Fall 2013

Lecture 3 – Chapter 3

The Starting Point

 Research Terminology
Variables

Variable: Any measurable aspect of behavior or

influence on behavior that may change
Or…
things you manipulate
and things you measure

Independent Variable: IV

Dependent Variable: DV
 Independent Variable:

Normally (true experiment), it is the variable that

you manipulate

ANY VARIABLE THAT DEFINES SEPARATE GROUPS

…”I” do the research…it’s what “I” manipulate

Either give some subjects 100mg of a drug or give them
25mg or placebo

Here the IV is DRUG (varying doses)

So, by randomly assigning them to a drug dose you are

creating the groups (conditions) of the experiment

IV

1 mg

10 mg Sugar pill
 Either give some subjects 20, 60 or 40 watts and test
their performance on a math test

20 watts 60 watts 100 watts

Then vary the type of math test: algebra, geometry

 Independent Variable:
Normally (true experiment), it is the variable that
you manipulate…butin a quasi-experiment
not really manipulated

the IV is the preexisting condition that

the subjects brings into the experiment
(also called the “subject” or “classification” variable)

ex: sex, age, ethnicity

 IV: Levels

In general, the number of levels of an independent

variable is the number of experimental conditions
 Dependent Variable:

In either True experiment, Quasi-experiment, or

Correlational research:

The variable that you hypothesize to have a relationship

with the IV..that you expect to be affected by the IV

The variable that you measure

The response of your subject

 Examples of Dependent Variable:

Reaction time

cancer cells

errors on memory test

Naturalistic Observation – Low constraint

The observation of subjects in their natural environment

The researcher imposes no limits or changes in the
environment or behavior of the subjects

No manipulation

No IV

DV? Behavior?

“Variable of interest”
 Case Study – Low constraint

The subject is in a moderately limiting environment

The researcher intervenes only slightly
An in-depth description of one subject, organization or
event

ex: medical field: Case of H.M.

No manipulation

No IV
DV? Behavior?
“Variable of interest”
Correlational research – Constraint
Quantify the degree of relationship between
two variable
Measurement procedure must be carefully
defined and precisely followed
No manipulation of variables – two sets of
measurements in the same subject then
correlate
40
days attended

30

20 IV? Grouping variable

10 DV? response
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90100
percentage (class grade)
 Experimental Research – highest constraint
“True Experiment”

ex: want to investigate the effects of a drug on

depression

This should be easy now!

IV? Grouping variable
DV? response
 One last Variable – Not a good thing
Extraneous Variable
Extraneous: coming from outside,
foreign, not permanent, irrelevant

Any variable or factor not controlled for by the

experimenter that might affect the DV

Threat to validity of experiment

Internal Validity: are we testing what we set out to
test?
Methodological soundness of experiment
 examples of extraneous variables

testing subjects on a memory test

…temperature in the room is HOT …impact on
the tests results

Examining the effects of alcohol

on driving and obeying posted signs…but you don’t
assess their vision
 Experimental Research – highest constraint
“True Experiment”

Control:
Systematic methods

reduce threats to validity

Extraneous variables (confounds)

without bias assign Subs to groups  RANDOM ASSIGNMENT

the setting is ALL about control

measurement procedures carefully designed and precisely

followed
 Research Ethics
Human Subjects Institutional Review Board (HSIRB)

- Consists of members of community & peers

- Review research proposals – Yea or Nay
- Assure that project meets ethical standards
(set by APA. NIH & institution)

Informed Consent: a form that provides the subject

with enough info to make an “informed” decision
 Research Ethics
Institutional Care and Use of Animal Committee (IACUC)

Veterinarian, non scientist, scientist/researcher

Housing, care & use