Scientific Processes

• Independent variable: the variable that is changed directly by the experimenter
• Dependent variable: the thing is measured and recorded in the experiment
• cause and effect relationship - is a change in one variable causes a change in another variable
• Reliability - when the research can be replicated and produces the same results
• Internal reliability - the consistency to which the procedure measures what it is supposed to measure.
• Validity - the extent to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure
• Internal validity - whether the research measures what it is set out in the hypothesis

  • Concurrent
  • Face
  • Content
  • predictive
• Concurrent validity - does it match with previous studies
• Face validity - does it appear to measure what it claims to measure.
• Content validity - does it cover all aspects of the content
• Predictive validity - is it the same as hypothesised
• External validity - how applicable are the findings to the real world

  • Population
  • Ecological
  • construct
  • temporal
• Population validity - does it generalise to the population
• Ecological validity - does it generalise to real life
• Temporal validity - does it cover people of different time periods
• Construct validity - does it really measure as accurately as it was supposed to
• Aim - the first step when conducting a research
• Hypothesis - the third step is to conclude a precise, testable statement of the expected outcome of the experiment.
• Operationalise the variable: defining the variable to the specific dot
• Types of hypothesis:

  • Null hypothesis
  • Experimental hypothesis
• Null hypothesis - the IV will have no effect on the DV, and if it does, its due to chance.
• Experimental hypothesis - IV will have an effect on the DV

  • directional
  • Non directional
• • Directional hypothesis (one tailed) - states that there is a relationship between two variables. eg increasing/decreasing
• Non directional hypothesis (two tailed) - states that there is a relationship between two variables but doesn't state whether it increases or decreases
• Extraneous variable - external factors that can impact the results of the experiment.
• confounding variables - results that have been effected by extraneous variables that are not controlled
• Types of extraneous variables:

  • situational variables - location, weather
  • Participants - demand characteristics/ social desirability
  • Experimental effect - eg tone of voice
• social desirability - screw you/please you effect
• Controlling extraneous variables:

  • blind/double blind experiment
  • deception
  • counter balancing - reversing order to avoid bias
• standardising procedures: the procedure carried out is consistent for all ppts
• Randomisation: removing bias from as many decisions as possible - this is different from random sampling
• Random sampling - randomly selecting people for results
• Comparison condition - to see if the IV effects the DV you need something to compare it with something
• Independent Group Designs:

  • randomly divide into two groups
  • each group does a different condition, then compare DV
• Repeated Measures:

  • Whole group does Condition A
  • Whole group does Condition B, measure DV and compare
• Matched Pairs:

  • Ask participants to complete a questionnaire, then match into two groups based on personality (usually pre existing)
  • Person A completes Condition A
  • Person B completes Condition B, then compare DV
• Inter observer reliability - the degree to which how reliable the results are

  • two observers agree on behavioural categories
  • Independently observe, and record a tally of behaviour
  • compare results, and correlation test, accepting above 0.8
• Pilot study - a small study that is carried out before a larger study to test the design and procedures
• Implications of research on the economy:

  • Less maternity leaves - Schaffer & Emerson importance of father
  • Gender pay gap - minority influence
  • less costs to society - EWT
• BPS Ethical Guidelines - I Cant Count Dragons With People Doing Cart

  • Informed Consent
  • Confidentiality
  • Deception
  • Withdraw
  • Protection (harm)
  • Debrief
  • Competence (researcher)