Experimental Record Keeping

In psychological research, what is the primary function of a written protocol?

An experimenter who slightly adjusts their spoken instructions based on whether a participant seems confused is correctly adhering to a written protocol.

A lead researcher is training a team of assistants for a new study. To ensure scientific rigor and minimize unintended variation, she develops a comprehensive written protocol. Match each specific challenge the research team might face to the corresponding component of the protocol that provides the standardized solution.

Based on the requirements of a written protocol, arrange the following experimental scenarios in order from the highest degree of standardization (1) to the lowest degree of standardization (3).

In psychological research, which of the following best describes the content included in a comprehensive written protocol?

In psychological research, a comprehensive written protocol is used to standardize every phase of the experiment. Match each component of the protocol with the primary reason it is included to ensure scientific rigor.

A researcher critiquing a study's methodology finds that experimenters were permitted to use their own discretion when explaining the task, which introduced unintended variation. To ensure that experimenter behavior does not become a confounding variable, the researcher should have required the use of a(n) _____.

In a social psychology experiment on cooperation, the written protocol directs researchers to greet participants with a standard, neutral verbal script. If a research assistant decides to warmly smile and make casual small talk with only the participants who seem anxious, they are still adhering to the written protocol as long as they deliver the exact verbal script as written.

If a research team fails to implement a written protocol, individual variations in how experimenters deliver instructions can introduce a(n) ____ variable, which directly threatens the study's internal validity.

A research methods class is evaluating draft methodologies for a cognitive psychology study. To maintain internal validity, they must assess how different experimenters handle procedural standardization and adherence to a written protocol.

Evaluate the following experimenter actions and arrange them in order from the methodologically most sound (1) to the methodologically least sound (3) based on the principles of a written protocol.