Research Methods Exam Style Question - 1
Scenario
A laboratory experiment was carried out to see how emotion
and arousal affected memory. I n Part One of the experiment
twenty participants were shown a video of a man walking
down a street They were then shown several photographs of
men and had to identify the man from
the video. In Part Two of the experiment the same participants
were shown a video of a man committing a robbery. Again they
were shown several photographs of men and had to identify the
man committing the robbery. The participants were chosen by
opportunity sampling.
Part One Part Two
Correctly 14 6
identified
(a) (i) Define what is meant by the term 'laboratory experiment'.
[2]
A laboratory experiment is done in a laboratory environment in a
controlled experimental setting. Where the researcher manipulates the
independent variable to investigate whether this causes an effect on the
dependent variable. In this experiment, the researchers have full control
over all variables, therefore they know if any change in their memory is
down to their manipulation of the IV.
(ii) Explain one advantage and one disadvantage of a laboratory
experiment [4]
An advantage of laboratory experiments is that they eliminate extraneous
variables, meaning you can be sure that it is the independent variable
that effects the dependent variable, in the experiments case, this helped
prevent the participants from being distracted by other things going on
and showed that the type of photo determined their ability to identify the
right person. On the other hand, a disadvantage of laboratory
experiments is that they lack realism, for example in this experiment, in a
real life setting the participants may have been more focused on what
was going on rather than the person or not focused at all due to fear if
they saw a robbery.
(b) (i) Define what is meant by the term 'repeated measures
Scenario
A laboratory experiment was carried out to see how emotion
and arousal affected memory. I n Part One of the experiment
twenty participants were shown a video of a man walking
down a street They were then shown several photographs of
men and had to identify the man from
the video. In Part Two of the experiment the same participants
were shown a video of a man committing a robbery. Again they
were shown several photographs of men and had to identify the
man committing the robbery. The participants were chosen by
opportunity sampling.
Part One Part Two
Correctly 14 6
identified
(a) (i) Define what is meant by the term 'laboratory experiment'.
[2]
A laboratory experiment is done in a laboratory environment in a
controlled experimental setting. Where the researcher manipulates the
independent variable to investigate whether this causes an effect on the
dependent variable. In this experiment, the researchers have full control
over all variables, therefore they know if any change in their memory is
down to their manipulation of the IV.
(ii) Explain one advantage and one disadvantage of a laboratory
experiment [4]
An advantage of laboratory experiments is that they eliminate extraneous
variables, meaning you can be sure that it is the independent variable
that effects the dependent variable, in the experiments case, this helped
prevent the participants from being distracted by other things going on
and showed that the type of photo determined their ability to identify the
right person. On the other hand, a disadvantage of laboratory
experiments is that they lack realism, for example in this experiment, in a
real life setting the participants may have been more focused on what
was going on rather than the person or not focused at all due to fear if
they saw a robbery.
(b) (i) Define what is meant by the term 'repeated measures
