Research methods - Experimental Design

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  • Experimental design
    • Matched pairs - Participants are paired together on the base of a shared variable and each person in the pair experiences a separate condition of the experiment
    • Independent groups - Two separate groups of participants experience two different conditions
    • Repeated measures - All participants experience the conditions of the experiment
    • Types of experiment
      • Laboratory experiment - Investigation is carried out in a controlled condition
        • Does not represent a real-life experience (low mundane realism)
        • Participants are aware that they are being tested (Hawthorne effect, demand characteristics)
        • Lacking in generalisability (low external validity)
        • High control over extraneous variables (Internal validity)
        • Replication is more possible
      • Field experiment - The IV is manipulated to be more natural
        • Ethical issues of consent and privacy
        • Loss of control over extraneous variables
        • Behaviour is more valid and authentic
        • High mundane realism
      • Natural experiment - The researcher takes advantage of a pre-existing independent variable
        • A naturally occurring event may only happen rarely
        • Provide opportunities that the researcher wouldn't usually have
        • High external validity
        • Scope for generalising findings is limited
        • Participants can't be allocated to experimental conditions
      • Quasi-experiment - The IV is based on an existing difference between participants
        • Can't randomly allocate participants to experimental conditions so there are confounding variables
        • Often carried out under controlled conditions so shares the strengths of a lab experiment

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