Research Methods Lesson 01: IV & DV

Task 1: Identify the IV & DV… Starter: Write the following research questions in your pink books and identify the IV and DV:  Does caffeine increase alertness?  Does using memory strategy improvements improve memory?  Is smoking related to people’s attitude to risk?  Do males and females differ in their ability to detect when someone is lying?  Does age cause people’s reaction times to slow down?  Is Anorexia caused by the media?  If you work in the City of London are you more likely to be stressed?

Task 2: Operationalising the IV & DV… Task 2: Now you have identified the IV & DV, state how you will operationalise each IV & DV.  Does caffeine increase alertness?  Does using memory strategy improvements improve memory?  Is smoking related to people’s attitude to risk?  Do males and females differ in their ability to detect when someone is lying?  Does age cause people’s reaction times to slow down?  Is Anorexia caused by the media?  If you work in the City of London are you more likely to be stressed?

Task 3: Spot the difference… Task 3: Once you have operationalised the IV & DV, think about what is different between the first two statements, in comparison to the final 5...  Does caffeine increase alertness?  Does using memory strategy improvements improve memory?  Is smoking related to people’s attitude to risk?  Do males and females differ in their ability to detect when someone is lying?  Does age cause people’s reaction times to slow down?  Is Anorexia caused by the media?  If you work in the City of London are you more likely to be stressed?

Learning Objectives  To identify and operationalise the IV and DV in a research question.  To understand the different parts of an experiment;  Aim  Procedure  Findings  Conclusion  Evaluation

Aim, Method, Results, Conclusion & Evaluation Parts of an experiment.

Parts of an Experiment  Aim  Procedure  Findings  Conclusion  Evaluation

Aim  The research question they (the researchers) want to answer.  e.g. Does caffeine increase alertness?

Procedure (Method) Includes:  The Design (Laboratory, Field)  Participants (Sample)  Materials Required  The procedure

Results  The Findings;  Reporting of the data recorded; qualitative or quantitative.

Conclusion  A brief summary of the main findings in a sentence, linked to the original aim (research question).  E.g. Organising words into a hierarchy, improves memory recall.

Evaluation  What is good and bad about the study?  How the study could be improved next time.