Ethics in Research
What is the main role of an ethics committee?
To review research proposals and ensure participants are protected and ethical standards are met.
What is the independent variable (IV)?
The variable that is manipulated by the researcher.
What is the main purpose of an experimental design?
To establish cause-and-effect by manipulating variables.
What is a sample?
A smaller group selected from the population to take part in a study.
Why is it important to control extraneous variables?
To ensure that only the IV affects the DV.
Name two key ethical guidelines for human research.
Informed consent, confidentiality, debriefing, withdrawal rights, voluntary participation, protection from harm (any two).
What is the dependent variable (DV)?
The variable that is measured to see the effect of the IV.
What is one strength of an experimental design?
High control → can determine causation.
What is a population?
The entire group of people the researcher wants to study or draw conclusions about.
In an experiment testing sleep and memory, what could be the IV and DV?
IV = hours of sleep; DV = memory test score.
What does “informed consent” mean?
Participants must be told the nature and purpose of the study and agree to take part voluntarily. Parental / guardian consent must be given if underage or impaired. Must be informed of all participant rights including withdrawal and confidentiality
The variable that is measured to see the effect of the IV.
Participant (mood, ability)
environmental (noise, temperature)
researcher (bias).
High control → can determine causation.
Results can’t be easily generalised to others.
What is one advantage of random sampling?
Each member has an equal chance of being selected, reducing bias.
A researcher wants to study children’s playground behaviour without interfering. What design should they use?
Observational study.
What are the 3 R’s of animal ethics?
Replacement, Reduction, Refinement.
Participant (mood, ability), environmental (noise, temperature), or researcher (bias).
Directional predicts a specific effect (increase/decrease)
non-directional predicts a difference but not direction.
What is the difference between a correlational and an experimental design?
Correlational shows relationships between variables; experimental shows causation.
Describe stratified sampling.
Dividing the population into subgroups and sampling proportionally from each.
Why must participants be debriefed after a study using deception?
To explain the true purpose and ensure participants leave without distress.
Replacement, Reduction, Refinement.
Conduct a debrief explaining the deception and purpose, and ensure no harm occurred.
What is a confounding variable?
An uncontrolled variable that affects the DV, making it unclear if the IV caused the change.
Compare longitudinal and cross-sectional designs.
Longitudinal studies the same group over time
Cross-sectional compares different age groups at one point in time.
What is snowball sampling, and when is it useful?
Participants recruit others; useful for hard-to-reach populations.
A researcher finds a correlation between stress and illness. Can they claim causation? Why or why not?
No — correlation does not prove causation; another variable may be influencing both.