jette hannibal Internal assessment Experimental research

jette hannibal Considerations in research What do you hope to achieve i the study? What studies and theories are considered in your research? How do you plan to manipulate and measure variables? How will you select participants? Can the effect of situational variables be minimised? (control) What experimental design will you use? How can you control for experimenter bias and demand characteristics? How will you deal with ethical issues? How will you analyse the data you collect?

jette hannibal Internal assessment Report according to IB rules Max.2000 words (HL) and max words (SL) SL: a simple replication Ethical considerations (+informed consent form) Use past tense Use 3 rd person

jette hannibal Ethical considerations Non-human animals must not be used No deception Briefing Debriefing Right to withdraw Confidentiality Informed consent Consent form Children: parental consent

jette hannibal Consent Form.  I have been informed about the nature of the experiment  I understand that I have the right to withdraw from the experiment at any time, and that any information/data about me will remain confidential  My anonymity will be protected as my name will not be identifiable.  The experiment will be conducted so that I will not be demeaned in any way.  I will be debriefed at the end, and have the opportunity to find out the results. I give my informed consent to participating in this experiment NAME and date____________________________________________ Contact number_____________________________________________ Consent form

jette hannibal Title page Information about the candidate Type of investigation: experiment Area under investigation Variables under investigation Example of a title: An experiment to investigate the effect of imagery on encoding word count

jette hannibal Table of contents Table of contents right after title page All pages must be numbered

jette hannibal Abstract Summary of important information about the study including Aim of the study Methods used Results of study Conclusion Abstract must be of max. 200 words (not included in word count)

jette hannibal Introduction:Background literature and justification of your own research General introduction to the psychological subject area under investigation Summary of key theories and previous research studies in the area (including references, e.g. Stroop (1935) 2-3 studies Rationale and justification of your experiment The aim (HL/SL) and hypotheses (HL)

jette hannibal Introduction (Coolican, 1994)

jette hannibal Aim of study should state What you hope to achieve in the study (e.g. to see if it’s easier to remember when you use imagery or rehearsal) Topic under investigation (e.g. Memory) and expected results Introduces research hypotheses (HL) Ex: The aim of the study is to investigate if schemas affect recall.

jette hannibal Research Hypotheses Clear and precise prediction of the expected outcome of the manipulation of the variable in the experiment Variables must be operationalised One-tailed/two-tailed hypothesis Null hypothesis: predicts that changes are due to chance

jette hannibal Examples Two-tailed : Recall of objects will be affected by office schema. One-tailed : Office schema will result in higher recall of office related objects. Null hypothesis : There will be no difference in the two situations or Higher recall of office related words will be due to chance. No Hypotheses in SL – only aim of study.

jette hannibal Method consists of 4 sections Design type and justification of design (repeated measures/independent design), controls, ethical considerations, identification of variables (IV and DV) Participants Some characteristics of target population, sampling techniques (justified) Apparatus/Materials list of materials used, reference to copies in appendices Procedure Must be written in so much detail that it can be replicated

jette hannibal Designs – consider strengths and limitations in each design Design must be justified (relate to why you choose a specific design and refer to strengths) Independent design: each participant participates in only one condition (randomisation e.g. drawing names out of a hat decides who goes where) Larger sample needed so perhaps more representative More expensive and time consuming No order effect but problem with participant variables Repeated measures design: each participant participates in both conditions Easier to get a smaller sample Order effects but counter-balancing possible No participant variable Account of controls in the experiment (what you did in order to control for confounding variables)

jette hannibal Selection of participants 20 participants in an IB experiment Justify your sampling method In principle good to have a represenative sample: What is the target population? Do your sample represent them? Random sample: all persons in the target population has an equal chance of being selected – very difficult to have a truly random sample Opportunity sample: you take what is available Easy and not time consuming (strenght) Not a representative sample (weakness)

jette hannibal Procedure Clear description of what you did and in what order Must be so clear that it can be replicated Refer to materials used in the experiment (and make a reference to an example of it in the appendices)

jette hannibal Results State your results in narrative and in the form of graphs, tables and statistical test Interpretation of descriptive statistics (e.g. mean, standard deviation + graph and table) Analysis using inferential statistics and justification for their use (HL only) – check which tests to use in syllabus Graphs/tables where appropriate (may be computer generated) No raw data in result section (must be in the appendices)

jette hannibal Discussion Discussion of results Linking of results to literature review in the Introduction (only mention theories and studies that have been mentioned in the intro; don’t introduces new ones) Identification of strengths and limitations of own methodology Suggestions for modification and further research End with a conclusion (refer to aim or research hypothesis)

jette hannibal References Works cited within the report Must be in the proper format e.g. Morrison, M. (1996) Psychology. Essays, practical & statistics. A guide for students. Singapore: Longman.

jette hannibal Appendices Supplementary information One copy of the instrument(s) used Copy of standardized instructions and debriefing notes Copy of informed consent paper (including parental consent if participants are children)

jette hannibal Check list Use my check list paper to see if your report lives up to the assessment criteria