1. Experimental research
Internal assessment
Experimental research

2. Considerations in experimental research
What is the aim of the experiment?
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 confounding variables be minimized? - for example: How will you control for demand characteristics, order effects and participant variables?
Which experimental design will you use?
How will you deal with ethical issues?
How will you analyze the data you collect?
How will you discuss your findings?
How will you report your experiment?
How will you reference your sources?
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3. Internal assessment Report according to IB guidelines
Maximum of 2000 words (HL) or 1500 words (SL)
HL/SL: a simple experiment
Ethical considerations (informed consent)
Use past tense
Use 3rd person
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4. Ethical considerations
Non-human animals must not be used
No deception
No harm done to participants (physical or psychological)
Briefing
Debriefing
Right to withdraw
Confidentiality
Informed consent
Children: parental consent
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5. Consent form Consent Form.
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_____________________________________________
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6. Title page Information about the student Title Example of a title:
Name and number
Subject and level
Date of submission
Word count
Title
Example of a title:
An experiment to investigate the effect of imagery or rehearsal on recall
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7. Abstract
Right after the title page and before the table of contents. It is a summary of important information about the study including:
The aim of the study
Procedure
Results of study
Conclusion
The abstract should not exceed 200 words – and is not included in the overall word count.
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8. Table of contents Table of contents follows the abstract.
All pages must be numbered.
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9. Introduction: Background literature and justification of your own research
General introduction to the psychological subject area under investigation
Summary and analysis of key theories and previous research studies in the area including references, e.g. Stroop (1935)
Theories and studies must be analysed in sufficient detail – especially the replicated study
2 - 3 studies (HL) or 1 study (SL)
Rationale and justification of your experiment
The aim (HL/SL) and hypotheses (HL)
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10. Introduction (Coolican, 1994)
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11. Aim of study
Topic under investigation (e.g. Memory) and expected results
What you intended to find out in the study (e.g. to investigate whether using imagery or rehearsal will result in higher recall of words)
Aim introduces operationalised research hypothesis and null hypothesis (HL)
Ex: The aim of the study was to investigate whether imagery or rehearsal resulted in the highest mean recall of words from a word-list.
From the aim follow the experimental hypotheses (HL):
H1: The use of imagery will result in higher mean recall of words recalled from a wordlist compared to the use of rehearsal
Alternative formulation of experimental hypothesis:
H1 Participants in the imagery condition will recall more words from a wordlist than participants in the rehearsal condition
H0: There will be no difference in recall between the two conditions or any difference between the two conditions will be due to chance.
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12. Research Hypotheses
Clear and precise prediction of the expected outcome of the manipulation of the IV on the DV.
Variables must be clearly operationalised (using concrete words or abstracts words)
A One-tailed hypothesis
Null hypothesis: predicts that changes are due to chance
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13. Examples
One-tailed: Participants given the office schema will recall a higher amount of office related objects than participants given no office schema.
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.
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14. 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
Relevant characteristics of sample, 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. Reference to appendices for a copy of the material used.
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15. 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 (random allocation of participants to conditions e.g. drawing names out of a hat decides who goes in which condition)
Larger sample needed so more time consuming
No order effect but problem with participant variables. This is controlled for by random allocation of participants to the experimental conditions.
Repeated measures design: each participant participates in both conditions
Easier to get a smaller sample
Order effects but counter-balancing possible
No participant variables
Account of controls in the experiment (what you did in order to control for confounding variables)
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16. IV and DV Must be operationalised and clear
Must reflect aim and experimental hypothesis
Stated at the end of the design section
The IV in this experiment was whether participants used rehearsal or imagery
The DV was amount of words correctly recalled from the wordlist
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17. Selection of participants
20 participants in an IB experiment
Justify your sampling method
In principle good to have a represenative sample but nor really possible in IA. Ask the following questions:
What is the target population? (the population you are interested in) What are relevant characteristics of your sample? your target population? Does your sample represent them?
In IB exp.: Opportunity sample: you take what is available because it is the most convenient and easiest
Easy and not time consuming (strenght)
Not a representative sample (weakness)
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18. Procedure Clear description of what you did and in what order
Written in words (see samples)
Must be so clear that it can be replicated by another researcher
Refer to materials used in the experiment (and make a reference to an example of it in the appendices)
Use past tense, the third person and the passive voice: The participants were asked to
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19. 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 decision chart. Specific tests related to design, level of measurement of data and the fact that you test a difference between two conditions.
Graphs/tables should have appropriate titles and legend.
No raw data in result section (must be in the appendices)
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20. Discussion of results Discussion and interpretation of statistics
Comparison of own results to the background literature and theoretical framework in the Introduction (only mention theories and studies that have been mentioned in the intro; don’t introduce new ones).
Identification of limitations of own methodology
Suggestions for modification and further research (link this to identified limitations)
End with a conclusion (refer to aim or research hypothesis)
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21. References
Includes al work cited within the report and must be in a standardised format
For example: Morrison, M. (1996) Psychology. Essays, practical & statistics. A guide for students. Singapore: Longman.
For example: Loftus, E.F. and Palmer, J.C. (1974) “Reconstruction of automobile destruction: An example of the Interaction between language and memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 13,
Reference in report (footnote), e.g. Gross (2009), p. 6
Same in references (bibliography)Gross, R. (2009) Psychology. The Science of Mind and Behaviour. 5th ed. London:Hodder Arnold
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22. Appendices Supplementary information One copy of the materials(s) used
Copy of standardized instructions and debriefing notes
Copy of informed consent paper (including parental consent if participants are children)
Raw data
Calculation of statistics
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23. Check list
Use check list paper to see if your report lives up to the assessment criteria.
Check the assessment criteria also
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