Research Methods

aim

general stateement of what researcher intends to investigate, purpose of the study

hypotheses

testable statement predicting outcome of study which is made at the start of the study, can be experimental or null

experimental hypothesis

predicts difference or relationship, can be directional or non directional

directional hypothesis

written when there has already been conclusive previous research that indicates what the difference or relationship is likely to be

prediction about direction of the effect

non directional hypothesis

written when either there has been no prior research or when the prior studies have not shown agreement

prediction of the difference with no direction

null hypothesis

predicts there will be no difference or relationship

prediction of no effect

wording of a hypothesis of difference: directional experimental hypothesis

participants in condition XXX will score higher/ faster/ greater/ more than participants in condition YYY

wording of a hypothesis of difference: non directional experimental hypothesis

there will be a be a difference in scores between participants in condition XXX and condition YYY

wording of a hypothesis of difference: null hypothesis

there will be no difference in scores between participants in condition XXX and condition YYY

wording of a correlational hypothesis: directional hypothesis

there will be a positive/ negative correlation between co-variable 1 and 2

wording of a correlational hypothesis: non-directional hypothesis

there will be a correlation between co-variable 1 and 2

wording of a correlational hypothesis: null hypothesis

there will be no correlation between co-variable 1 and 2

operationalisation of variables

clearly defining variables so they can be measured eg height can be operatonalised by self support

age and memory recall operationalised directional hypothesis example

older participants (aged 60 and above) will recall fewer words from a memory test than younger participants (25 and below)

age and memory recall operationalised non directional hypothesis example

there will be a difference in number of words recalled from a memory test between older participants (aged 60 and above) and younger participants (25 and below)

operationalised directional correlational hypotheses example education

there will be a positive correlation between the number of hours spent using active learning strategies per week and exam scores in undergraduate students

operationalised non directional correlational hypotheses example education

there will be a correlation between number of hours spent using active learning strategies peer week and exam scores in undergraduate students

null hypothesis for difference example age and memory

there will be no difference in number of words recalled from a memory test between older participants (aged 60 and above) and younger participants (aged 25 and below)

independant variable

variable that is manipulated by researcher and differs between conditions (unless quasi or natural experiment) to establish cause and effect

dependant variable

variable measured by researcher

extraneous variables

any other variable other than IV that might affect DV- nuisance and we try to control them

co-variables

in a correlation they are 2 co-variables rather than IV and DV

controlled variables

variables that the researcher has decided to keep the same in both conditions to prevent them becoming extraneous