Glossary Key Terms

• Reliability


  How consistent the findings of the study are, and if they can be reproduced
• Ecological Validity


  The extent to which the findings can be applied to a real life setting
• Internal Validity


  Whether results were from the manipulation of the Independent Variables, rather than extraneous variables and demand characteristics
• Generalisability


  How representative a sample is of a target population
• Objectivity


  Conducting an experiment in a scientific way, without personal opinions obstructing the procedure
• Subjectivity


  Allowing personal opinions and values to be shared with the participants or in a way that research is conducted
• Dependent Variable


  The variable you are measuring in an experiment
• Independent Variable


  The variable that is being changed in an experiment
• Extraneous Variable


  A variable that has to be controlled to not ruin the meaningfulness of a study
• Hypothesis


  A prediction before the end point of a study