experimental methods

Question 1

what are the 4 main experimental methods

Answer 1

laboratory, field, natural ,quasi

Question 2

what is a laboratory experiment

Answer 2

• an experiment carried out in a controlled environment
• where variables can be carefully manipulated
• participants are aware they are taking part in a study but not sure what the aim is

Question 3

advantages of lab experiments

Answer 3

• high internal validity- very accurate method to keep controls the same
• easy to replicate

Question 4

disadvantages of lab experiments

Answer 4

• low ecological validity- cannot be generalised beyond the research setting due to artificial setting, it lacks mundane setting
• demand characteristics- participants will become aware of the experiment which may lead them to changing their behavior

Question 5

what is a field experiment

Answer 5

• an experiment is conducted in a more natural real world environment
• the IV still deliberately manipulated by the researcher and they measured the DV

Question 6

advantages of field experiment

Answer 6

• high ecological value
• lack of demand characteristics- it is real life setting so people wont be aware they are being studied therefore wont change their behavior

Question 7

disadvantages of field experiment

Answer 7

• low internal validity
• less easy to replicate

Question 8

what is a natural experiment

Answer 8

• conducted when it is not possible for ethical reasons to deliberately manipulate an IV
• the IV occurs naturally

Question 9

advantages of natural experiment

Answer 9

• allows research where IV cant be manipulated
• high ecological validity- psychologists can study the effect of real problems such as effects of a disaster

Question 10

disadvantages of natural experiment

Answer 10

• lack of casual relationship- IV isnt directly manipulated so a causal relationship cannot be demonstrated
• lack of random allocation- IV is naturally occurring so the participants are randomly allocated creating more confounding variables

Question 11

what is the quasi experiment

Answer 11

the IV is simply a difference between people that exists

Question 12

advantages of quasi experiment

Answer 12

• allows comparisons between different types of people
• can be carried out in a lab so high control

Question 13

disadvantages of quasi experiment

Answer 13

• low ecological validity- may be carried out in a lab
• lack of random allocation- IV is naturally occurring so participants cannot be selected into condition therefore a confounding variable

Question 14

what is a causal relationship

Answer 14

a cause-and-effect relationship where one event or variable directly results in the occurrence of another event or change in another variable.

Question 15

what is counterbalancing

Answer 15

used to reduce order effects in a repeated measures design AB-BA