Research Methods

• What do Psychologists do?

  Psychologists try to explain human behaviour

  They develop theories

  They work out ways to test their theories
• What is the Independent Groups Design in experimental research?

  Participants are divided into two groups, e.g., condition A and condition B.
• What are the strengths of the Independent Groups Design?

  • Avoids order effects
  • Reduces demand characteristics
  • Increases validity of results
• What are the weaknesses of the Independent Groups Design?

  • Requires more participants
  • Participant variables may affect results
• What is a solution to the weakness of requiring more participants in Independent Groups Design?

  Be prepared to spend more time and money.
• How can participant variables be addressed in Independent Groups Design?

  Randomly allocate participants to conditions.
• What is the Repeated Measures Design in experimental research?

  The whole group takes part in each condition.
• What are the strengths of the Repeated Measures Design?

  • Fewer participants are required
  • Less costly and time-consuming
  • Reduces participant variables
• What are the weaknesses of the Repeated Measures Design?

  • Participants may guess the purpose of the experiment
  • The order of conditions may affect performance
• What is a solution to prevent participants from guessing the purpose of the experiment in Repeated Measures Design?

  Use a cover story about the purpose.
• What is the practice effect in Repeated Measures Design?

  Participants may perform better in the second condition due to practice.
• What is the fatigue effect in Repeated Measures Design?

  Participants may perform worse in the second condition due to fatigue or boredom.
• What is a solution to address the order effects in Repeated Measures Design?

  Use counterbalancing to ensure each condition is equally tested.
• How does counterbalancing work in Repeated Measures Design?

  • Divide the group into two
  • One group does condition A followed by B
  • The other group does condition B followed by A
• What is the Matched Pairs Design in experimental research?

  Participants are matched on key characteristics and assigned to different conditions.
• What is a weakness of the Matched Pairs Design?

  • It is time-consuming