome
• What is a non-directional hypothesis?

  It does not specify the expected direction
• When is a non-directional hypothesis likely to be used?

  When there is little previous research