The Experimental Method

Steps in the Scientific Method Research question Step One What aspect of human behavior do you want to study?

Form a Hypothesis Tentative statement about two variables that need to be tested. Phrase in an if/then statement

Design a study Participants (Who) Random Selection Data Selection technique

Variables Independent variable: the variable we want to change to provoke a response (behavior) Dependent Variable: the variable that we measure to see if the I.V. made a difference. Did we provoke a behavior? This is how we can tell.

The Groups Experimental Group/Condition: receives the treatment Control Group/Condition does not

Data Collection Step 4: Collect Data (make a chart!) Step 5: Analyze & Draw Conclusion: Did it have an effect? Watch out for Extraneous Variables: These are unforeseen influences on our experiment

Results Report Results to Journal. Replication is always a good idea.