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Wjec psychology unit 2 Questions with
Detailed Verified Answers
Experimental design
⼀Answer:⼀ Refers to how participants are allocated to the different
conditions in an experiment
Repeated measure design
⼀Answer:⼀ The same set of participants take part in both conditions
of the experiment
Strengths of repeated measures design
⼀Answer:⼀ Fewer people needed, saves time
Weakness of repeated measure design
⼀Answer:⼀ There may be order effects e.g practice effect or
fatigue effect
How to deal with weaknesses of repeated measure design
⼀Answer:⼀ •To reduce practice effect you may use two tests
•To reduce order effects you may use the counterbalancing technique
(AB or BA/ABBA)
Independent measures design
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⼀Answer:⼀ Two separate groups of participants; one in each
condition
Strengths of independent measure design
⼀Answer:⼀ •avoids order effect
•reduced chances of demand characteristics
•can use the same set of materials in both conditions
Weakness of independent measure design
⼀Answer:⼀ •more people needed
•more time consuming
•differences between participants- participants variables
How to deal with participants variables
⼀Answer:⼀ Randomly allocate p's to conditions which distributes
participant variables evenly
Matched participant design
⼀Answer:⼀ There are two separate groups, but the members in
each group are matched on relevant characteristics
Strengths of matched participants design
⼀Answer:⼀ •reduces participants variables
•avoids order effects- counterbalance is not necessary
Weakness of matched participants design
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⼀Answer:⼀ •very time consuming
•impossible to match people exactly
How to deal with weakness of matched participants design
⼀Answer:⼀ As it is impossible to match people exactly, researchers
may conduct a pilot study to see what variables are important and
should be matched on
Opportunity sample
⼀Answer:⼀ People who are most convenient or most available
Strengths of opportunity sample
⼀Answer:⼀ It is the easiest method and takes less time to locate
sample
Weaknesses of opportunity sample
⼀Answer:⼀ •sample may be too small, unlikely to be representative
or generalisable
•researcher bias
Random sample
⼀Answer:⼀ Every member of the target population has an equal
chance of being selected
Strengths of random sample
Wjec psychology unit 2 Questions with
Detailed Verified Answers
Experimental design
⼀Answer:⼀ Refers to how participants are allocated to the different
conditions in an experiment
Repeated measure design
⼀Answer:⼀ The same set of participants take part in both conditions
of the experiment
Strengths of repeated measures design
⼀Answer:⼀ Fewer people needed, saves time
Weakness of repeated measure design
⼀Answer:⼀ There may be order effects e.g practice effect or
fatigue effect
How to deal with weaknesses of repeated measure design
⼀Answer:⼀ •To reduce practice effect you may use two tests
•To reduce order effects you may use the counterbalancing technique
(AB or BA/ABBA)
Independent measures design
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⼀Answer:⼀ Two separate groups of participants; one in each
condition
Strengths of independent measure design
⼀Answer:⼀ •avoids order effect
•reduced chances of demand characteristics
•can use the same set of materials in both conditions
Weakness of independent measure design
⼀Answer:⼀ •more people needed
•more time consuming
•differences between participants- participants variables
How to deal with participants variables
⼀Answer:⼀ Randomly allocate p's to conditions which distributes
participant variables evenly
Matched participant design
⼀Answer:⼀ There are two separate groups, but the members in
each group are matched on relevant characteristics
Strengths of matched participants design
⼀Answer:⼀ •reduces participants variables
•avoids order effects- counterbalance is not necessary
Weakness of matched participants design
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⼀Answer:⼀ •very time consuming
•impossible to match people exactly
How to deal with weakness of matched participants design
⼀Answer:⼀ As it is impossible to match people exactly, researchers
may conduct a pilot study to see what variables are important and
should be matched on
Opportunity sample
⼀Answer:⼀ People who are most convenient or most available
Strengths of opportunity sample
⼀Answer:⼀ It is the easiest method and takes less time to locate
sample
Weaknesses of opportunity sample
⼀Answer:⼀ •sample may be too small, unlikely to be representative
or generalisable
•researcher bias
Random sample
⼀Answer:⼀ Every member of the target population has an equal
chance of being selected
Strengths of random sample
