Standardised Procedures

• What are standardized procedures?

  Using exactly the same methods, information, environment, and instructions for all participants to reduce the effects of extraneous variables
• What are the four standardized procedures that can be used in a study?

  Randomisation, standardized instructions, debriefing, and counter balancing
• What is randomization?

  Random assignment of participants to experimental conditions to minimize bias and increased generalizability. Key aspects of the procedure are decided by chance
• What are standardized instructions?

  All participants should receive exactly the same information throughout an investigation. A researcher will write down exactly what should be said to each participant word for word
• What is debriefing?

  Where participants may be given a more complete and transparent explanation of what they have done and an opportunity to withdraw their data at the end of the experiment
• What is counter balancing? And when is it used?

  Used during a repeated measures design where the group of participants is split in half, one half completes condition a first and then condition B while the other half of the group completes conditioned B first and then condition a. This balances out order effects