| independant variable | The variable that is directly manipulated by the researcher |
| Dependent variable | The variable that is being measured |
| extraneous variable | Any unwanted variables other than the IV that that can impact the DV |
| internal validity | The extent to which a study is measuring the effect of the IV on the DV |
| external validity | The extent to which findings of study are generalizable to other populations or environment |
| manipulating | Researchers use manipulation in their research design to determine if changes in one variable impact another variable or variables |
| situational extraneous variable | related to things in the environment that may impact how each participant responds. If a ppt is taking a test in a cold room, the temperature would be considered an extraneous variable. |
| labratory experiment | experiment conducted under highly controlled conditions (not necessarily a laboratory), where accurate measurements are possible |
| feild experiment | done in the everyday (i.e. real life) environment of the participants. The experimenter still manipulates the independent variable, but in a real-life setting |
| natural experiment | studies where the experimenter cannot manipulate the IV, so the DV is simply measured and judged as the effect of an IV |
| ecological validity | The extent to which a studies findings can be generalized beyond the environment of the research |
| reliability | The extent to which a study can be repeated using a standardized procedure and gain consistent results |
| demand characteristics | When participants alter their natural behavior in response to their perceives aims/nature of the research |
| correlation | A correlation Isa way of analyzing a relationship between variables. These are known as the co-variable one and co-variable two, due to there being no IV or DV present and no control over extraneous variables a cause-and-effect relationship cannot be established |
| positive correlation | Where co-variable one increases co-variable 2 also increases |
| negative corelation | Where co-variable one increases co-variable two decreases |
| observation | An observation is a research method that involves watching and recording behavior |
| case study | Research method that focuses on one person or a small group of people such as a school or a class or a social group |
| interveiws | A research method designed to gather self-reported information directly from participants about their beliefs, opinions and attitudes |
| questionaires | Another research method that aims to gather self-reported data on a certain topic from lots of people |
| open-ended questions | There are no set responses to these style questions they allow for participants to freely respond |
| closed-ended questions | These questions have a list of pre-set responses e.g. yes/no or strongly agree/ strongly disagree |
| social desirability | When participants do not answer questions honestly because they want to be seen in the best possible light by others |
