Learn Before
Short Answer

A cognitive psychologist completes their planned statistical tests evaluating the effect of caffeine on working memory. Apply the proper research methodology sequence to describe what the researcher should do next if they want to search for unexpected patterns in their demographic data (such as participant age) without violating the protocol for planned versus exploratory analyses.

Question: A cognitive psychologist completes their planned statistical tests evaluating the effect of caffeine on working memory. Apply the proper research methodology sequence to describe what the researcher should do next if they want to search for unexpected patterns in their demographic data (such as participant age) without violating the protocol for planned versus exploratory analyses.

Sample answer: The researcher must first ensure they have fully completed all of their planned analyses regarding caffeine and working memory. Once complete, they can then conduct statistical tests on the age demographics without pre-existing hypotheses to look for unexpected relationships. Any interesting patterns discovered should be treated as tentative findings to provide a basis for future research.

Key points:

  • Complete planned analyses: The researcher must finish the planned analyses on caffeine and working memory before doing anything else.
  • Run tests without hypotheses: The researcher can run statistical tests on age and memory without pre-existing hypotheses.
  • Identify unexpected relationships: The goal is to discover unexpected relationships or interesting patterns in the demographic data.
  • Base for future research: The results of this exploratory analysis should be framed as a basis for future studies.

Rubric: The answer must apply the proper chronological order by stating that planned analyses must be completed first (1 point), and describe running tests on demographic data without a pre-existing hypothesis to discover unexpected relationships (1 point).

0

1

Updated 2026-05-27

Contributors are:

Who are from:

Tags

KPU

Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

Related