Psychology - Research Methods

·  Pilot Studies – A pilot study is a small scale trial run of the investigation/experiment first.

·  Confederates – This person is not a participant, they know what the investigation is about and are ‘in’ on it. Sometimes called a ‘stooge’ or ‘actor’.

·  Aim – This is a broad statement based on what is going to be found out in the investigation.

·  Hypotheses – This states what you believe to be true. It is a precise and testable statement of the relationship between two variables.

·  Independent Variable (IV) – This is the variable that the researcher manipulates or alters.

·  Dependant Variable (DV) – This is the measurement taken by the researcher.

·  Experimental Hypotheses – The experimental hypotheses is a prediction of what the researcher thinks will happen to the DV when the IV changes.

·  Null Hypotheses – The null hypotheses states that the IV will have no effect on the DV and any observed differences will be due to chance.

·  Directional (one-tailed) Hypotheses – This is a specific prediction.

·  Non-directional (two-tailed) Hypotheses – This is making a vague prediction.

·  Extraneous Variables (EV’s) – Extraneous variables are other variables which must be eliminated or controlled otherwise they may affect the DV…