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Psychology: Research Methods

Key words

• Aims- a statement of what the researcher(s) intend to find out in a research study
• Hypothesis- A precise ans testable statement about the assumed relationship between variables. Operationalisation is a key part of making the statement testable.
• Independent Variable (IV)- Some even that is directly manipulated by an experimenter in order to test its effect on another variable- the DV.
• Extraneous Variables- do not vary systematically with the IV and therefore do not act as an alternate IV but may have an effect on the dependent variable. They are nuisance variables that muddy the waters make it more difficult to detect a significant effect.
• Operationalise- ensuring that variables are in a form that can be easily tested.
• Standardised procedures- A set of procedures that are the same for all participants in order to be able to repeat the study. This includes standardized instructions- the instructions given to participants to tell them how to perform the task.
• Confounding variable- A variable under study that is not the IV but which varies systematically with the IV. Changes in the DV may be due to the CV rather than the IV, and therefore the outcome is meaningless. To 'confound' means to cause confusion.
• Control- refers tot he extent to which any variable is held constant or regulated by a researcher.
• External validity- The degree to which a research finding can be ; to other settings; to other groups of people; over time.
• Internal validity- The degree to which an observed effect was due to the experimental manipulation rather than other factors such as confounding/extraneous variables.
• Mundane realism- Refers to how a study mirrors the real world. The research environment is realistic to the degree which experiences encountered in the research will occur in the real world.
• Validity- Refers to whether an observed effect is genuine one.
• Directional hypothesis: Males who watch Eastenders tend to be more aggressive than the female who watch the show.
• Non-directional hypothesis: Males who watch Eastenders have a change in aggression levels compared to females who watch the show.
• Null hypothesis: Males show no change in aggression when watching Eastenders compared to females who watch the show.

Experiments and Hypothesis

• The initial idea for research and experiments comes in the form of a vague question- a research question.
• The researcher MUST formulate a more precise hypothesis: A single, precise, testable statement that allows the researcher to predict what the outcome of an investigation might be.
• A pilot study is a small-scale trial run of a research design before performing the actual experiment. It is done to find out if certain factors of the design do or do not work.
• Researchers do this so that they can see what needs to be adjusted, before they start the full-scale investigation, so that they know whether or not to change parts of the experiment.
• Researchers may use confederates, as they may need another person involved to instigate the experiment. An example of this is through testing obedience, and whether or not they would obey a smartly dressed person in comparison to a casually dressed person. The confederate would be the person who is dressed up in the smart/casual clothing giving out the orders. This confederate is usually the experimenter.

Experimental Design

• Independent groups is where participants are allocated to two (or more ) groups representing different levels of the IV. Allocation is usually done using random techniques.
• EXAMPLE: Group A does the task with the TV on (one level of the IV). Group B then does the task with no TV (the other level of the IV).
• We compare the performance of the two groups. (ALL THE RESOURCES NEED TO MATCHED FOR DIFFICULTY).
• Limitations: The researcher cannot control the effects of participant variables ( the characteristics/abilities). For example, participants in group A might happen to have better memories than the participants in group B. This would act as a confounding variable.
• The design needs more participants than the other designs just to achieve the same set of data.
• Strengths: No demand characteristics shown.
• Fix this: Randomly allocate participants to conditions which distribute participants variables evenly. Can be done by putting names in a hat and drawing them out, so that every other name goes to group A.
• Matched pairs is where participants