research methods exam questions, answers & marks questions and answers 2023

What is an experiment? An experiment is a research technique in which an IV is manipulated / and the effects of this on a DV are observed and measured. / Other (extraneous) variables are held constant. / A true experiment is one in which the IV is directly under the experimenter's control (as in laboratory or field experiments). / In natural and quasi-experiments, the IV varies on its own and some would argue that, because of this, they are not really experimenting. (5 marks) Identify one difference between an experiment and a correlation The main difference between an experiment and a correlation is that experiments enable us to talk about causse and effect' / whereas correlations simply describe patterns of linear relationship between pairs of data / and do not allow us to make cause and effect statements. / In addition, an experiment is a research method / but correlation is a technique of data analysis applied to data gathered by some other means. (5 marks)