Deciding on a Research Question

• what is the purpose of psychological research

  -to find ways of measuring behaviour to form theory and ideas-to understand why, when and how behaviour occurs-to apply the understanding derived from research to solving problems and enhancing lives in the real world
• aim of the research


  -reflects what the researcher is trying to find out, and is often influenced by previous research-it will reflect the key information the researcher wants to answer by conducting the research; this aim will often inform the hypothesis
• a well written aim will be...

  -focused-feasible (can be conducted within the time constraints, has participants available to complete, has access to any specialist equipment required)-researchable-use specific language (eg. 'daily' not 'often')
• independent variable (IV)


  -the variable that is being manipulated or changed by the researcher-often the 'difference' between conditions
• dependent variable (DV)


  the variable that is measured by the researcher to establish the effect the IV has had
• extraneous variable (EV)


  the variables in a study that are not being manipulated by the researcher BUT do affect the results (DV) of all the participants equallythey are undesirable- researchers make every effort to minimise themgenerally link to a design flaw
• confounding variable (CV)


  variables that are not being manipulated by the researcher, but affect the results (DV) of some of the participantsinconsistent and quite difficult to controlthey are undesirable and a researcher should make every effort to minimise them
• co-variables

  the variables within a correlation and refer to the two variables within a correlation being correlated
• operationalisation of varibles


  to 'operationalise' variables means to define them in an objective, detailed and measurable wayallow for objective and precise measurement of the variables and am accurate hypothesis to be developed
• hypothesis

  a hypothesis is a predictive statement about what the researcher expects to find
• experimental/alternative hypothesis


  predicts that the IV will affect the DV-can be subdivided into two parts: one tailed directional and two tailed non-directional
• one-tailed directional


  this hypothesis states that the IV will affect the DV and states exactly what the effect will beit will therefore make a prediction and state the direction of the predictionit is used when a researcher is confident about what they expect to find
• two-tailed non directional


  this hypothesis states that the IV will effect the DV but does no state how, just that a difference will be foundit is used when previous research is inconclusive or a newer area of investigation
• null hypothesis


  predicts that there will be no difference between the two conditions; the IV will have no effect on the DV