research+methods

Repeated measures design – an experimental design which uses the same participants in both the experimental and control groups (or conditions). Also called within-participants or within-subjects design. Advantages - able to use same person in both groups so not as many subjects required, makes it cheaper and takes out extraneous variables of age, sex, background and IQ because they are using same person in both conditions. d isadvantages - the participants may become bored with completing two tests, having completed one test already this may affect the repeat test. // Text book- diagram p29 //
 * __ Research designs __**

Matched- participants – an experimental design that involves selection of pairs of participants who are very similar in characteristic(s) that can influence the dependent variable, then allocating each member of the pair to a different group (i.e. experimental or control group). Also called matched subjects or matched group design. //Text book example p320, diagram p29// Advantages - the experimenter is able to match up participants on things like age, sex, IQ to ensure both groups have similar participants Disadvantages - have to complete pre testing prior to running experiment, cant match all characteristics, so other extraneous variables may still impact

Independent group – an experimental design in which each participant is randomly allocated to one or two or more entirely separate (independent) groups. Advantages - no need for prior testing, just divide the participants into the two groups. Disavantages - cannot control the extraneous variables of sex, IQ, background, etc. // Text book - Diagram p30 //

Experimenter effect – when the experimenter’s personal characteristics, actions or treatment of the data affect the accuracy of the results. Experimental condition – the condition in an experiment in which the independent variable is present. Sometimes it is referred collectively to all the conditions, both the experimental and control conditions. Experimental group – the group of participants in an experiment who are exposed to the independent variable. Extraneous variable – any variable other than the IV that can cause a change in the dependent variable and therefore affect the results of the experiment in an unwanted way. Independent variable - a variable in an experiment which is systematically manipulated, changed or varied in some way by the experimenter in order to measure its effect on the dependent variable. Dependent variable – a variable in an experiment which shows any effects of the independent variable; that is, the participant’s response that is observed or measured and which is expected to change as a result of the manipulations of the independent variable. Placebo- a fake treatment. Placebos which are used in drug research often take the form of pills or injections. Placebo effects – when a participant’s response is changed by their belief that they are receiving some kind of experimental treatment, as opposed to the change due to the experimental treatment. Text book example p318 Single blind procedures – a procedure in an experiment to ensure participants are not aware of (are blind to) which group (condition) they have been allocated to. Double blind procedures – a procedure used in an experiment to ensure both the participants and the experimenter are not aware of (are blind to) the experimental conditions which the participants have been allocated to. Text book example 319 __ Ethical principles in the conduct of psychological research related to sleep __ look after participants rights confidentiality // Text book p 31 //

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