PSYC217 Chapter 9 - Conducting Studies Finalizing a Study Design - To manipulate IVs in experiments and measure variables, you must operationalize each variable · Turn a conceptual variable into a set of operations -> specific instructions, events, and stimuli that will be presented to participants Two Options to Manipulate the IV - In experimental designs, researchers must decide on a way to manipulate the IV. - It is important to distinguish straightforward manipulations from staged manipulations. - Straightforward Manipulation: operationalizations that involve manipulating the IV using instructions or other stimulus materials in a simple and obvious way. · Researchers can manipulate a variable simply by presenting material to the participants. · Straightforward manipulations operationalize IVs using instructions and stimulus presentations. · Stimuli may be presented verbally by the researcher, in written form, or video. · Manipulations are used in all areas of behavioural research. Researchers vary the difficulty of material to be learned, the way questions are asked, the characteristics of people to be judged, and other factors by presenting specific materials to participants and asking them to respond. · If a task or study mimics experiences and conditions present in everyday life, the study is said to have high mundane realism. o Mundane realism: the extent to which the experiences in a study resemble closely an experience of everyday life. · EXAMPLE: studying the impact of gendered language in job advertisements o Male and female participants read and rated job ads > one condition, ads were worded using stereotypically masculine words (e.g., dominant, independent, determined), in the other condition, words were stereotypically feminine (e.g., sensitive, collaborate, commitment) > all other details were the same o Female participants rated femininely worded ads higher, and males rated the masculine worded ads higher too. o The fact that researchers simply presented participants with the stimulus materials (i.e., the advertisements) makes this a straightforward manipulation > able to conclude job advertisements should be worded carefully to avoid turning off demographic groups. - Staged Manipulation: operationalizations of an IV that involve creating a complex situation (participants then experience the situation and their responses are recorded) " Deception is often used to conceal the fact that the situation is a trick. · Any time a researcher misleads participants into believing something about a study that is not true. " Sometimes it is necessary to create a series of events that occur during the experiment to manipulate the IV successfully > can be elaborate situations involving actors or a simple cover story · There are two main reasons why staged manipulations are employed.
1. The researcher may be trying to create a certain psychological state in participants, such as frustration, anger, or a temporary lowering of self-esteem (relies on convincing participants they are in a specific situation or interaction to arise emotion) 2. Staged manipulations can be used to simulate situations that occur in the real world (conditions in staged manipulations simulate common real-world environments that people experience reliable and generalizable results) · Staged manipulations