Understanding research methods

Question 1

what are the types of experiments?

Answer 1

lab, natural and field experiments

Question 2

what does lab experiment mean? what are the aspects to this?

Answer 2

• this an investigation which takes place in a controlled environment
• not applicable to real-life as it it a place where behaviour would not typically take place
• researchers stage condition of the study and invite participants to participate
• the lab experiment has an IV and DV
• aim to discover the cause an effect between the two variables by controlling or eliminating extraneous variable

Question 3

what does field experiment mean? what are the aspects to this?

Answer 3

• an experiment conducted in a natural environment
• still an IV and DV
• control over extraneous variables
• level of control is not as high as lab experiments because naturalistic environments are unpredictable
• participants may not be aware they are taking part in research
• useful for studying behaviour because it in tested in a natural environment

Question 4

what does natural experiment mean? what are the aspects to this?

Answer 4

• occurs in a real-life environment
• has an Iv and a DV but the researchers do not manipulate the IV as it occurs naturally
• generally opportunistic which means they make use of unique and naturally occurring situations which would be unethical or difficult to set up.

Question 5

what are the strengths and weaknesses of lab experiment?

Answer 5

s:
most scientific method because of the high levels of control

cause and effect can be established between IV and DV which can help with internal validity

w:
conducted in an unnatural environment

participants are invited to the experiment so they many display demand characteristics

considered reductionist because it isolates only the variables under consideration so it ignores other variables which are also involved.

Question 6

what are the strengths and weaknesses of field experiment?

Answer 6

s:
conducted in a naturalistic environment so the behaviour is natural

there is cause and effect because the IV and DV and some extraneous variables can be controlled

w:
not all extraneous variables can be controlled because it is a real-life environment

participants may be unaware of taking part so researchers may not have gained consent

Question 7

what are the strengths and weaknesses of natural experiment?

Answer 7

s:
the IV is naturally occurring and not manipulated

the environment in which participants are studied is real and naturalistic

w:
it is not possible to randomly allocate participants to conditions of the IV so there may be issues with participants variables that may influence the findings.

extraneous variables are difficult to control and this type of experiment is exposed to a lot to them.