Learning Activity 7.

1
1. Explain the meaning of the phrase operationalising the IV and DV with
reference to an example.
Turning the IV and DV into procedures or examples, or actions that can be
observed or measured.
2. What is an operational hypothesis?
An operational hypothesis is a research hypothesis that refers to how the
variables being studied will be observed, manipulated and measured.
3. List the key characteristics of an operational hypothesis.
the IV is described in operationalised terms: continuously listening
to loud rock music throughout a one hour session
the DV is described in operationalised terms: the number of
previously unseen written problems that are solved
the population from which the sample is drawn is stated: Year 11
VCE students
How the experiment will be conducted is stated: one group will
listen to loud rock music when problem-solving (experimental
group) and another group will not listen to loud rock music when
problem-solving (control group).
4. What are two benefits of using an operational hypothesis for a research
study?
Firstly, it is only when the experimenter has precisely defined the
variables that the experiment can actually be carried out.
Secondly, when the variables are defined in such a precise way,
another researcher interested in the results or perhaps even
doubting them, will be able to repeat the experiment in order to test
(check) the results obtained.
5. Write an operational hypothesis for two of the following research topics:
Does regular exercise improve psychological wellbeing?
Year 11 students that exercised every morning for one hour found that
their psychological wellbeing during the rest of the day was more positive.
One group will exercise for one hour each morning and another group will
not exercise for one hour each morning.
Do people drive less safely when feeling stressed?
Year 12 students that were under stress from exams found that they drove
less safely on a driving course than Year 12 students who were not feeling
stressed.

Learning Activity 7.3

1. The effect of praise on the frequency of answering questions in class

Some students may be shy and not want to raise their hand to answer a
question.
2. The effect of alcohol on performance of a memory task
Everyone has different alcohol tolerance levels so some people may
become more intoxicated quicker than others.
3. The effect of amount of time spent studying on exam performance
Some people find studying comes quicker to them and wont need to do as
much while others find it difficult to memorise things.
4. The effect of reading books on performance on crossword puzzles
Motivation

Learning Activity 7.4

1. Whether the presence of passengers results in more
accidents by red P-plate drivers
Behaviour
2. Whether a particular study technique improves performance
on an exam
Testing venues
3. Whether the use of mental imagery improves goal shooting
accuracy in hockey
Background noise
4. Whether feedback improves performance when learning a
new task
Type of feedback

Learning Activity 7.5

At the beginning of the school year, some teachers were told that the
children in their class had academic promise. Other teachers were not
given any information about the academic potential of the children in their

class. At the end of the year, children whose teachers were told they had
academic promise showed significantly greater gains in IQ scores than
children whose teachers were given no information. The children had in
fact been randomly allocated to the classes.

What is the IV and DV in this experiment?

IV- whether the teachers were told if the child/children had academic
potential or not
DV- IQ scores

Explain the results in terms of a specific experimenter variable

that was actually manipulated by the researchers.
The teachers that were told of the academic potential had a bias opinion
of the child/children already which would influence the way they treated
them and considered their test results as they would have expectations.

Learning Activity 7.6

1. B) Why do researchers attempt to minimise or control the
potential effects of relevant extraneous variables?
They attempt to minimise the potential effects of relevant
extraneous variables they influence the results in an unwanted way.
2. B) Under what circumstances can participant variables
influence the results of an experiment in an unwanted way?
Factors relating to the children or their respective personal
experiences may have impacted on their changed behaviour. For
example, if a childs family situation becomes more or less
unsettled, their behaviour may change, irrespective of the
researchers experimental treatment. A childs health or mood may
also have an impact on whether or not they use attention-seeking
behaviour and how often they may do so.

3. B) Describe one way of controlling situational variables

when designing an experiment.
Test in a laboratory
4. C) Describe two procedures for controlling experimenter
variables in experimental design.
Researchers often design experiments so the person collecting the
data and the participants are unaware of the experimental
conditions; nor are they aware of the results expected from the
different conditions. Only the person in charge of the research, who
has no personal contact with the research participants, is aware of
this information.

Learning Activity 7.8

2. The term correlation is used to identify and describe how two (or more)
variables are co-related. Correlation does not tell us whether one variable, such
as air temperature causes another. Rather, it tells us whether a relationship
exists between two variables, the direction of the relationship and the strength of
the relationship. Unlike an experiment which tells us the cause.

4. A positive correlation means that two variables vary, or change, in the same
direction; that is, as one variable increases, the other variable tends to increase
(and vice versa).
A negative correlation means that two variables vary, or move, in opposite
directions; that is, as one variable increases, the other variable tends to decrease
(and vice versa).
The last one has no correlation and the dots are scattered.

6. A) The more time you spend studying, the higher your score will be.
B) The amount of alcohol you drink has no effect on the weight of your baby

C) The colour of your socks has no correlation to how well you do in an exam
D) Being breast-fed from 0-6 months increases the alertness levels of the baby